This story appeared in the Sunday edition of the Boston Globe and it brings up some items which require explanation in our local situation. As the article points out, the volume of large fires has decreased over the past 30 years. However, it must also be pointed out that the size of your fire department has contracted as well. In 1983, there were five fire stations in Carlisle. Today, there are two. While large fires are more infrequent, they still do happen and we need to be prepared for them. One needs only to look back to May of last year to the fire at the former Masland/Lear plant to realize that fire is still a danger in our community. We work extensively with our neighboring fire departments to share resources and personnel to protect everyone in the Carlisle area. The Carlisle Barracks Fire Dept., North Middleton Fire Co., and Citizens Fire Co. of Mt. Holly Springs routinely respond to Carlisle to assist us and we in turn respond to their areas to assist them. Examination of our mission and resources is a constantly evolving process that we take very seriously. Managing our volunteers is extremely important. Lots of fancy tools with nobody to use them is a counterproductive enterprise. You may have seen our recent displays at First Friday, our open house event, our television commercials, or our newsletter which asks for your assistance as a volunteer. We are reaching out to all those who have a desire to help with any skills they possess even if they have no inclination to run into a burning building. We want everyone to feel welcome to join us in helping the community. Due to a large well-staffed EMS service in Carlisle, it is not necessary for us to respond to emergency medical calls on a regular basis. We do respond to cardiac arrest calls where an AED arriving as soon as possible may have a positive outcome on patient survival. We usually respond to about 700 incidents per year. We have responded to over 475 calls for service so far this year. Of those, 27 have been structure fires. Thirteen have been auto accidents which have required extrication of victims from their vehicles. We participate in several regional response teams. We have assisted the county hazardous materials team three times including the lightning strike of a bulk fuel storage facility in Hampden Twp. in July. We have responded as part of the county technical rescue (confined spaces, collapses, high angle rescues) two times. Our water rescue boats and divers have responded to three incidents. The remaining incidents have run the range of odor investigations, gas leaks, carbon monoxide alarms, industrial accidents, minor car accidents, fire alarms, assisting police officers, brush fires, transformer fires, wires down, car fires, flooding, and many others. The statement in the article about the “fire” department being a true emergency response force is accurate. If an unexpected emergency happens, chances are very good that your fire department will respond to help mitigate it. Our web site at cfrs45 provides a summary of our incident activity and is usually updated every few days. Our financial information is audited by an outside accounting firm and provided to local government officials to explain all of our costs. We strive to be transparent and would be happy to explain our mission to anyone who is interested in what we do and why we do it. We maintain this Facebook page and our web site to communicate with YOU, our community. If you have any concerns or questions, please let us know. We want your support, and we are happy to talk through any issues you have so that you are comfortable giving it.
Posted on: Mon, 09 Sep 2013 06:02:33 +0000
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