Use the Zone Concept:

Zone 1 is the 30 feet adjacent to the home and its attachments.
Zone 2 is 30 to 100 feet from the home.
Zone 3 is 100 to 200 feet from the home.

Zone 1 (All Hazard Areas)

This well-irrigated area encircles the structure and all its attachments (wooden decks, fences, and boardwalks) for at least 30 feet on all sides.

1. Plants should be carefully spaced, low-growing and free of resins, oils and waxes that burn easily.
2. Mow the lawn regularly. Prune trees up six to ten feet from the ground.
3. Space conifer trees 30 feet between crowns. Trim back trees that overhang the house.
4. Create a ‘fire-free’ area within five feet of the home, using non-flammable landscaping materials and/or high-moisture-content annuals and perennials.
5. Remove dead vegetation from under deck and within 10 feet of house.
6. Consider fire-resistant material for patio furniture, swing sets, etc.
7. Firewood stacks and propane tanks should not be located in this zone.
8. Water plants, trees and mulch regularly.
9. Consider xeriscaping if you are affected by water-use restrictions.

Zone 2 (Moderate and High Hazard Areas)

Plants in this zone should be low-growing, well irrigated, and less flammable.

1. Leave 30 feet between clusters of two to three trees, or 20 feet between individual trees.
2. Encourage a mixture of deciduous and coniferous trees.
3. Create ‘fuel breaks’, like driveways, gravel walkways and lawns.
4. Prune trees up six to ten feet from the ground.

Zone 3 (High Hazard Areas)

Thin this area, although less space is required than in Zone 2. Remove smaller conifers that are growing between taller trees. Remove heavy accumulation of woody debris. Reduce the density of tall trees so canopies are not touching.

1. Maintaining the Firewise Landscape
2. Keep trees and shrubs pruned six to ten feet from the ground.
3. Remove leaf clutter and dead and overhanging branches.
4. Mow the lawn regularly and dispose of cutting and debris promptly.
5. Store firewood away from the house.
6. Maintain the irrigation system regularly.
7. Familiarize yourself with local regulations regarding vegetative clearance, debris disposal, and fire safety requirements for equipment.

For additional information visit the Firewise website from the National Fire Protection Association – http://www.firewise.org/Information.aspx

Firewise Guide to Landscape and Construction website – http://www.firewise.org/~/media/Firewise/Files/Pdfs/landscaping.pdf

The Park City Fire Service District will be permitting open burning beginning Tuesday, May 1, 2012 through Thursday, May 31, 2012. This will cover only the area served by the Park City Fire Service District, but will exclude the area within the city limits of Park City.

For more information or to schedule an inspection for a burn permit, call the Park City Fire Service District, Fire Prevention Bureau at 940-2532 or stop by the our office at 736 West Bitner Road.

Only an hour after Summit County’s mock earthquake occurred on Tuesday, emergency officials had an Emergency Operation Center running and the Park City Fire Department was assessing the hypothetical damage on Main Street.

Park City City Manager Tom Bakaly, and acting EOC operations manager, said city officials’ response to the Shake Out, a statewide earthquake drill that occurred at 10:15 a.m., went off without a hitch.

“We cleared the Marsac building and had the EOC up and running in 35 minutes,” he said. “I am assisting between operations and policy makers. The City Council will also come to the EOC and serve as the policy group.”

Park City’s Emergency Operation’s Director Hugh Daniels said the situation was “controlled chaos” and that his department and the state would be giving the emergency officials problems to deal with throughout the day.

“When it comes to earthquakes, you are in it for a while, so we will be rotating staff throughout the day and making sure everyone has the training and practice,” he said.

The Park City Police, Summit County Sheriff’s Department and Park City Fire District were all conducting operations out of the EOC, a room inside the Park City Police Station. Another EOC serving the East Side of Summit County was run out of the Kamas Search and Rescue building.

Park City Fire Chief Paul Hewitt responded to mock scenarios in the EOC, asking for backup ambulances from the North Summit Fire District and informing other officials that the Park City Medical Center was full. The good news, he said, was that Interstate 80 had not been blocked during the mock-quake.

Park City Fire District Battalion Chief Bob Evans said the fire fighters had gone into Park City and performed “windshield checks” to make sure everything was stable and then responded to staged collapses.

One such staged collapse took place behind the fire station on Rasmussen Road. Firefighters were told that three victims were trapped in the practice rubble pile and one was still alive and needed to be rescued. Fire fighters used torches and lifts to cut through the metal and cement in an attempt to reach the victim.

Schools around Summit County also took part in the day’s events, practicing, drop, cover and hold on under their desks and reunification drills.

For more information on what to do in case of an earthquake visit www.summitcountyhealth.org/adults/emergency-preparedness

Be Ready Utah: www.bereadyutah.com

Utah Seismic Safety Commission: www.ussc.utah.gov

Structural Engineers Association of Utah: www.seau.org

1. Resources
2. Library
3. Scroll to existing buildings (click on view all)
4. Here you will find numerous articles and handouts, including the Utah Guide for Seismic Improvement of URM Dwellings

Did You Feel It?: www.earthquake.usgs.gov/dyfi/

Time to check your smoke alarms

The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) is urging consumers to replace the batteries in their smoke and carbon monoxide (CO) alarms this weekend for Daylight Saving Time. This year, Daylight Saving Time begins on Sunday, March 11. Fresh batteries allow smoke and CO alarms to do their jobs saving lives by alerting families of a fire or a buildup of deadly carbon monoxide in their homes.

CPSC estimates there was a yearly average of 386,300 residential fires resulting in nearly 2,400 deaths between 2006 and 2008.

Two-thirds of fire deaths occur in homes where there are no smoke alarms or no working smoke alarms. That is why it is important to replace batteries at least once every year and to test your alarms every month to make sure they work. CPSC recommends consumers have smoke alarms on every level of their home, outside bedrooms and inside each bedroom.

CPSC estimates there was an annual average of 183 unintentional non-fire CO poisoning deaths associated with consumer products between 2006 and 2008. CO is called the “invisible killer,” because it is a colorless, odorless and poisonous gas. Because of this, people may not know they are being poisoned. Carbon monoxide is produced by the incomplete burning of fuel in various products, including furnaces, portable generators, fireplaces, cars and charcoal grills.

That is why it is important to have working CO alarms in the home, on each level and outside each sleeping area.

For additional information contact Anita Lewis at (435) 336-3220 or 615-3220 or email at alewis@summitcounty.org

Park City Fire District 2011 Annual Report

Executive Summary

The Park City Fire Services District protects 110 square miles in Summit County, Utah. Within our jurisdiction’s boundaries are three world-class ski resorts, hundreds of miles of beautiful mountain trails, five golf courses, the Utah Olympic Park with its ski jumping and bobsled-luge skeleton track facilities, unbeatable snowmobile and cross country skiing opportunities, five star hotels, and much more. Whether you live here or are one of the four million annual visitors Park City offers hundreds of activities for all tastes and ages.
We pride ourselves in delivering second-to-none emergency
services. We currently staff seven fire stations with firefighters trained in virtually all hazards including fire suppression, emergency medical services, hazardous material events, and technical rescue needs.

Our firefighters train every day in order to be optimally prepared for all possible emergency situations. In addition to emergency response we provide an array of other non-emergency services. Some of these include fire prevention, code enforcement, plan review, CPR and first aid training, a fuel reduction program, and many others.
Please visit our website to stay current with the Park City Fire District. We hope you enjoy living, visiting and playing here as much as we love working here.
Please be safe!

Paul Hewitt
Park City Fire Service District

During his tenure with the District, Chief Heumann has been involved in many professional associations, including: The Joint Council of Fire Service Organization, Chair since 2004; Utah State Fire Chiefs Association, Secretary/Treasurer since 2006; Utah Fire Caucus Planning Committee member; Utah’s Region 2 Homeland Security Committee, Secretary 2002 to 2010; Western Fire Chiefs Association, Utah Vice-President 2003 to 2006; Greater Salt Lake Chief Fire Officer’s Association, Chair in 2005. He also earned his National Fire Academy Executive Fire Officer certification in 2005.

Chief Heumann aided the District through many changes; from a primarily part-time fire department to a full-time, professional fire district. His hard work and dedication helped in the acquisition, state licensing, and administration of the Park City Ambulance Service. He has researched, developed, and implemented many programs that the District uses today.

Chief Heumann’s positive attitude, great sense of humor, infectious laughter, and ability to produce a stunning and “appetizing” pie chart will be greatly missed by those who work with him on a daily basis. However, we won’t miss the stinky raw milk Kefir, Kombucha, Schinken, Schmalz, and Leberwurst he began eating after becoming a Weston A. Price disciple. We wish him luck in his future endeavors!

Happy golfing Frank!

The Park City Fire Service District is pleased to announce the completion of our newly rebuilt fire station located on Bitner Road. On January 2, 2012, firefighters reoccupied Fire Station #33. The completion of this capital facilities project concluded the build-out of our Bitner Road parcel. This build-out included our Administrative Office building, a multi-story training facility, a warehouse and apparatus maintenance facility, and the rebuilding of the “Burns” Fire Station.

The 10,000 square foot fire station is staffed 24 hours a day by three highly trained full-time firefighters including a Captain, Engineer, and a Firefighter / Paramedic. The emergency response equipment at the station includes an engine, ambulance, brush truck, and hazardous material unit.

The training facility is an approximately 4000-square foot structure providing firefighters various firefighting, forcible entry, and search and rescue capabilities. This facility will greatly enhance the training opportunities not only for our firefighters, but for our neighboring jurisdictions as well.
The last structure of our build-out is a 4000-square foot warehouse. This building will store both firefighting, emergency medical supplies, and other supplies relative to the mission of the Park City Fire District. The structure will also have the capability of housing our first ever apparatus service bay for our vehicle maintenance needs.
We would like to invite all to attend our Open House of this newly rebuilt station, located at 730 Bitner Road on January 31, 2012 from 3 pm to 5 pm.

On October 3, 2011, the latest group of seven Park City Fire District firefighter trainees began Recruit Academy 2011. The ten-week intensive training course will features Firefighter I and Firefighter II certification, Live Fire certification, Hazardous Materials Awareness and Operations certification, and PCFD Medical Protocol training. A typical day for these young men begins at 0630 hours with “PT,” afterwards returning back to Station 36 for clean up and vehicle inspections. One to two hours are spent in the classroom reviewing Firefighting Essentials, 5th Edition, which is a comprehensive training guide for new firefighters. Each afternoon focus is placed on the practical application of the morning’s classroom lesson. Then they return to Station 36 for cleanup and equipment rehab with the day ending around 1730 hours.

“PT” consists of strenuous physical activities, including running the 120-meter jump stairs at the Utah Olympic Park and various trails around the area. Each recruit also does 250 sit-ups and push-ups each day to improve his personal fitness level. Team building, self discipline, integrity, trust, and honor are emphasized during all aspects of the Recruit Academy. We also use regional facilities to enhance the training experience and broaden the perspective of the recruits. On October 25-27, we used the Unified Fire Authority Training Facility in Magna for interior structure firefighting and large vehicle firefighting.

PCFD Recruit Academy 2011 is slated for graduation on December 8, 2011. We look forward to long and prosperous careers for each of these fine young firefighters.

October is Fire Prevention Month: Protect Your Family From Fire! Being ahead of the game is the best way to protect your family from fire.

That’s why the Park City Fire District is joining with the National Fire Protection Association during the month of October to let citizens know: “It’s Fire Prevention Month. Protect Your Family From Fire!”

This year’s campaign focuses on preventing the leading causes of home fires – cooking, heating and electrical equipment, candles and smoking materials. Additionally, citizens are encouraged to protect their homes and families with life-saving technology and planning.

Nearly all fire deaths can be prevented by taking a few simple precautions, like having working smoke alarms and a home fire escape plan, keeping things that can burn away from the stove, and always turning off space heaters before going to bed.

Fire is a dangerous opponent, but by anticipating the hazards, you are much less likely to be one of the nearly 13,000 people injured in home fires each year.

The Park City Fire District offers the following tips for protecting your home and family from fire:

• Stay in the kitchen while frying, grilling or broiling food. If you leave the kitchen for even a short period of time, turn off the stove.
• Keep anything that can burn at least three feet away from heating equipment, like the furnace, fireplace, wood stove or portable space heater.
• Have a three-foot “kid-free zone” around open fires and space heaters.
• Replace or repair damaged or loose electrical cords.
• Blow out all candles when you leave the room or go to bed. Avoid the use of candles in the bedroom and other areas where people may fall asleep.

While preventing home fires is always our number one priority, it is not always possible.  So it is imperative that you provide the best protection to keep your home and family safe in the event of a fire. This can be achieved by developing an escape plan, which you practice regularly, and equipping homes with life-saving technologies, like smoke alarms and automatic fire sprinkler systems.

The following pre-planning measures will help keep your family safe if there is a fire in your home:

• Install smoke alarms inside each bedroom, outside each sleeping area and on every level of the home (including the basement).
• Interconnect all smoke alarms in the home so when one sounds, they all sound.
• Test smoke alarms at least monthly. Replace all smoke alarms when they are 10 years old or sooner, if they do not respond when tested.
• Make sure everyone in your home knows how to respond if the smoke alarm sounds.
• Have a family meeting and make a plan. Walk through your home and inspect all possible ways out.  Households with children should consider drawing a floor plan of your home, marking two ways out of each room, including windows and doors.

If you are building or remodeling your home, consider installing a home fire sprinkler system.