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Capital Electric business consumer saves lives, property

 

Firefighters Scott Sommers and Dan Burgard of the Bismarck Rural Fire Department.

You won’t see a red fire truck or Dalmatian at the Bismarck Rural Fire Department (BRFD), but you will see devoted firefighters who take great pride in doing their jobs.

Three full-time and 35 paid on-call employees work for the BRFD. Established in 1953, their service area covers approximately 450 square miles and serves a population base of about 15,000 people.

Chief Al Klein says the department responds to numerous types of calls including fires, vehicle accidents, hazardous materials, spills, carbon monoxide checks and farm extrications. When a call is made to 911, a dispatcher decides whether or not to request help from the rural fire department.

The BRFD responds to approximately 200 calls a year. When a call comes in, the firefighters dress in turnout gear that consists of bunker pants and a coat, a NOMEX® hood and helmet, gloves and boots. When necessary, they carry self-contained breathing apparatus (SCBA), an ax and other rescue tools. All combined, a firefighter can wear 40-plus extra pounds of fire-retardant clothing and equipment during a rescue operation.

Firefighters Dan Burgard and Scott Sommers agree that physical fitness and ongoing training are keys to effective firefighting. The department holds monthly trainings specific to the weather and season. Examples of training include SCBAs; pump operations; hazardous material awareness; ladders, ropes and knots; rescue techniques; defensive driving; and CPR and first-aid.

Al Klein says the tankers haul from 2,600 to 3,000 gallons of water depending on the truck; the pumper trucks carry 1,000 gallons and the brush trucks carry 300 gallons. To refill the bigger trucks, the BRFD uses a fire hydrant because it is faster than drafting out of a lake or river. They use the tankers to refill the brush trucks.

Their training carries over to vehicles and equipment, such as hoses and tankers. Klein says that rural areas pose a water challenge. “We have four tankers so we haul our own water. In the city where there are hydrants, they have an unlimited supply, which makes a difference with our strategies.”

Sommers says that most of the BRFD’s calls are non-fire related. They laugh when they talk about memorable rescues such as pulling cats out of walls, or helping a horse that had fallen through the ice on a creek.

The laughter fades when they talk about more dangerous calls, like fires in wild lands that pose access problems because of fences, ditches and boggy areas. No matter what the situation, the fire crew always takes safety precautions. “We don’t drive through the unburned areas because if the wind picks up, it will burn right over the top of us. We try to drive in the black area that’s already been burned out,” Sommers says.

When the crew isn’t fighting fires, they stay busy working on equipment maintenance, computer reports and fire inspections, and cleaning the trucks and equipment. They also test hoses and hydrants, provide educational seminars during fire prevention week, and tour schools in their district teaching programs like “Stop, drop and roll.”

The most rewarding part of a fireman’s job is lending a helping hand. “Our goal is simple—to save lives and property,” Burgard says.

Sommers says the most challenging part of the job is fighting fires and responding to dangerous situations. The department also works to stay prepared, maintain equipment and know their service areas.

“Our district is growing with all the building going on. To keep up with that growth, our guys maintain a map of the fire district,” Klein says.

The staff of BRFD knows that every call is important, and the dangers are just another part of the job. Klein says fires can be prevented, if people use common sense. “Whether they’re burning garbage or sitting by the campfire, people should take extra care with fire.”

Located at 5800 E. Main Avenue in Bismarck, the Bismarck Rural Fire Department has been a Capital Electric member since 1988.

Capital Electric Cooperative donated $2,500 to the Bismarck Rural Fire Department in March 2004. The funds were used to purchase a pager.