CURRENT EVENTS
Last Update: June 2011
MVAs
400 Block of Bear Creek Parkway
Shortly after midnight on April 7 C-shift personnel were dispatched on a single vehicle MVA in the 400 block of Bear Creek Parkway. First arriving firefighters found a severely damaged SUV wrapped around a tree. The lone occupant was trapped in the wreckage. Firefighters, using power tools and hand tools, were able to extricate the victim. The medical examiner pronounced the victim dead at the scene.
13800 Block of West Airport Freeway
At about 10:00 AM on April 11 A- shift personnel were dispatched on a motor vehicle accident at the far eastern boundary of the city on Airport Freeway. Upon arrival they found the lone occupant, the driver, had wrecked his pickup after his clothing accidentally caught fire while he was driving. He was transported to a local hospital via air ambulance.
2100 Block of West Euless Boulevard
Three vehicles were involved in a motor vehicle accident in the 2100 block of West Euless Boulevard at Pipeline Road. While first reported as a minor accident, C-shift firefighters found that two passengers in a small SUV had experienced minor injuries. They were transported to a local hospital.
800 Block of Harwood Road
At about 2:45 on the afternoon of Saturday, May 21 B-shift personnel were dispatched to a single vehicle MVA in the 800 block of Harwood Road. Upon arrival firefighters found a mid-sized passenger vehicle on its side against a tree after having knocked down two other trees. The right front seat passenger had already exited the vehicle through one of the rear doors and was on the ground. He was transported to the hospital via air ambulance with life-threatening injuries. Firefighters had to extricate the driver using hand tools and power tools. Employees of B&B Wrecker Company were instrumental in stabilizing the car while the young victim was removed. He was transported to the hospital by a Euless Fire Department ambulance with non-life threatening injuries.
FIRES
April 14 - 600 Block of Henslee
A-shift personnel arrived at this single family residence to find the garage ablaze. Firefighters made quick work of this fire by advancing a hoseline through the front door of the house to the garage and forcibly removing one of the overhead garage doors. Fire damage was confined to the garage, but a pickup in the driveway sustained some damage. The lone occupant at the time of the fire was not injured.
May 11 - 115 Manchester
This fire went to two alarms as first arriving firefighters found fire "blowing out" through the patio door and the front door of this downstairs apartment during a torrential thunderstorm. A quick assessment determined that all occupants were out of harm's way but, that the apartment above and those across the breezeway were being threatened by the fire. A-shift firefighters, assisted by Bedford and D/FW Airport firefighters, worked together to rapidly bring the fire under control. Battalion Chief Darrell Rutledge not only had to contend with a fast-moving fire but had to be alert to the danger to firefighters by the intense lightning from the storm. Several members of the Euless Citizen Fire Academy Alumni Association arrived and quickly established rehab for firefighters. The fire was determined to have been caused by unattended cooking.
June 2 - 122 Manchester
B-shift personnel responded to a reported structure fire at the Manchester Apartments to find another kitchen fire. It was quickly extinguished before it could spread beyond the room of origin. No one was injured. It was caused by combustible materials being too close to the cook stove.
June 12 - 106 Tarrant
Firefighters were dispatched to a reported house fire at about 9:15 AM on Sunday, June 12. First arriving C-shift personnel discovered fire in the rear wall at the Bravo-Charlie corner of the house and quickly gained access to extinguish it by removing some of the outside wall structure. A neighbor had seen smoke coming from the rear of the home and alerted the occupants. No one was injured. It was determined that some unknown event caused a serious short inside the electrical breaker box causing a fire inside the wall.
*Firefighters commanding a fire or other emergency scene will designate the side of a building closest to the street as the "A" or Alpha side. Moving clockwise, the next side would be designated the "B" or Bravo side; then, the "C" or Charlie side and the "D" or Delta side. Therefore, the left rear corner would be designated the Bravo-Charlie corner.
June 13 - 1449 Monterrey
At about 4:30 AM on Monday, June 13 an alert tenant noticed smoke in his apartment and called 9-1-1. First arriving C-shift personnel discovered a fire in the attic and inside a second floor wall of a two story apartment. An aggressive attack contained the fire to the wall of origin and a small area of the attic. All occupants were safely evacuated and no one was injured. It appeared that the cause of the fire was due to some electrical issue. Citizen Fire Academy members arrived and assisted firefighters with rehab.
TRAINING
In April, Chief Jeff Morris set up the department's annual vehicle extrication training exercise at B&B Wrecker on West Euless Boulevard. There was a different scenario for each shift over three days. On this day members of C-shift faced a scenario involving two automobiles colliding and coming to rest adjacent to the barrier on an overpass thereby rendering one side of the scene inaccessible. Each scenario was designed so that firefighters would have to use all available resources and equipment.
Kudos to Andy Chesney, owner of B&B Wrecker Company, for his generosity in allowing us access to his lot and for the vehicles to set up the scenarios. Andy's crews train with us each year. This has helped ensure that in real emergencies Euless firefighters and B & B's crews work safely and confidently with each other.
The ECFAAA Rehab crew set up rehab for firefighters and to practice their skills.
HONOR GUARD
Firefighter Funeral - Eastland, TX
On June 20 members of the Euless Fire Department Honor Guard traveled to Gorman, Texas to honor fallen firefighter Greg Simmons. Firefighter Simmons died on April 15 near Eastland while fighting the wildfires that were plaguing Texas across several counties. The Euless Honor Guard is seen here performing the Bell Ceremony at the graveside signifying that Brother Simmons has answered his final alarm.
MDA FUNDRAISING
On Wednesday, April 27, in cooperation with Baskin-Robbins, members of the Euless Fire Department and ECFAAA volunteers gathered at Baskin-Robbins on Highway 121 to help "fill the boot" for the Muscular Dystrophy Association. This event has been the kick-off event for our MDA fundraiser for the past two years. The generous customers of Baskin-Robbins donated over $530 to MDA in four hours! Many thanks to Nadir Ghazian, owner of the Euless franchise, for his generosity in providing the venue, entertainment and door prizes.
STATION TOUR FOR NEW EULESS EMPLOYEES
On Friday, June 10 Debbie Moss and Connie Scott-Ortiz of Human Resources escorted the six recently hire employees of the city around town introducing them to the various departments. Here, Battalion Chief Gary Thompson and the crews of Station 3 take them on a tour of the station. During the tour they are given a history of the department, an explanation of the fire department organization and access to some of the equipment in the station. It looks like a couple of them are ready to come to work for us!
WORLD TRADE CENTER STEEL
On Tuesday, June 7 Chief Dale Skinner and Firefighter Joel Daniel arrived in Euless after a four-day, 3,100 mile round trip to New York City to pick up a piece of the World Trade Center Steel. The 12' long, 6,000 pound column will be incorporated into a memorial to the thousands killed in the 9-11 attacks and to the 400 firefighters, police officers and other emergency responders who died. May We Never Forget! Thank you, Dale and Joel.
NEW CHIEF
Robert Wesley "Wes" Rhodes took the reins of the Euless Fire Department on Monday April 11. Chief Rhodes came to us from the Haltom City Fire Department where, during a twenty-five year career, rose through the ranks working in every position within the fire department. He had been chief for six years.
He is President of the Northeast Fire Department Association and has been an instructor at the Tarrant County College Fire Academy for sixteen years. He has traveled to Taiwan to train firefighters there in swift water rescue techniques.
He is married and has two children but, still finds a little time for drag racing.
Welcome, Chief Rhodes.