As of this writing the street is cordoned off and Osceola firemen are still
here putting out the last remnants of the fire.
To your knowledge, is there a way to how much time elapsed between the 911
call and the arrival on the scene of the first firemen?
Take care and God Bless
Fred Hawkins, Jr.
Osceola County Commissioner
District 5
(407) 709-1078
Sent from my iPad
________________________________
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Unfortunately, many folks leave their cars on the streets while their
driveways sit empty and their garages are either empty or full of things
that are not cars. Often these cars are parked illegally (either on the
wrong side of the road, too close to an intersection, or directly across
from one another leaving too little space for traffic). All of these cars,
aside from being an eyesore, create a situation where drivers can't see
pedestrians and they prevent first responders from helping citizens in need.
For the safety of Harmony residents, the parking issue is one that needs to
be addressed either by the HOA, via a County ordinance, or both. And the
existing parking laws need to be vigorously enforced by the Sheriff's
Office. Hopefully this unfortunate event will be a catalyst for action on
this issue.
Ray Walls
Geo writes:
> ----------------------------------------------------------------------------
> ----
If you the Chief's response, it indicates (L54) which is Ladder 54--the Harmony Fire station.
Actually, I think the time is closer to 9 minutes ( 8:59 )....while I think that's fairly long, I tend to agree with Fred concerning the men & equipment....You have to consider they're sleeping, have to get up, get dressed, gather equipment, start the truck and hit the road....cross 192 and make a decision as to which entrance...either way, they've got to deal with traffic circles and winding streets and at least a bit of unfamiliarity as well as darkness in a very large vehicle...
If it were me waiting for them, I'm sure it would be an eternity....BUT--consider the alternative of having an engine come from Pine Grove, Deer Run or Holopaw....suddenly, 9 minutes is fast....
I'm confident these guys did the best they can and am glad we have that station where it is...
Steve
I was just reading Chief Collins' feedback quite differently than either of
you. So instead of chiming in with what I thought was a reasonable
interpretation, I thought it prudent to first speak to Chief Collins
himself. He was very friendly and forthcoming. Here's what he said.
From "Time of Dispatch" to "Time Enroute (L54)" is when the firemen are
waking up and getting on their gear and getting into the fire truck. So in
this instance, it took 2 minutes to do all of that (ie. from 1:21am to
1:23am).
From "Time Enroute (L54)" to "Time of Arrival (L54)" is the drive time from
the Harmony fire station (ie. #54) to the scene of the fire. In this
instance, it took 7 minutes to drive from a block south of 192 to Buttonbush
Loop (ie. from 1:23am to 1:30am). According to Google, that's 1.5 miles and
it should only take 5 minutes at normal speeds. I must admit that when I
drove that same route in 3.5 minutes, I went flying outta there assuming a
fire truck would speed to a serious fire in the same way.
Chief Collins made it clear that the time from "Time Enroute (L54)" to "Time
of Arrival (L54)" does not include setting up equipment on the scene or
hooking up hydrants. It does not include the first drop of water coming out
either.
Chief Collins did say that the last minute of the drive time may have been
impacted by cars in the street, which was Ray's valid concern. He also said
that he would drive the route himself on a Friday night to see how long it
should really take. He also indicated that the stop time (ie. 1:30am) may
not have been triggered when it should have. His communications folks are
looking into that.
So the question remains. Is it reasonable for it to take almost 10 minutes
(ie. 9 minutes) for our closest fire fighters to get ready and drive 1.5
miles to where they then have to spend at least a few more minutes (no
doubt) setting up before the first drop of water hits the fire?
If this is true, I don't see any home in Harmony being saved from any
serious fire. It would seem that the best we can hope for is saving the
surrounding homes.
-----Original Message-----
From: harm...@googlegroups.com [mailto:harm...@googlegroups.com]On
Behalf Of Fred Hawkins Jr.
Sent: Tuesday, January 24, 2012 3:47 PM
To: <harm...@googlegroups.com>
Cc: harm...@googlegroups.com
Subject: Re: Request for Fred Hawkins - 2012-01-21