CURRENT EVENTS
Last Update: March 2012
General Information
Retirements
Two well-respected and longtime members of the Euless Fire Department retired in January. Lieutenant Danny Phillips retired after thirty-four years of serving the citizens of Euless. Lieutenant Kip Smith retired after thirty years of service. They joined another well-respected member of the department, Lieutenant Allen Cavender, who retired in June of last year after twenty-seven years with the department. They and their many years of experience will be greatly missed. May God bless you all and may your retirement be all you hope it will be.
Awards
Awards Banquet
On January 14, 2012 members of the Euless Fire Department, their families and many friends gathered at Texas Star to celebrate the successes of 2011 and to congratulate the winners of the various service awards.
Award Winners
- ECFAAA member, Sue Kosec , received the award for Alumni Member of the Year.
- Andy Chesney, owner of B&B Wrecker Company, received special recognition for all he and B&B have done for the fire department over the past year.
- Chief Jeff Morris received special recognition from Dr.Yamada for his work in keeping Euless EMS in the lead in patient care.
- EMS Provider of the Year is Josh Schnitzius.
- Firefighter of the Year is Shawn Soule.
- Driver/Engineer of the Year is James Rowell.
- Supervisor of the Year is Bill VerSteeg.
- Employee of the Year is Lance Judd
The names of all of the fire department awards winners were placed in a bin and one name was drawn for a shotgun that the Euless Firefighter Association donated. Shawn Soule won the shotgun!
Congratulations to all out winners this year.
Badge Pinnings
December 2011
On December 21 Jacob Smith and Michael Hanks were feted at a badge-pinning ceremony celebrating their recent appointment to their new positions.
Jacob was promoted to Lieutenant. His beaming wife, Susan, does the honors.
Michael was promoted to Driver/Engineer. Proud father, David Hanks, applies the finishing touches on Michael's uniform.
February 2012
On February 10 four members of the Euless Fire Department were honored with a badge-pinning ceremony celebrating their recent promotions.
Euless police officer Sheli, "Sprinkles" Smith pinned her husband, Brad, with his new Lieutenant's badge.
Newly-appointed Lieutenant, Jason Moon, is pinned by his lovely bride, Andrea.
Newly-appointed Driver/Engineer, Cody Skinner is pinned by his entire family: his wife, Carly and their not-quite-ready-to-be-born son, Gunner.
Austin Kelly congratulates his dad after pinning Ken Kelly's Driver-Engineer badge on him.
Calls For Service
Motor Vehicle Accident
On September 8, 2011 a Euless police officer was injured in a three-car accident at the corner of Glade and the southbound service road of Highway 121. He was stopped at a signal light awaiting a green light when a vehicle ran the light and slammed into another causing the second car to strike his patrol car. The officer was not seriously injured but, one of the other drivers was flown to a local hospital by medical helicopter.
Fire at 207 East Harwood Road
At about 6:45 PM on December 30, 2011 units of the Euless fire department were dispatched on a structure fire at the Harwood Townhomes at 207 E. Harwood Road. Upon arrival firefighters found a fire involving one of the townhomes and placed a call for a second alarm. The fire eventually went to three alarms and units from D/FW Airport, Fort Worth, Bedford, Colleyville, Grapevine and Hurst responded. No civilians were injured, however one Euless police officer was transported to the hospital for treatment of smoke inhalation and two mutual aid firefighters were treated for minor injuries. The fire was determined to have been accidental.
Fire at 201 Westwood Drive
At about 4:30 PM on March 7, 2012 "A" shift firefighters were dispatched to this fire on Westwood Drive. Upon arrival they quickly extinguished a fire in the attic above a bedroom in this one-story single family residence. The resident had arrived home from work and smelled smoke. Upon investigating he saw smoke coming out of the eave and called the fire department. Fire damage was confined to the bedroom and the attic above it. No one was injured and the fire was determined to be accidental.
Fire at 124 Manchester Drive
At about 2:15 PM on March 8, 2012 the fire department was notified of a fire in Building #24 of the Manchester Apartments at 124 Manchester Drive. Upon arrival "C" shift firefighters found the kitchen of this apartment totally involved. They quickly confined the fire to the room of origin and extinguished it. The fire was determined to be accidental and had originated on the stove top. Only one person was displaced by the fire and no one was injured.
Citizen Fire Academy
Citizen Fire Academy Class #18
In November the Euless Fire Department celebrated the graduation of CFA Class #18. The thirteen-week class began in August with twelve students and all twelve graduated. Instructors covered subjects such as fire department history, fire science, search and rescue, CPR and helicopter operations. Students were allowed to participate in live-fire exercises at D/FW Airport and automobile extrication skills at B&B Wrecker. The next class will begin around August 9 or August 16.
ECFAAA Field Trip
On July 25 Fire Chief Wes Rhodes led a group of eighteen ECFAAA members on a tour of the state-of-the-art Tarrant County College fire training facility in Fort Worth. Chief Rhodes demonstrated equipment in the classroom and the burn house. He caught the group's attention with a demonstration of the newly-installed LP gas training equipment (as well as that of a resident jack rabbit). He really wowed the group with the swift water training site.
Chief Rhodes has been an instructor at the facility for many years and was quite proud to demonstrate its capabilities.
Honor Guard
9-11 Memorial Dedication
Early on Sunday morning September 11, 2011, the new 9-11 Memorial at 201 North Ector Drive was dedicated in a solemn ceremony commemorating the 10th anniversary of the attacks on our country in 2001. Over two hundred citizens and members of the Euless police and fire departments and many other departments from the area attended. The speakers included the Euless police and fire chiefs, the mayor, the Euless police and fire department chaplains and Congressman Kenny Marchant of the 24th Congressional District. The fire department honor guard hoisted the national colors and rendered honors with the ringing of the "Final Alarm" and the playing of "Taps". The Euless police honor guard presented a 21-gun salute.
The centerpiece of the new memorial is a 6,000 pound piece of steel from the World Trade Center. The site is highlighted with two perpetual flames. A large wall of Texas pink granite is inscribed with words to remind us to always remember those who were lost that day. Included in the design are two smaller walls to inscribe the names of any Euless police and fire department members who may lose or have lost their lives while serving the citizens of Euless.
Please come by and visit, sit, linger and reflect on those events that will be forever imbedded in our collective memory.
Training
High-Angle Patient Recovery
In January the department learned and practiced skills necessary to safely remove patients from rooftops and other usually difficult locations to access. In this scenario firefighters are using what is called a Stokes basket to remove a "patient" from the roof of Fire Administration. This exercise requires keen skills in the use of ropes, knowledge of knots and the coordination of efforts through clear communication between participants.
Mass Casualty Incident Vehicle Familiarization
Chief Jeff Morris led firefighters in refresher training on the equipment and capabilities of the MCI vehicle that is housed at station three. This and other specialized vehicles and equipment are housed at various stations in the fourteen-city consortium of the Northeast Fire Department Association.
The training was in preparation for a large-scale emergency exercise involving a DART train and multiple city jurisdictions.
Water Survival and Patient Retrieval
August, 2011: Members of the Euless Fire Department gathered over several days to learn and practice skills in surviving a fall into water while wearing their personal protective equipment. The training was led by Firefighter/Paramedic Chris Sutterfield for all three shifts at the swimming pool behind South Euless Elementary School. Training included removing a patient from the water who may have sustained a head or neck injury.
Wildland Fire Training
Twenty-one members of the Euless Fire Department recently completed a 40-hour training course on Wildland Firefighting. Six more are slated to take the course bringing the total of wildland firefighting trained personnel to twenty-seven. The state has mandated that all firefighters deployed to assist in fighting wildland fires to have completed this training. Here Euless and D/FW Airport firefighters complete the capstone class on property at the airport.
