Fires, Floods, Snow extremes
Breaking news about Wild Land Fires & Floods and snow storms in the Boulder, Colorado area.
Fire department to host award ceremony Feb. 18
Feb 17th
Boulder Fire Rescue will host an annual departmental Achievement Awards Ceremony on Friday, Feb. 18, 2011, at 3:30 p.m. at the Public Safety Building, East Training Room, 1805 33rd St.
The ceremony will feature awards for promotion of rank for new lieutenants, 1st and 2nd class firefighters and Life Saving presentations. An Exceptional Service Award will also be given.
Fire Chief Larry Donner will welcome and introduce all recipients. Friends, family members and the media are invited to attend the event.
Eight personnel will achieve the rank of 2nd class firefighters having served for more than one year: Ryan Boersma, Jason Thomas, Joe Vogel, Manuel Garcia, Thomas Spannring, Tyler Capron, Jeremy Felix, and Matt Watson.
Three personnel, Curt Stocker, Matt Zavala and Nate Muller, will achieve the rank of 1st Class firefighters having served more than three years.
Margaret Edel and Joe Savino will be recognized for achieving the rank of Lieutenant.
Six personnel will receive awards for life-saving efforts involving CPR to resuscitate victims of medical trauma: Lt. Jeff Martinez, Engineers Mike Hankins and Frank Decoteau, John Felling and Firefighters Tim Case and Brent Wambach.
Three firefighters, Dean Vande Berg, Brian Offord and Engineer Cameron Knapp, along with two Boulder police officers, Kristen Weisbach and Brent Biekert, will be recognized for their successful life-saving efforts during a fire in 2008 at 550 South 41st St.
Heidi Tregay, Program Specialist for Fire Administration, will be thanked for her exceptional service and support of the mission of Boulder Fire Rescue during 2010.
Fourmile Canyon Fire meeting with state insurance representatives set for Feb. 2 at 6:30 p.m.
Jan 27th
Boulder County, Colo – In its continuing efforts to help homeowners who lost a home or structure in the Fourmile Canyon fire navigate through the insurance claim process, Boulder County has set up a meeting for fire survivors with Colorado Interim Insurance Commissioner John J. Postolowski on Wednesday, Feb. 2 at 6:30 p.m. in Boulder.
The meeting will include time for impacted residents to share their experiences working with their insurance providers and to allow the state insurance commissioner and staff to address those issues and outline assistance available from the state.
Who should attend: Fourmile Canyon Fire survivors
Who will present: State of Colorado Interim Insurance Commissioner John Postolowski and staff from the state Division of Insurance
When: 6:30 p.m., Wednesday, Feb. 2
Where: Boulder County Courthouse, Commissioners’ Hearing Room, 3rd floor, 1325 Pearl St., Boulder
Tentative Agenda:
• Fire survivors will be invited to share their experiences with their insurance providers in order for the commissioner and staff to better understand the challenges people are facing
• Division of Insurance staff will explain how they can be of service and answer questions
• At the end, there will be time for people to speak with the Division of Insurance staff about their individual situations
State Representative Claire Levy of Boulder has been instrumental in getting this meeting scheduled and will also be attending along with other state and federal legislators or their staff representatives.
For more information about Boulder County’s recovery efforts working with residents of the Fourmile Canyon Fire area, visit www.bouldercounty.org/fourmilefire or contact Garry Sanfacon at 720-564-2642 or gsanfacon@bouldercounty.org.
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Firefighters rescue three dogs from icy waters in two days
Jan 18th
Boulder Fire Rescue personnel would like to remind the public that there are significant dangers associated with venturing onto lakes, ponds and creeks that appear frozen. While most people understand these dangers, pets do not. Owners are reminded to keep their dogs on leashes to prevent them from going onto the ice.
In the past two days, Boulder fire crews have responded to three animal rescue calls: one at Admiral Arleigh A. Burke Park at Mohawk and Pawnee drives and two at a lake near Table Mesa and South Loop drives. In each case, dogs that were not leashed walked onto the ice and fell through. All three were rescued with the help of firefighters who had to go out on the ice to pull them out. In each case, divers were mobilized in the event that they were needed.
The Front Range is susceptible to rapidly fluctuating temperatures, which can lead to unsafe ice conditions. Although ice may appear to be thick in some spots, it is likely to be much thinner over other parts of the water and may not be capable of supporting weight. Ice that was thick one day may melt significantly with just a few hours of warmer weather.
“Just one day can make a big difference. Making the rescues today was much more difficult than yesterday,” said Battalion Chief Gil Espinoza. “We care about dogs, but every time a firefighter goes out onto the ice, we are taking a risk.”
Firefighters would like to ask pet owners to keep their dogs out of harm’s way in the first place, by leashing them around bodies of water this time of year.
If your animal falls through ice, call 9-1-1 immediately so that emergency personnel can respond. If the ice was not thick enough to support your pet, it will not be thick enough to support you.
Do not attempt to go onto the ice or rescue your animal yourself. You are risking hypothermia which is a life-threatening condition. After even just a few minutes in cold water your heart, lungs and kidney functions can be compromised and even fatal. Even after a person has exited the water, hypothermia symptoms may exist.
Remember, by trying to save your dog, you are risking your own life. Call 9-1-1 for fire rescue response instead.
People are urged to stay off ice on any natural bodies of water in the City of Boulder unless the area has been posted and approved for ice-related recreational activities.
