HOLLAND (WHTC-AM/FM) — The success in fighting the Stratford Way fire involved several elements, said Holland Fire Lt. Brendt Sheridan.
The first: Fire and police support, from other fire departments’ mutual aid to Holland police officers helping stage the scene and evacuate people, he said.
The second: Utilities’ quick responses, to cut off electric and gas service, as well as support from the Red Cross and victims services’ volunteers to aid fire survivors and firefighters alike.
The third: Planning. “Everyone asks what the firefighters do, when they’re not fighting fires,” he said. “We don’t sit around and play cards.”
What they do, he said, is “go around to as many buildings as we can, in the city, and fight fire before it happens,” by documenting as many buildings as possible.
That information is digitized, so firefighters on their way to a scene know exactly where the fire hydrants are in relation to the fire report — police often arrive first and radio in some specifics — as well as where to put the hook-and-ladder trucks and other big fire vehicles to optimize the attack on a fire.
On the way to Saturday morning’s fire, Sheridan used the radio to let other responders know where gas and electric meters are, as well as a critical fact: access to the building and stairways.
“All of these buidings look similar,” he said. “But they’re all different configurations. Some, you enter each apartment from the outside. This one has a stairway (with) rear access to all apartments.”
He spoke while pointing out how a computer program depicts key facts of each site.
“We go around and try to identify where we’re most likely to have fires, where are the most dangrous places — the places with the most people.”
Holland firefighters rely on a software mapping package, he said, which has pages of information with maps and site details.
One page shows a map of the road to a building, as well as where the fire truck is located in relation to the fire site.
“This isn’t just for fires, this is for medicals — this (mapping system) covers the whole city,” he said.
“This is why you invest in a department with full-time employees that are working around the clock,” he said. “You have less calls at this time of day, but this is the most-dangerous time of to have a call, in a multi-occupancy living space, because people are sleeping.”
