Reprint from the Progress Times - September 14, 2007
©Progress Times 2007 - All Rights Reserved

Fire Department does more than fight fires

By Kathy Olivarez

"Fire calls have dropped dramatically through the years thanks to the success of the fire prevention programs that have been enacted in the school and community," said Mission Fire Chief Rick Saldana, in an interview about the workings of the fire department.

"Today we are more of a first responder organization. In addition to answering fire calls, we investigate a variety of occasions. For example we get called out when a child is locked in a car. We send a truck to the site of automobile accidents. We get calls if a person is experiencing chest pain and thinks they might be having a heart attack. We respond to about 160 calls a month but because of the tremendous results of the fire prevention program, most of the calls are of this nature, not fire calls," Saldana continued.

But at the same time the fire department has moved into other areas of expertise. The Mission Fire Department along with other regional fire departments was recognized with the Lone Star Achievement Award in 2005. The award was given to the area by the Texas Fire Chiefs Association for the Special Operations Program relating to aquatics.

Saldana explained that regions are defined by development councils, such as the Lower Rio Grande Valley Development Council (LRGVDC), which has its headquarters in Weslaco. The LRGVDC serves a three-county area that includes Hidalgo, Cameron and Willacy Counties. There is also a special partnership with Starr County, which includes Rio Grande City and Roma, who are in the Laredo Development Council.

Mission's Special Operations Team started in 1996 with solicited funds. Donations from local banks and service clubs such as the Lions Club funded the initial training and equipment for the team.

"Since 9/11 occurred, Homeland Security has been pouring a lot of funds into states to provide training," said Saldana. The money has gone into establishing the teams for regional responses to all kinds of situations.

Saldana said Mission's Special Operations team is one of five such teams in the region.

Joined by Captain Douglas Williams, a member of the Special Operations team, the two men explained the different ways that the team had been used.

As recently as July, when heavy flooding occurred in Starr County, the mayor of Rio Grande City called at 1 a.m. for the team to be on standby for home rescue operations as Los Olmos Creek flooded the downtown area. Mission FD took their rescue boat, as did the United States Fish and Wildlife Department. Fortunately, the water peaked after two hours of rising into the streets and subsided before water rescues were needed.

Later that day, the team got a call from El Sauz when water levels were rising. Williams explained that 24 people responded from the region. Respondents came from Edinburg, Weslaco, Mission, Donna and the Hidalgo County's Sheriff's Department. He said the Mission team has 10 members on it. The team is unusual in that it is led by a volunteer fireman, John Patterson.

"It's better to be there than not be there," said Saldana. "It takes 45 minutes to an hour to get to Rio Grande City with the equipment so if we were called in an emergency, it would be a long time before the rescues could be made."

While Saldana excused himself to work with HAZMAT (hazardous materials) Training scheduled to begin, Williams went on to explain some of the types of operations done by the team.

All members of the team have divers certification, which is basic scuba training, and swift water training, which gives them the techniques needed for rescuing people in the water. This training takes four hours a day, three days a week for a month. Then they take public safety diving, which teaches search patterns, vehicle rescue and evidence recovery techniques. There is a 16 to 18 hour class for each skill.

Often the team is used to recover cadavers in the water, or to do vehicle recovery and drugs recoveries. It is not uncommon for drug dealers who are being pursued to drive or push their cars loaded with drugs into the river where they will sink 15 to 20 feet in the water.

"We have recovered millions of dollars worth of narcotics from the river to be used in criminal prosecution of drug dealers," said Williams. "For the past 12 years, our team has located and retrieved four to five cars a year in order to get the contraband inside. In that entire time there has been only one vehicle we have been unable to retrieve because of the dangerous location where it went into the river."

He explained that when the team is called out to respond to a report of a car in the river, the divers first check to see if there are people in the car that need rescuing. The second step is to get the license plate number. Then the recovery chains from the wrecker called in to pull the vehicle from the river are attached so the truck can pull up the vehicle.

In 2003, the Mission team received a call from the McAllen Division of the Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms Department to assist in a search for firearms used in Jacksonville, Florida. The perpetrators brought the weapons to the Valley and threw them into the river near Roma.

"We got lucky," said Williams. Divers located the two rifles and put them in water and the mud where they were located inside a PCV pipe for shipment to Florida. By not disturbing the mud on the weapons and adding water to keep things wet, the fingerprints and other evidence on the weapons were not disturbed.

Most of the river rescues where vehicles are involved include finding cadavers. But on one canal rescue the team was able to rescue a man trapped underwater by a seatbelt. He was brought out alive.

Most rescues involve people trying to cross the river, which is known to be treacherous. One rescue involved a family of five who became too fatigued while crossing the locks under the dam at Anzalduas.

"Walking in water that is moving swiftly is very tiring," said Williams. Around 10 p.m. the family was spotted by workers from the International Water & Boundary Commission, who called for the team. The family had made it three-quarters of the way across the water but could go no further.

The Border Patrol, who had a helicopter, joined them in the rescue. Working with rescuers, the helicopter hovered just feet above the water so the mother and two small children could be taken to safety and then returned for the father and older child.

One of the most difficult rescues, according to Williams, is the trench rescue. Unfortunately, because of the amount of infrastructure being built across the Valley, they are all too common. Wastewater lines are built 15 to 25 feet below ground. The men who build them must work in confined areas below the surface of the ground. If there is a cave-in, everything must be stopped for a rescue, which can be a very delicate operation to keep additional areas from caving in.

In 2004, a man was rescued alive from a caved-in trench at Mile 3 Road and Conway Avenue. It took nine to 10 hours to break him free. Not everyone is so lucky. Pharr lost two workers in a similar cave-in.

Other rescues have aided people trapped on towers. In Roma, a National Guard member who had been sitting on top of an observation tower watching the river, started down about 2 a.m. The tower had an old ladder with landings. The man lost his footing and fell through a hole and landed on a landing 15 to 25 feet below. He was still up the ladder at least 100 feet and had a broken leg. The team had to climb the ladder and administer first aid and "package him" for rescue. They then moved up to the next level and lowered him down to a waiting rescue truck on the ground.

On another occasion the team was sent to Rio Grande City to assist a young woman, an illegal alien, who was attempting to cross underneath the international bridge. She managed to get three-fourths the way across the bridge before losing her footing and falling onto the bridge footing below. She had an open fracture on one leg and a broken ankle on the other. It was excruciatingly painful and people on shore heard her screams and called for help.

Working with the Border Patrol, the international bridge was shut down so two men could rappel off the bridge to give preliminary treatment.

Williams, who is also part of the HAZMAT Team, explained that the men were doing an exercise on how to handle chemical situations outside. He explained there were different levels of rescue ranging from stopping a leak of hazardous chemicals from a 55-gallon drum. This can be achieved by creating a dirt berm to keep liquid from spreading with the minimum of contamination.

In 1995, a tanker rolled over on Shary Road, where the team had to contain the movement of a substance. Williams said that the team only contained the substance because most companies that deal with hazardous chemicals have their own clean up teams that they bring in to take care of spills.

Williams said there are four levels of dress for hazardous material response. The first level calls for street clothing where there is little danger from the substance, although toxic, to workers.

At the next level the workers must wear a tyvek splash suit. Tyvek is a non-woven material that prevents chemical burns from acids.

The next level uses a heavier, thick material which is worn where hydrocarbons such as gasoline, diesel or kerosene, is used. The trick is monitoring how long a person can work before the substance can penetrate the suit.

The fourth level is what Williams refers to as "the Stay-Puff Marshmallow Man." This suit is fully encapsulated with gloves and boots attached. An air pack, like those used in structural fire fighting, is in a pocket on the back of the suit. Or the suit can be used with an air hose that runs to a long-lasting air source.

"It depends on the chemical as to how long each man can work because it is extremely demanding work. It is 10 to 20 degrees hotter inside the suit and on a hot summer day it is very difficult to work."

Each man receives a detailed medical evaluation before putting on the suit. Blood pressure, respiration and temperature are checked. If a man is having an off day, he is not allowed to participate in the rescue operation.

According to Williams, there are five teams in the Valley. Mission and McAllen do entry and get pumps to whatever substance is in danger. Edinburg and Pharr do decontamination work while Weslaco does the monitoring of medical conditions. It is a regional effort.