fire department

Lee Highway to Get Emergency Vehicle Preemption System

By ARLnow.com

The county board is expected to award a contract on Saturday that would install an emergency vehicle preemption (EVP) system down the entire length of Lee Highway, from Rosslyn to Falls Church.

The system would improve the response times of emergency responders by preemptively turning traffic lights red for conflicting traffic in the path of an emergency vehicle.

The $563,902 contract, which includes an $87,384 cost overage contingency, would install the EVP system at 31 traffic signals on Lee Highway. The federal government is providing most of the funding for the project, with Arlington County chipping in about $130,000.

In addition to improving response times for the three fire stations on Lee Highway, the new EVP system would “also provide the infrastructure for a Transit Signal Priority system in the future,” according to the staff report.

EVP systems are currently in place on parts of Glebe Road and Columbia Pike, according to county spokesperson Mary Curtius.

Workers Injured from Fall at Ballston Construction Site

By ARLnow.com

(Updated at 12:40 p.m.) Two workers have been injured after reportedly falling 10-15 feet at the Founders Square construction site in Ballston.

Initial reports suggested the workers were conscious and responsive, suffering from shoulder, neck and back injuries. They were transported via ambulance to a local hospital. The injuries are said to be non-life threatening.

Representatives from Virginia’s occupational safety agency are on the way to the scene to investigate the incident.

The construction site is located on the 600 block of North Randolph Street, across from Ballston Common Mall.

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Morning Poll: Are You Working Over Christmas?

By ARLnow.com

We just wanted to take a quick moment to thank everybody who will be working over the Christmas holiday.

From emergency personnel to military service members to media workers to retail and service employees, here’s to the dedicated men and women who will be protecting, informing and serving us while much of the community is opening presents and spending time with family.

Also, here’s to everybody who is forgoing a holiday trip or skipping a family gathering in order to be “on call” for their job this weekend.

Are you working over Christmas? Or did you start your holiday break days ago?


Fire at the Carlton Condos on Four Mile Run Drive

By ARLnow.com

Firefighters are on the scene of a fire on the second floor of the Carlton condominium at 4600 South Four Mile Run Drive.

Firefighters are reporting that there was a kitchen fire in one of the units. The blaze is now under control, we hear.

There was heavy smoke on the building’s second floor when firefighters arrived.

Update at 1:30 p.m. — So far, no injuries have been reported. The building is being ventilated. Police have shut down some streets in the area.

Update at 2:25 p.m. — There was possible water damage reported on the first floor, as a result of the effort to extinguish the fire. So far, however, the Red Cross has not been called, and it sounds like few, if any, families will be displaced.

Update at 2:30 p.m. — Four Mile Run Drive has reopened. Firefighters from Arlington, Alexandria and Fairfax County were all on the scene, since the building is near the border with each.

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Fire Lane Complaints? Send in the Tow Trucks

By ARLnow.com

A large apartment complex on the eastern end of Columbia Pike sent the following email to residents yesterday, in response to complaints from the county.

One building in the complex is prone to false fire alarms, particularly when the power goes out.

Dear Residents,

Recently we have received numerous complaints from Arlington County regarding our residents consistently parking in fire lanes throughout the community. Per your lease agreement parking is not permitted in the fire lanes at the community at any time, for any reason. Any car parked in a fire lane at the community will be towed immediately without any additional warning; this will be considered your only warning.

Loading and unloading can be completed in the loading dock entrance of your building. Any car parked unattended in the circular drive will be removed immediately by A1 towing at your sole risk and expense.

Please feel free to contact the Management Office at [REDACTED] with any questions you may have.

We’re sure they’re not alone in this policy. Just something to think about next time you park next to a yellow curb in Arlington.

Board Approves Bond Issue for Construction Projects

By ARLnow.com

Three separate county construction projects will be combined into one bond issue to save money on financing costs.

On Saturday the board unanimously approved up to $15 million in bonds to fund the last phases of the Cherrydale Fire Station 3 project ($7.5 million), the initial construction of the Arlington Mill Community Center ($5 million), and the construction of a new park at the Buckingham Village 1 apartment complex ($850,000).

The projects were previously approved as part of the county’s Capital Improvement Programs.

“Arlington is fortunate to be able to continue its investment in critical facilities and infrastructure, even during hard economic times,” Board Chairman Jay Fisette said in a statement. “Our sound financial practices and balanced smart growth approach are allowing us to follow through on long-standing commitments to our community.”

The new Cherrydale fire station is expected to open in summer 2011. The $7.5 million needed to fund the final construction phases is $5.5 million less than originally anticipated. Construction bids for the project were well below estimates, county officials said.

Fire Department In ‘Heavy Recruitment Mode’ as Retirements Loom

By ARLnow.com

The Arlington County Fire Department is in “heavy recruitment mode,” trying to stay ahead of a forthcoming wave of retirements.

On Friday, about 15 recruits are expected to graduate from Arlington’s fire academy and enter service as probationary firefighters. Next year, the department expects another 40 recruits to make their way through the academy.

The new recruits will help to make up for retirements and a wave of attrition that occurred during better economic times, when a number of Arlington firefighters were lured to departments in the outer suburbs.

The timing of some of the retirements is being driven by changes to Arlington County’s retirement benefits, according to Fire Chief Jim Schwartz. Older firefighters who might otherwise have stuck around for a bit longer are planning to retire by January 2012, in order to take advantage of better retirement health coverage. To help control costs and comply with a federal funding requirement, the county government is lowering a cap on family retirement health benefits after that time.

The fire department is especially vulnerable to retirements because there are currently a high percentage of older firefighters in the department. Plus, public safety personnel are eligible to retire at a younger age: 55.

“It’s an aging organization,” said Arlington County Human Resources Director Marcy Foster. “There will be a lot of retirements across the board.”

Among those planning to retire are a significant portion of the department’s senior leadership. About five battalion chiefs and a number of captains will be retiring, according to Schwartz.

Another concern that has cropped up over the past few weeks is overtime.

In addition to the fire recruits, about 10 firefighters are currently training as paramedics. The need to detail operations personnel to the fire-EMS academy has put the department in an “overtime jam,” Schwartz acknowledged, confirming reports we had heard from the rank and file. That, however, should clear up soon, we’re told.

Photo via Facebook/ACFD

Obligatory Turkey Fryer Inferno Video

By ARLnow.com

Every year around this time, fire departments around the country take to the airwaves to remind the public that turkey fryers are incredibly dangerous and will probably catch your house on fire if you ever use one.

If you’re still using a turkey fryer at this point, really, you’re either a professional cook or an amateur daredevil.

Nonetheless, the Arlington County Fire Department has asked us to pass this video and a few turkey fryer safety tips along, just in case you’re the kind of person who likes your Thanksgiving dinner cooked in the same manner as your french fries.

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Officials Tout 911 Texting Technology

By ARLnow.com

(Updated at 3:45 p.m.) At some point in the future, Arlington residents may be able to text 911 to receive emergency help.

County public safety leaders held a press conference with FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski this morning to discuss next-generation 911 services, which “will one day enable consumers to send text messages, videos and photos to 911 call centers via broadband applications.”

“The current 911 system is efficient and reliable… but [it] doesn’t support the communications tools of tomorrow, Genachowski said, pointing out that 70 percent of all 911 calls now come from mobile phones.

“With today’s advances in commercial mobile broadband technologies, consumers are using their phones less to make calls and more for texting and sending pictures… but right now, you can’t text 911,” he added. “It’s time to bring 911 into the digital age.”

Genachowski cited the 2007 shootings at Virginia Tech as an example of why a the new technology is necessary.

“Some students and witnesses tried to text 911 during that emergency,” he said. “Those messages never went through and were never received by local 911 dispatchers.”

In addition to emergencies where speaking to a dispatcher could jeopardize a caller’s safety, Genachowski said 911 texting systems could help in other situations.

“Next generation 911 could allow a caller to transmit a photo of a car leaving the scene of an armed robbery, [or] could enable a deaf person to communicate with an emergency call center by sending text messages to the call taker,” he said. Devices like environmental sensors, highway cameras or personal medical devices could be set up to text 911 in the event of emergency situations.

Genachowski announced that at its meeting next month, the FCC will take an “important first step” toward figuring out how to roll out next-generation 911 nationwide. No time frame was given for the technology’s implementation.

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Barcroft to ACFD: No More Made-For-TV House Burnings

By ARLnow.com

Neighbors aren’t too pleased with the made-for-TV house fire set by firefighters in Barcroft last month.

Last night the Barcroft School and Civic League passed the following resolution, asking Arlington County to rescind its policy of allowing the fire department to perform controlled burns in residential neighborhoods.

Resolution

Whereas the Arlington County Fire Department burned a house in Barcroft on S. 8th Street on October 19, 2010, producing billowing clouds of thick black smoke and leaving the building a charred hulk that is still giving off fumes; and

Whereas the notification to the immediate neighbors was received at 5pm on the previous day, and the telephone number given for questions was not answered, indicating that the Fire Department had decided not to consider any citizen concerns about the burning and giving insufficient notice for parents to make arrangements for moving their children for the day or for pregnant women to arrange to move elsewhere; and

Whereas there was no notification at all to the neighborhood at large; and

Whereas similar burnings have provoked protests in other neighborhoods; and

Whereas the burning of a typical older Arlington house produces toxic fumes from lead paint and other materials and in most cases releases asbestos fibers; and

Whereas in an era of concern about toxic substances and their effect on air quality the intentional burning of a home in a neighborhood is clearly an anachronism;

Now therefore the Barcroft School and Civic League recommends to Arlington County that the policy of permitting the Fire Department to burn homes in residential neighborhoods be recinded.

Adopted this 4th of November, 2010 by the Barcroft School and Civic League.

Bryant Monroe

President

Smoke Reported at Pentagon Metro Station

By ARLnow.com

Arlington firefighters are responding to the Pentagon Metro station for smoke in the station.

Initial reports from the scene suggest that leaves and debris on the track caught on fire, causing light smoke to fill the station.

Metro employees extinguished the fire using a powdered fire retardant. Arlington firefighters are now investigating.

Trains are still traveling to and from the station.

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