HFD: Firefighter dies from injuries suffered during Kingwood house fire

B/CS Ranks Among America’s Best for Recession Recovery

Bryan and College Station have been ranked among the top cities in America — fifth and seventh, respectively — in terms of their recovery from The Great Recession.

NerdWallet, which describes itself as “a consumer-friendly financial literacy website that helps consumers make better decisions about their personal finances and more,” released the rankings Monday.

Beginning in 2007, the U.S. housing market was devastated, leading to declines in consumer spending, business investment and employment. The recession officially ended in June 2009, and some communities — eight out of the top 10 cities on the NerdWallet list are in Texas — have sped toward recovery at a quicker pace than others.

In considering 510 of the largest U.S. cities, NerdWallet analyzed the labor and housing markets, to produce the following rankings:
Most-Improved Cities since the Recession

1. McAllen
2. Midland
3. San Angelo
4. Fargo, ND
5. Bryan
6. Chattanooga, TN
7. College Station
8. Odessa
9. Edinburg
10. Amarillo

NerdWallet researchers said unemployment in Bryan fell (2009-2012) while income and home values increased, indicating local economic growth. The company recognized Texas A&M University, Bryan ISD and Sanderson Farms as top employers.

For College Station, NerdWallet researchers pointed to the city’s median household income increasing nearly 32 percent — the highest surge of any city in the nation (2009-2012). College Station, Bryan and Texas A&M’s collaborative development of The Research Valley Partnership was highlighted as a positive boost to the local economy. (KBTX June 24,2014)

June 23, 2014

College Station Professional Fire Fighters

Respond to Hazardous Materials situation

following a train derailment in Navasota

(KBTX)

A train derailment in Grimes County has prompted the closure of Texas 6 as authorities deal with a hazardous materials spill.

The Union Pacific train derailed about 7 a.m. in Navasota.The accident involved about 8 rail cars.

One of the cars was a tanker carrying a rust inhibitor that spilled, officials said. The chemical was corrosive, but not toxic, according to a Texas Department of Public Safety Trooper on the scene.

The cause is not yet known.

Traffic is being diverted to Spur 515 and to Business 6 through Navasota. It is not known when Texas 6 will reopen. (The Eagle)

College Station Professional Fire Fighters 2^nd Quarter Trash Pick Up June 22, 2014.

Thanks to all the guys that came out to help

June 20, 2014

****Reminder: Adopt-a-street trash pickup has been moved to Sunday June 22 at 7:30 am. Park in the dirt lot across from PD. Thanks. *********

June 18, 2014

College Station Professional Fire Fighters make quick work of a commercial business fire near Northgate

COLLEGE STATION, Texas - A fire in the Northgate area left two businesses damaged.

The fire broke out around 3:20 Wednesday afternoon at Lippman Music and the adjoining Jin's Asian Cafe on Nagle Street.

Bart Humphries with the College Station Fire Department said it took crews about 20 minutes to knock out the flames. Investigators said the damage was limited to the awnings and roof of the businesses.

Lippman Music Store owner Brian Lippman told News 3 there is no damage to the inside of his shop, but he's seen better days. He was out of town attending his father's funeral when he got the news about the fire.

Lippman said his store will be back open for business on Thursday, and there may even be a good fire sale.

Humphries says they believe the fire was accidental, but the exact cause is under investigation by the College Station Fire Marshal’s Office. (KBTX)

June 14, 2014

CSFD Local 4511 members Bear Moore and Jeff Keefauver Play in the 2014 Lt. Greg Pickard Memorial Golf Tournament to support Bryan Local 1204 

June 13, 2014

GREAT JOB 

CSFD Members Jeremy Engel, Cody Pinner, Tom Ferguson, Ben Miller and Stewart Mars

Fire Fighters Win Community Softball Classic

"A Tribute and Salute to our First Responders"

Olsen Field at Blue Bell Park
Friday, June 13, 2014
6:00 - 9:00 p.m.

Our two cities and surrounding area are teaming up to give you an evening of Softball, Police Departments -v- Fire Departments.

Local 4511 Member Andy Throne shows off new Automated Alerting System for College Station Fire Fighters. 

Susan works all day and night without a bathroom break. She doesn't get vacation days and sometimes has trouble with her vowels.

Susan is an automated alert for College Station firefighters that is saving them 15 to 18 seconds in response time, according to a department spokesman.

"A fire doubles in size every 30 seconds," said Bob Radtke, communications manager for the College Station Police Department, which houses the city's dispatch center. "Fifteen seconds is a very long time to be on fire. If you are in a situation where that's happened to you, 15 seconds can be an eternity. Just a few seconds might make the difference for firefighters being on time or too late."

Susan comes over the station's PA system as soon as a 911 operator enters minimal information needed to respond to an emergency into the system. Fire department spokesman Bart Humphreys said Susan and the Westnet system have helped firefighters reduce their "turnout time," the amount of time from when a station gets alerted to when the trucks get moving, to less than 90 seconds 86 to 87 percent of the time. That's up from 80 percent before the system was installed.

Firefighters installed the $558,300 Westnet alerting system a year ago with funding from the FEMA Assistance to Firefighters Grant and the city of College Station to replace a previous alerting system built in-house that was proving difficult to maintain and upgrade.

While the new system has its benefits in improving how firefighters do their jobs, it's also aimed at keeping them healthy.

The alerting system in the stations includes dorm remotes that allow firefighters to program alerts for specific units. Therefore, a paramedic could program the dorm remote to only go off when the ambulance gets called out, allowing him to continue sleeping if he's not needed on a call. Once an alert does come through in the middle of the night, however, it's in low tones and a soft voice, instead of a bell that previously "jolted you out of bed," Battalion Chief Thomas Goehl said.

"It's designed to be easier on the guys' heart and blood pressure," firefighter Andy Throne said, noting that the leading cause of death among firefighters is heart disease.

Not only has the new system benefited firefighters and the people they protect, it's streamlined the process for dispatchers, Radtke said. It also allows them to stay on the line with someone who might need instructions for CPR instead of having to put them on hold to dispatch a unit. That's when Susan takes over.

Firefighters will continue working to tweak California-born Susan's pronunciation as needed.

One day, they hope to teach her to put the emphasis on the first syllable of highway. (The Eagle)

Local 4511 Members Andy Thorne, Thomas Goehl, and Jason Neuendorff Find Fix for Emergency Radios “Going Digital”

Special Thanks to City of College Station Council Member James Benham for helping us with this serious problem 

College Station firefighters have found trouble spots around town that sometimes make it difficult to communicate over the radio.

On Thursday, the City Council approved the use of contingency funds to fix the problem by purchasing and installing mobile repeaters, devices that retransmit radio signals on units responding to fires.

“It’s a life-saving device,” said Firefighter Andy Throne, who has been researching solutions to the problem for about a year.

Firefighters started noticing the issue in certain university buildings and nearby apartments last year. There were times when firefighters standing feet away could not communicate due to various factors, including building materials and bunker gear, that did not allow their radios to connect with the radio tower, Battalion Chief Thomas Goehl said.

While firefighters are intermittently faced with the dial tone that means they have no signal, Goehl said first responders can’t afford to take the risk of losing communication when in a dangerous situation.

Emergency personnel in the area use the digital Brazos Valley-Wide Area Communications System to communicate with dispatch and each other, but that technology requires a firefighter to speak into a radio that sends the signal to a radio tower that then transmits the information back to dispatch and fellow firefighters. It all happens in an instant, but if the firefighter’s radio signal can’t reach the tower, he can no longer communicate with colleagues in the same building.

While the digital system works well for most of their needs, Goehl said the use of the analog radio and repeater will be a good fix for those interior structural fires where digital radio doesn’t always work.

Installing the repeaters, which each cost about $2,700 for a total of $29,700, would allow firefighters to use an analogue radio channel to communicate more reliably with one another in those situations, Goehl said.

“When I’m on a fire [here], I don’t need to talk to Houston,” Throne said. “I need to talk to the firefighters 100 feet away from me.”

But analog radio doesn’t record communications or transmit signals to dispatch. That’s where the repeater comes in. It connects firefighters on the analog channel with dispatch and the digital channel.

While researching the fix, College Station firefighters met with those in Phoenix and New York who were having similar issues. Bryan Fire Chief Randy McGregor said his firefighters have not encountered the problem in Bryan.

The fix will increase safety and reliability for firefighters on a scene because, if the other technology were to fail, they would be able to maintain firefighter-to-firefighter communications, Goehl said.

“It definitely gives firefighters the sense of assurance that they’re getting out, that their signal is being heard,” he added. (The Eagle)