RCFD Credits Fire Sprinklers for Stopping Apartment Fires

Rapid City, S.D. – Fire sprinkler protection helped to keep two recent Rapid City apartment fires small, minimizing the damage sustained.  

At around 2:00 pm on Sunday, a fire was reported in a bedroom at the Palms Apartments in the 700 block of Flormann Street. An occupant of the apartment that was at home at the time of the fire escaped without injury. The fire was quickly confined to the mattress and the room of origin by a single sprinkler head. Firefighters from Rapid City Fire Station 4 completed extinguishment of the fire and ventilated the building. The occupants of the affected apartment were temporarily displaced while water and smoke was removed and until a new mattress could be obtained.

According to Larry Fuss, owner of the property, the building in which the fire occurred has 20 apartments and is home to between 30 and 35 occupants. One occupant wrote in a Facebook message to the Rapid City Fire Department that she lives in an apartment in the building in which the fire occurred and that she is thankful for the sprinkler system. “I work nights in healthcare and was asleep when this happened”, she wrote. “I was awakened by fire fighters at my door evacuating us from the building. If not for that sprinkler and the quick action of the first responders this situation could have proven tragic.”

Fuss told the Rapid City Fire Department that the building was remodeled and retrofitted with a sprinkler system in 2012. Fuss is a strong advocate for fire sprinkler protection and says that he encourages other property owners to install them in their properties. “You can’t afford not to”, he said.

Just before 9:00 am on Monday morning, a fire occurred at the Rapid Creek Apartments in the 1100 block of Anamosa Street. Firefighters from Station 1 were dispatched to a report of an automatic fire alarm in one of the buildings at that location. When firefighters arrived, they found that a fire started in the bedroom of an apartment and had been completely extinguished before they arrived. None of the occupants of the apartment were injured. According to management at the Rapid Creek Apartments, there are 15 apartments in the three-story building in which the fire occurred. As many as 80 occupants live in the building. Before firefighters left the scene, water removal efforts were well underway. It did not appear as though the apartment’s occupants were going to be displaced as a result of the fire and sprinkler activation.

 According to statistics compiled by the Rapid City Fire Department’s Fire and Life Safety Division, there were three fire related sprinkler activations in Rapid City 2018. In those instances –one at a hotel, one at a restaurant and one in an apartment complex– damages were estimated at just under $21,000 with property saved estimated at just over $11.2 million. In each instance, the building involved was heavily occupied. No injuries were reported in any of these instances.

In an effort to encourage property owners to install fire sprinklers, the Rapid City Fire Department and the City of Rapid City have joined forces to offer a loan program for the installation of fire sprinklers. This low interest loan program, called the Life Safety Loan, will support up to 80% of the eligible costs to retrofit buildings with fire sprinkler protection. Those with interest in the program can visit the City of Rapid City Finance Office at https://www.rcgov.org/departments/finance.html

Applications for the Life Safety Loan can be downloaded at: https://www.rcgov.org/index.php?option=com_docman&view=download&alias=290-finance-life-safety-loan&category_slug=finance-department&Itemid=149

The Rapid City Fire Department continues to advocate for the installation of fire sprinkler systems as a means of protecting lives and property from fire. To learn more, visit our website at https://www.rcgov.org/departments/fire-department/fire-and-life-safety.html.

For questions or comment related to this release, please contact Lt. Jim Bussell, Public information Officer for the Rapid City Fire Department, at 605-394-4180.

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RCFD Paramedic Education Program Awarded National Accreditation

Rapid City, SD – The Rapid City Fire Department Paramedic Education Academy has been awarded initial accreditation by the Board of Directors of the Commission on Accreditation of Allied Health Education Programs (CAAHEP). The CAAHEP Board acted upon the accreditation recommendation of the Committee on Accreditation of Educational Programs for the Emergency Medical Services Professions (CoAEMSP).

Through the accreditation process, which includes a thorough review of the program, curriculum, resources, faculty and staff, as well as a site visit of the program, the Rapid City Fire Department Paramedic program was determined to be in substantial compliance with the nationally-approved Standards and Guidelines for educational programs as established by the EMS - Paramedic profession.

The department was granted a Letter of Review and began providing Paramedic education for RCFD employees in 2016. Since that time, 12 RCFD employees have completed the program with a 100% pass rate. The next academy is scheduled to begin in January of 2020 with as many as six RCFD employees slated to participate in the program.  

Regarding the RCFD Paramedic Education Academy, Rapid City Fire Department EMS Training Specialist Lt. Jason Reitz said, “Having a program that can continually meet the demands of the Rapid City Fire Department and the community we serve is so important.”  Lt. Reitz added that accreditation is essential because every Paramedic course offered must be through an accredited program. “This accreditation ensured that we are meeting the standards set forth by the Commission on Accreditation of Allied Health Education Programs (CAAHEP)”, Reitz said. He added, “Being accredited makes the RCFD as one of very few accredited fire department based programs in the nation.”

The RCFD Paramedic Education Program is an intense year-long program. The program consists of 1,300 hours of training in both the classroom and clinical setting. This includes a 400 hour ambulance field internship and a minimum of 276 clinical hours in the hospital setting. Individuals that successfully complete the program and pass the National Registry of Emergency Medical Technicians (NREMT) psychomotor and cognitive exams then must successfully become licensed with the South Dakota Board of Medical and Osteopathic Examiners (SDBMOE) before beginning an intense months-long Paramedic Field Training and Evaluation Program.

CAAHEP accredits more than 2,200 educational programs that prepare health professionals in 32 different disciplines.  Accreditation is one step in a process that is meant to protect the public and ensure a supply of qualified health care professionals.  For more information about CAAHEP and accreditation, visit www.caahep.org .

For questions or comment related to this release please contact Lt. Jim Bussell, Public Information Officer for the Rapid City Fire Department, at 605-394-4180.

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Farm Credit Services of America Awards RCFD With $2,000 Grant

Grant will be used to purchase tower rescue equipment

Rapid City, S.D. - On Thursday firefighters from Rapid City Fire Station 3 accepted a check for $2,000 from the Farm Credit Services of America (FCSAmerica) for the purchase of tower rescue equipment. The grant is provided through the FCSAmerica Working Here Fund.

Above: Justin Uhrig with FCSAmerica presents RCFD Captain Calen Maningas with a check for $2,000 from the Working Here Fund. The grant will be used for the purchase of tower rescue equipment.

Tower climbing continues to rank among the most dangerous jobs in North America. Incidents involving communications towers are often referred to as high risk, low frequency incidents. Response to tower incidents requires specialized training in addition to specialized equipment. With over 70 towers in Pennington County, it is important for Station 3 personnel to be prepared for this type of incident.

In March, members of South Dakota Task Force 1 –which includes firefighters from Rapid City, Sioux Falls, Aberdeen and Watertown Fire Departments– completed a tower rescue training course in Rapid City.  The FCSAmerica grant will allow Rapid City Firefighters to be well equipped as well as highly trained. Captain Calen Maningas of the Rapid City Fire Department anticipates that RCFD personnel will be fully trained on the new equipment by the end of September 2019 and will begin providing tower rescue training for other communities in May of 2020.

Above: Firefighters from South Dakota Task Force 1 participate in tower rescue training in March 2019 near Stevens High School in Rapid City.

According to a release by FCSAmerica, the Rapid City Fire Department is one of 73 organizations to receive a Working Here Fund grant in the second quarter of 2019.  FCSAmerica awarded $134,850 during the latest grant cycle ending June 30, 2019.

“We understand the importance of keeping our communities safe and appreciate the efforts of the Rapid City Fire Department,” said Michelle Pluta, vice president of retail operations at FCSAmerica’s Rapid City office. Farm Credit Services of America is one of the region’s leading providers of credit and insurance services to farmers, ranchers, agribusiness and rural residents in Iowa, Nebraska, South Dakota and Wyoming.

According to their website, the FCSAmerica Working Here Fund provides grant funding for projects and organizations that make a positive impact in Iowa, Nebraska, South Dakota and Wyoming. In order to be considered, applicants must demonstrate how contributions will be used for purposes that serve agriculture education, young and beginning producers, hunger and nutrition, or essential services and disaster relief.

For questions or comment related to this release please contact Lt. Jim Bussell, Public Information Officer for the Rapid City Fire Department, at 605-394-4180.

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