A MESSAGE FROM THE CHIEF

I am David W. Fetty, and I have proudly served on the Morgantown Fire Department for the last twenty-two years. It is my honor and my privilege to serve you now as the Chief of this fine Department. In 1998, the Morgantown Fire Department celebrated one hundred years of service to the citizens of Morgantown.

Although much has changed in the last one hundred years, there is one thing that has not changed. That is the dedication and professionalism of the members of the Department. They currently provide the citizens of Morgantown with one of the finest Departments in the State. The people that we protect deserve nothing less than that. Allow me, if you will, this opportunity to tell you what has been accomplished in the Department in 1998, and a brief look at what is to come.

THE PURPOSE, MISSION STATEMENT, AND PHILOSOPHY OF THE MORGANTOWN FIRE DEPARTMENT

Emergencies happen to everyone. Each of us has emergencies that are unique to our own abilities and makeup. What may be an emergency to one person, may only be an inconvenience to someone else. Members of the Morgantown Fire Department respond to all types of emergencies. We pride ourselves on our ability to professionally handle any type of emergency when we are called upon to respond. We do not judge the merits or the validity of the emergency. We respond, assess, and act. If the emergency is outside of our capabilities, we will contact someone who can deal with the situation, but we do not let the situation go unresolved.

The mission statement is a simple one. WE WILL CONTINUALLY PREPARE OUR MINDS, OUR BODIES, AND OUR EQUIPMENT FOR OUR RESPONSE TO ALL EMERGENCIES REQUIRING OUR SERVICE. WE WILL ENDEAVOR TO IMPROVE OUR SERVICE THROUGHOUT OUR CAREERS, AND WE WILL NEVER FAIL IN OUR OBLIGATION TO DO SO.

CURRENT PROGRAMS AND SERVICES

The Morgantown Fire Department offers a very diverse number of services, but all are designed to either promote or insure the safety of the consumers. First and foremost, the Department offers the best protection, within the capabilities of the resources, against fire and it's potential for major conflagration. The loss figures, as opposed to value figures for property protected, attest to the quality of this particular service.

The Emergency Medical field is rapidly becoming the second largest provided service. The Department currently maintains a very proficient first responder program. This program allows for the immediate intervention of trained medical personnel during a health-related crisis. The Department responds to situations as complicated as a total cardiac arrest or as simple as a cut finger. This service has saved many lives and has instilled a sense of well being throughout the community. The citizens know that the Department will be there when it is needed most.

The absolute best way to handle an emergency is to prevent it from happening. There are two services provided by the Morgantown Fire Department that are designed to do just that. They are the Public Education service and the Code Enforcement/Plans Review service.

The public education service provides information to all age groups with many different objectives in mind. The Department tries to educate people with regard to potential hazards and how they can initially deal with those hazards. It also works to make the public aware of all the services available to them through the Morgantown Fire Department.

The primary objective of the Code Enforcement/Plans Review service is to provide a user-friendly environment for contractors and developers. With mutual understanding of needs and goals, the Department can provide a safe business environment in the community at a reasonable cost. Prevention is the emphasis of this service group.

Regardless of all efforts to prevent them, accidents happen. The Morgantown Fire Department deals with that inevitability in a very proactive style. It has established specialized Teams that predict hazard potentials and ways to handle them. The Rescue Team deals with such potentials as high angle rescue situations, elevated rescue, confined space rescue, vehicular extrication, and a multitude of other perceived scenarios. The Dive/Water Team is preparing to handle any type of situation involving water or water craft. This could include swift water rescue, ice rescue, body retrieval, underwater search situations, watercraft fires, and watercraft rescues. When the situation includes hazardous materials, the Morgantown Fire Department is also preparing to deal with it. The Haz-Mat Team will handle the identification of hazards and the effective mitigation of situations involving those hazards. The potential situations for this Team are endless, but they can involve such situations as airplane crashes; tanker truck wrecks; major and minor spills of hazardous materials; mutual aid situations for outside agencies; evacuations; and cleanup supervision.

When the causes of disasters are determined to be suspicious, the Arson Investigation Team is ready and capable of investigating the evidence. Its expertise in evaluating cause, motive, opportunity, and intent makes the difference between a successful arsonist and a convicted arsonist. It maintains histories, evidence, and information vital to the mission. The conviction rate is far above the national average.

The last two teams are not as highly profiled as the others, but they are definitely the backbone of all the successes. They are the Maintenance/Building Team and the Computer Team. Without quality,reliable equipment and facilities, nothing could be accomplished. The Maintenance/Building Team has some of the finest craftsmen in the Morgantown area. The work that they have done on the buildings and the equipment has won national acclaim. They provide all of the other teams with the tangible necessities that they require. Nobody does it better!

Without knowledge, neither effort nor desire could accomplish much. Knowledge is the gift that the Computer Team gives to the Department, and that gift helps protect you. The Computer Team has developed the hardware and software packages that are the envy of every Fire Department that has seen them. They have built menu systems that are easy to use. They have built data base systems that are interfaced with graphics programs. They have placed some of these systems in the front seats of the responding units. Vital information is available to all of the on-scene firefighters, and this information is retrievable in seconds. The simplicity, reliability, and cost effectiveness have not been duplicated in this country. This team has also received national recognition for their achievements, and they have received requests for additional information from fire Departments throughout the nation.

RESOURCES

Resources can be categorized into two separate entities. The first category is the resources available from outside the Department. The City has entered into mutual aid agreements with six, surrounding Volunteer Fire Departments and one County Hazardous Materials Response Team. The Department is dispatched by the Monongalia County 911 Center and has a close working relationship with the Monongalia County EMS. The State Fire Marshal's Office provides the area with a bomb disposal team, and West Virginia University maintains an active interest in the Department. The Department is also very reliant on resources provided by the other Departments within the City. These resources include the Police Department, Building Inspections, Engineering, Personnel, Public Works, Animal Control, Attorney, City Clerk, Parking Authority, Administration, Airport, City Garage, Finance, and all of the other individuals and groups who aid in the Department's mission.

The second category is the resources found within the Department itself. There are three of these including personnel, equipment, and facilities. The most invaluable resource is the personnel. The Department is organized as follows:

Total Departmental Strength = 45 sworn officers and 1 secretary

TEAMS:

AREAS OF RESPONSIBILITY:

Proper equipment and the critical placement of that equipment is imperative to the fundamental operations of any emergency service organization. When properly trained and motivated people are adequately equipped, the end result is success. Due to the establishment of the various teams, and the subsequent increase in service areas, the Department is lacking in this area. What follows is a list of vehicles and the condition of each.

Note: A new 1999 Ford Expedition has been ordered, and this unit will be outfitted as the Chief's Vehicle/ Incident Command Vehicle. This unit will be state of the art and will serve for at least the next eight years.

REVIEW OF THE PAST YEAR'S ACTIVITIES

What a year this has been! This year was dedicated to organization. It began by revising the mission statement and the philosophy as stated on the first page of this document.

Company One Station has seen multiple construction projects. It has been remodeled and new shelving units built to house the flood relief equipment and future equipment for rescue and hazardous materials. A modern, mask repair shop has been constructed . New offices for the Lieutenants and the Shift Captains have been built. Most of the old windows have been removed and replaced. The bunk area has been remodeled and made more energy efficient. Sidewalks at the Company Two station have been constructed. All of this construction was done by the firefighters themselves. The result was a tremendous savings for the City of Morgantown.

The firefighters have taken a 1978 American LaFrance Water Chief aerial truck that had collapsed on a training exercise and have made a Heavy Rescue Unit out of it. This project took thousands of man-hours and won national acclaim for the results. The cost for this project, complete with equipment, was forty thousand dollars. To duplicate this vehicle would cost five times that amount. This truck refurbishing project was a featured story in the October Issue of "Fire Engineering Magazine".

Technology has not been overlooked in the reorganization efforts. The computer committee gurus have also won national acclaim for their efforts. They have purchased hardware, developed software, and combined their considerable talents in developing an on-board computer system for the front-line apparatus. Their story was featured in an article appearing in the "National Fire and Rescue Magazine", which is distributed nationally. They have been bombarded with requests from other Departments throughout the nation for information about what they have done. They are currently developing menu systems, data base forms,organizational layouts, and hardware needs to carry this computerization into the daily operations. All of the Stations will be linked to a common server located at the staff offices in the Public Safety Building. All of the stations will be able to enter, update, or utilize data with ease. The Department will be able to generate reports and keep very accurate accounts of entire operations. Lives and property will be saved, as well as dollars, because of this effort.

The Centennial Celebration honoring Morgantown Fire Department's 100^th year of service was an overwhelming success. This one week event included a City Council Proclamation; the placing of a plaque on the Metropolitan Theatre; a banquet for all active and retired members and their families; a Firemen's Ball; an open house at all of the stations; and many other activities. "Horses, Smoke, and Engines- A History and Tradition of the Morgantown Fire Department", was written by Lt. Max Humphreys. This beautifully illustrated document was published and distributed to all of the firefighters, both active and retired.

With all of the special projects, it's hard to imagine that there would be time for the daily operations of the Department, but the Code Enforcement/Public Education Programs were also in full swing. The inspection program included the following:

The Public Education Program was equally busy. Their activities included the teaching of fire extinguisher usage to 351 people. This incorporated people from:

Giant Eagle Grocery Store, Summit Hall, Vocational Technical Center, Beechurst Ave. Power Plant, Neighbor Care, The Madison House, The Hampton Inn, The Mon County Custodial Staff, and NIOSH.

Other Fire Safety Educational Classes were given to 2,108 adults and children. These people were from the following organizations:

Mon. General Health Fair, BOPARC, Care Providers of WV, Vo-Tech Staff, WVU Fraternities, WVU Sororities, Cheat Lake Elementary School, Westwood Middle School, Wiles Hill School, Suncrest Elementary School,North Elementary School, Mountainview Elementary School, Alliance School, Nazarene Church, Woodburn Elementary School, Westover Elementary School, Cass Elementary School, McDonalds, METC Day Care, Shephards Care Day Care Center, Morgantown Early Learning, Waitman Barbe Happy School, Morgantown Mall, St. Francis Elementary School, Westwood Middle School, Sundale Nursing Home, Presbyterian Day Care, Kids Corner Day Care, Serendipity Day Care, and Kinder Haus Day Care.

Professionalism is completely proportionate to training. The Morgantown Fire Department is a professional Department. Emphasis on training and education has never been more valued, and the training records and achievements reflect this belief. All of the firefighters have a high school education. One firefighter has a Masters Degree. Six have Bachelor Degrees. Two have Associate Degrees, and six other members are pursuing Associate Degrees from Fairmont State College. The Department is working with Fairmont State College to develop a Bachelor Degree Program for the Associate Degree members.

As of November 24, 1998, the Department has been given13,022 hours of training. This equates to an average of 289 training hours per person, or approximately seven and a half weeks of training per year per person.

This commitment to training has produced the following results:

4 - Deputized State Fire Marshals

6 - Trained Arson Investigators (Arson 1 & 2)

1 - Sent to the National Fire Academy for Arson Investigation Cources

5 - Trained in Explosive Recognition

1 - Trained Bomb Technician Assistant

3 - Sent to the National Fire Academy for Code Enforcement

4 - Trained in Building Construction

3 - Trained in Sprinkler/Alarm Systems

1 - Trained in Fireworks Display

5 - Trained in Open Water Diving (Certified)

36- Trained and certified as Hazardous Materials Technicians

OTHER CLASSES INCLUDE-Airbag Training, Orientation for New Officers, Fire Officer II, Technical Rope Rescue, Structural Firefighting, and at least eight new apprentice firefighters have begun their training to become Journeymen Firefighters. This training will encompass 6,000 hours for each of those individuals.

Along with everything else, the Department responded to 1,630 calls for help. A breakdown of those calls include the following:

FORECAST FOR THE UPCOMING YEAR.

All operations will be completely computerized next year. This will result in instantaneous, accurate reports on all conditions within the Department. This information will be used to evaluate programs, decisions, and to make necessary alterations. It will also be instrumental in the planning processes.

Company One Station and Company Two Station are well located and will serve the Department's needs for years to come. There has been a substantial investment of manpower and materials for upgrades this year. Slowly, these two stations are being modernized with an eye on energy efficiency. Company Three, however, is poorly located and needs to be carefully studied.

With the development of the Teams, as described earlier in this report, there will be a need for specialized equipment. This equipment will need to be mobile if it is to be of any use. Since vehicles require a tremendous amount of maintenance and cost, the Department will acquire two trailers. One of these trailers will house the Hazardous Materials equipment, and the other will house the SCUBA Team equipment.

SUMMARY

The City has strongly supported the Fire Department this year. The Officers and Members have responded to that support by producing the foundation material for this Annual Report. The achievements and figures speak for themselves.