Thank you,

Gary A. Wisdom
Fire Chief

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Firefighter Hank Walker, Lt. Duane Wines and firefighters Shelby Stone and Shane Mobley

News.........

The Burleson Fire Department’s honor guard is coming together quickly as four out of nine recently attended the National Honor Guard Academy in Lewisville.

The new graduates are Lt. Duane Wines and firefighters Shane Mobley, Shelby Stone and Hank Walker. Firefighter Robert Clarkin graduated from the same academy in 2008. Engineer Don Wooten and fire marshal/volunteer fire captain Stacy Singleton are scheduled for honor guard academy training in the fall. Firefighter Steve Burchette is also part of the honor guard.

Read the news release for more information.

Battalion Chief Brent Batla, Lt. Mike Jones, Leah King of Chesapeake Energy, and firefighters Shane Mobley, Jake Hopps, James Pribble, Scott Johns, and Chuck Sharp.

Chesapeake Energy enhances BFD's rope rescue program.

Thanks to a generous donation from Chesapeake Energy, the Burleson Fire Department is more equipped now to handle rope rescues when the need arises.

To find out more about this program, read the news release.

Fire Administration

Fire Station One - 828 SW Alsbury Blvd.

Fire Administration consists of the Fire Chief and Battalion Chief. This service area is responsible for the overall operation of the department as well as preparing and administering the department's budget.

In addition, this service area is responsible for developing standard operating procedures that are compliant with NFPA Standards as well as Texas Commission on Fire Protection Standards in order to provide the safest environment possible for our employees and volunteers and to provide the best service possible to our citizens.

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Fire Suppression

The Burleson Fire Department provides fire suppression with the following equipment:

In addition to this equipment, the department carries a thermal imager, 3 Jaws of Life and a large variety of rescue tools. This equipment is stationed in two fire stations and staffed with 24 career firefighters and 12 volunteer firefighters.

Emergency Medical Services

The Burleson Fire Department provides Advanced Life Support Services for our citizens. In addition to basic first aid, bandaging and splinting, and CPR, our service includes the capability of intravenous (I.V.) therapy and airway intubations. The department also carries automatic defibrillators. The fire department has a total of 20 Emergency Medical Technicians, 10 Emergency Medical Technician Intermediates, and 7 Paramedics that provide our emergency medical service. MedStar provides ambulance transport.

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Community Services

The Burleson Fire Department has many programs that are in place to benefit our citizens. These include the following:

Citizen Fire Academy for citizens to learn what the fire service is all about. This is a 6-8 week program that goes over all facets of the fire service and our fire department.

Junior Fire Academy for elementary students. This is a one-week program for third graders to learn about the fire service and fire safety.

Vial of Life Program. This program incorporates a system to have vital patient information readily available for our medical people to use on a call at your residence.To read more about this program, follow this link. To view or print the information form, click here. (Adobe Acrobat Reader required).

Preplans of Local Businesses to help firefighters gain knowledge of building layouts and pre-incident fire planning.

Fire Safety Public Education Programs that are given to local schools, not only during Fire Prevention Month, but also throughout the year.

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The Fire Department also conducts flow analysis and inspections on fire hydrants within the city of Burleson. The engine companies flow the hydrants and calculate the flow that is available. These inspections tell the pump operators three different things. First, the flow information is very important for the pump operators to know during a fire. Second, these inspections give the pump operators the knowledge of the geographical locations of these hydrants. Third, the inspections insure that hydrants are operational or repaired when necessary.

Training

The Burleson Fire Department is an approved Training Facility by the Texas Commission on Fire Protection. This is due mainly because of the department having an accredited training tower at our Fire Station 2 complex. The department completes continuing education requirements by the Texas Department of Health and the Texas Commission on Fire Protection. Other training topics include hazardous material training, high angle rescue, swift water rescue, and other non-specific training. It is common for our department to have over 3,000 hours of combined staff hours of training each year.

Future Growth

Construction of Fire Station #3 is underway. View pictures and information on this new facility here.

Recruits for the Burleson Fire Department tested their physical stamina Friday, May 16, 2008 in the agility exam.

More than 140 applicants from across the Metroplex, as well as from across Texas, took the written exam on May 3. The top 25 were invited back to participate in the May 16 agility exam.

The Burleson Fire Department has six firefighter positions to fill. These six will be used to staff Fire Station #3, which is expected to open in 2009. Read the entire news release.

Wildfire Preparedness Begins at Home
.....courtesy of the Texas Forest Service

“Homeowners have the power to greatly increase their homes’ chance of surviving a wildfire,” said Texas Forest Service Director Jim Hull. “What you plant, where you place your plants and how you maintain the landscaping can determine whether a wildfire reaches your home, and simple improvements on your home can significantly decrease its ignitability.”

Here are some tips to improve your home's chance of surviving a wildfire:

While doing spring gardening and yard work, do a quick survey of your property.

• Does wildfire have a direct path to your home? Create a break in the vegetation with a sidewalk, rock path, French drain, driveway or other non-flammable path to slow the spread of a wildfire.
• Are flammable plants creating a ladder to the eaves of the home?
• Do firefighters have enough room around your home (at least 30 feet) to safely protect it?
• Did you take time to remove leaves and needles from your roof and gutters?  

For more tips, log on to http://texasforestservice.tamu.edu or www.firewise.org.

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This page last updated June 9, 2009