City Fire

Dan Herberger is trained to save lives. It's what he's paid to do.

Recently, though, the unassuming nine-year-veteran of the Batavia Fire Department saved a life while on vacation.

Returning with his family from Disney World, Herberger was in the Orlando airport with his parents, wife and children.  

Part of the group wanted hamburgers and fries for dinner, and the rest wanted something a little more substantial.

While Herberger waited in a line with his dad, he noticed a woman by a kiosk collapse.

"The lady just collapsed," Herberger said. "It wasn't a weak-kneed faint. She just went down."

Herberger was among several people who rushed to her side. As he looked at her, he could tell she wasn't breathing. He asked somebody to call 9-1-1 and asked others to try and find a defibrillator.

When he check the woman's artery for a pulse, there was none.

Herberger began CPR.

Right then, a registered nurse emerged from the crowd to assist him.

A short time later the defibrillator arrived. The nurse applied one paddle, Herberger the other. They waited for the machine to give the signal for a shock, and applied it. Then Herberger started chest compressions again. After a minute, he checked for a pulse again, and the defibrillator indicated the woman had regained a strong, steady pulse.

Herberger filled in emergency dispatchers on what he and the nurse did. He said when he was a paramedic for the city, he liked having information about a situation before arriving on scene, so he passed along what he knew.

Within minutes local firefighters were on scene and took control of the situation.

Herberger went back to the business of getting his meal before boarding his flight. He said as he was boarding, the firefighters were still on scene with the woman tending to her. She was on a stretcher with her head slightly elevated, which tells him she was probably doing OK at that point.

He hasn't checked on her condition, he said, because that feels too much like he's trying to take credit.

The local attention isn't something he's sought out, but said, "I made the mistake of telling one of my buddies on an off day."

That led to Chief Jim Maxwell finding out, who wanted to ensure Herberger got some recognition for his swift work to revive the woman.

"It's something anybody else would have done if they had been there," Herberger said. "If I hadn't have been there, somebody else would have done it. That nurse was only 30 seconds behind me. She would have done it."

The City of Batavia Fire Department will be flushing fire hydrants out today until 3 p.m. in the general area south of East Main Street and east of Jackson Street. Homes and businesses nearby will be affected. The rain date for testing is Friday, Sept. 30 from approximately 9 a.m. to 3 p.m.

These tests may result in a temporary discoloration of water in that area. As in the past, please do not attempt to wash any clothing if your water appears discolored.

Two young firefighters have joined the City of Batavia department and are undergoing rigorous training on day shifts.

New to the department are Collin Byrne, 23, of Rochester, and Michael Dorgan, 21, of Gates (originally from Brockport).

Byrne is a graduate of John Jay College with a criminal justice degree and Dorgan has a two-year degree from Monroe Community College in fire protection technology. He's enrolled at Empire College where he's pursuing a degree in fire service administration.

"We're both really excited to learn the area and serve the community as best we can," Dorgan said.

Dorgan said firefighting runs in his blood. Both his father and uncle are career firefighters and his grandfather is a lifelong volunteer firefighter.

"I'm excited to be here," Byrne said. "I became a firefighter to do some good, to help people out and because it's an honest living."

Below is a picture from one of their training sessions on Friday. The training was on low-angle basket rescue, which was conducted off South Jackson near the old bridge that crossed the railroad tracks.

Friday's MDA "Fill the Boot" drive sponsored by the IAFF local was an amazing success according to city firefighter Greg Ireland.

Ireland said city firefighters collected $7,156 for "Jerry's Kids."

That tops a record set last year by city firefighters when they raised $5,601.

"We are very grateful to the wonderful people of Batavia and Genesee County who gave to this great charity," Ireland said.

Members of the Batavia City Fire Department are out on Main, Ellicott and Court streets today with boots collecting donations for "Jerry's Kids."

The annual "Fill the Boot" fundraiser is sponsored by the International Association of Firefighters and benefits the Muscular Dystrophy Association.

City firefighters will be on scene until 5 p.m.

If you can't make it by or prefer to make a donation with a credit card, click here.

Capt. Pat O'Donnell is on his final shift with the Batavia Fire Department tonight.

He joined the department Sept. 5, 1979 and decided it's time to stow his boots permanently.

"The body is not like it used to be," O'Donnell said. "It takes a few days to recuperate after being here for four."

Divorced with two daughters in college, O'Donnell has no sure plans for his retirement. He is staying in Batavia (His family was in Elba when he was born and moved to Batavia when he was in third grade.) and looking forward to a summer of taking it easy, playing golf and taking a couple of trips with his girls.

Asked if he had a message for the community, O'Donnell said, "The community should feel blessed that they’ve got this place. The guys do a hell of a job with the equipment that they’ve got. I know over the course of the last two or three years we’ve gotten a lot of bad publicity but the people in the city don’t realize what they have in this place. They do a good job."

A team of five firefighters from the City of Batavia Fire Department participated in the American Lung Association's Fight for Air Climb this month.

The climb was a race up 38 floors -- or 800 steps -- that took place at the HSBC tower in Buffalo to raise funds for the American Lung Association. The team from Batavia finished second in the open team division with an average time of 6 minutes 44 seconds.

Also, the team raised a total of $955 for the American Lung Association, which is the leading organization working to save lives by improving lung health and preventing lung disease through education, advocacy and research.

These Batavia firefighters participated: Mark Sacheli, Greg Ireland, Mike Morris, Jeff Whitcombe and Jerry Yoder.

A story published by The Batavian in August 2009 received a second-place award from the International Association Firefighters in the organization's 2010 media awards.

The story, about the local firefighters' union annual MDA "Fill the Boot" campaign while ambulance layoffs loomed, was picked for nomination by City Fighterfighter Bob Fix and other members of the department.

The award category was for news stories on the Web. First place went to 1strespondernews.com.

A total of 245 entries from throughout the United States and Canada were judged in the competition.

Along with the recognition, the IAFF presented The Batavian with a $250 check.

Saturday, the Batavia Fire Department held an open house, which included a chance for the kids to shoot a fire hose at traffic cones, a chance to get a close-up view of the fire trucks, information on fire safety, a child seat safety check (with the help of Batavia Police) and a demonstration of how the fire department can get trapped people out of a car.

The dismantling of a car was pretty fascinating and are a good portion of the pictures after the jump.

To purchase pictures from the event, click here.

A few years as a Town of Batavia volunteer firefighter convinced Notre Dame graduate Mark Sacheli that he wanted to land a full-time job in the fire services.

This month, after 11 weeks of training at the New York State Fire Academy, things turned out for Sacheli better than he'd hoped -- now not only is he a career firefighter, he's serving in Batavia.

"I feel extremely fortunate to get a job doing what I love in my hometown," Sacheli said.

The 27-year-old bachelor was attending SUNY Brockport working toward a degree in physical education when his father suggested he would serve himself well by getting some EMT training and joining a volunteer department.

"After a few years I decided I didn't want to be a phys ed teacher," Sacheli said. "This is what I wanted to do. This is a career."

He said firefighting is an exciting job.

"Everything meshes well to make it a well-rounded job," Sacheli said. "Every day is different."

When he's not in uniform, Sacheli said he enjoys staying active. He described himself as an avid sports enthusiast who plays golf, softball, basketball and skies.

That fits in well with finding a job at home, where all of his friends live. He wanted to stay close to friends and family.

"The community is full of good people," Sacheli said.

City firefighters were at Robert Morris School this afternoon teaching the Pre-K students about fire safety. The class time included instruction on drop-tuck-and-roll, using your "outside voice" to get a firefighter's attention, and not being afraid of the big person in the funny looking suit.

City firefighters were back in training mode Friday afternoon, getting more practice with a safety system that will help them escape a burning building if they ever become trapped on a second floor or higher during a fire.

Chief James Maxwell said that in order to help personnel achieve the proficiency in the system he thinks they need (see previous story), he's now requiring the firefighters practice with the system at least once a quarter rather than only twice per year.

Not to be one to ask of his firefighters something he wouldn't do himself, Maxwell went through the training today as well.

Above, Firefighter Harmon goes through the drill. After the jump, Chief Maxwell and Firefighter Anne Kleinbach.

Being a relatively new observance, National Preparedness Month is not necessarily widely known. It is what Homeland Security designated the month of September in 2002, in response to the terrorist attacks on Sept. 11, 2001.

This initiative, which has the support of the Red Cross and other such organizations, is geared toward helping individuals, families, schools and workplaces develop efficient emergency response plans. This way, they will be ready in the event of a disaster -- natural or manmade.

Jim Maxwell, chief of the Batavia Fire Dept., recently commented on the fact that National Preparedness Month gets too little attention at the local level.

"It upsets me that not enough people get involved locally," he said. "I'd like to try and prepare for more (involvement) next year."

Maxwell's disappointment stems from his belief that every emergency is local in nature.

"It just depends on how you define local," he said. "'Local' starts in the household. For me (as fire chief), local means the City of Batavia. For someone like Jay Gsell (the Genesee County manager), the word 'local' has an even broader meaning. It (an emergency) starts and ends locally."

Of course, reparedness is not limited to September -- it ought to be a year-round priority.

"Part of my position is to make people aware," Maxwell said. "National Preparedness measures make things easier in the long run, because people are trained to handle smaller emergencies while we (firemen, emergency response teams, law enforcement, etc.) handle the bigger emergencies."

The chief pointed to National-Preparedness-Month-related websites that list things people can do to be ready for an emergency or disaster, as well as prepare for greater involvement in promoting the awareness campaign next year.

He mentioned websites like www.ready.gov, which educates people regarding steps they can take in order to successfully weather emergencies and provides information on what materials/provisions/supplies (and how many) they will need.

If you Google terms such as "National Preparedness Month" and "survival mom" (for parents), you will find a lot of useful information, including:

• how to coordinate an exit drill in your home
• establishing a meeting place for your family outside the home
• designating what Maxwell calls a "focal person" -- someone who is outside of the home, the area, or even the state -- who the family can contact if they get separated.

Another website Maxwell mentioned was www.72hourplan.com.

Anyone who is interested in contributing to National Preparedness Month next year or would simply like more information can contact Maxwell at jmaxwell@batavianewyork.com, or call 345-6400, ext. 4379.

James Maxwell, Batavia's new fire chief, has been on the job for only a few days, but he says he's getting settled in. He's worked with only two platoons of firefighters so far and said he's tried to let them know he believes in open communication.

"Bad news doesn't get better with time, so let's jump right on it," Maxwell said.

So far, though, Maxwell doesn't see any big changes coming and is impressed with the dedication and drive of department staff.

After a couple of years of musical chairs in the chief's office, the main thing now is to establish stable leadership, Maxwell said.

"(Turnover) has been unfair to the firefighters because of the inconsistency it creates," Maxwell said. "Hopefully, we can bring some continuity to the position."

One of the big questions on everybody's mind, Maxwell acknowledged, given his background in running a mixed department -- volunteers working along side full-time paid firefighters: Is the new chief aiming to move Batavia in that direction?

"That issue has not been expressed to me up to this point (by City Hall)," he said. "Two years from now, the organization may look very different than it does today. We don't know that it won't change. We don't have a crystal ball. As for now, the short term, it's business as usual."

City firefighters were at the Tonawanda Creek behind the courthouse this morning for some water rescue practice. It was a fairly simple exercise -- get the inflatable raft in the creek and guide it using ropes to waterfalls. It's been some years since anybody has drowned in this area of the creek, but the firefighters wanted to put together a plan to get the raft to the falls in case anybody ever becomes stuck there.

New City of Batavia fire chief Jim Maxwell is a wily veteran of Rochester-area fire departments. All in all, Maxwell has logged over 80 combined years, volunteer and paid, with the North Greece, Lakeshore and Kodak fire departments.

In a phone interview today, Maxwell said experiences during his 23 years at Kodak -- 10 of them as a as a haz-mat resource technician -- were especially educational.

"I think nowadays, you need to be prepared for any type of situation," says Maxwell. "I think the experience I've had with my 20-plus years with Kodak...has prepared me for this type of situation. Really, any type of structural fire you go to is a minor haz-mat situation, with the products of combustion that burn nowadays."

The Kodak department, however, did not strictly deal with chemicals. Maxwell says the Kodak complex was like a small city of its own in its heyday -- with all the emergency nuances of a city as well.

"You were looking at a daytime population of 20,000, with over 250 major buildings," he says. "We were 120 members strong...we operated out of three fire stations, and ran about 3,600 calls a year."

During his career, Maxwell has also served as a senior firefighter/EMT, lieutenant, battalion chief, deputy chief and assistant chief. But he has only one year's experience as chief of a department: 2006, with North Greece. Maxwell doesn't expect that to hamper him in Batavia.

"I feel with that background -- and other supervisory positions I've had throughout my career -- I'm prepared for the challenge."

At last night's Batavia City Council meeting, the council voted to give Maxwell a one-year exemption on the residency requirement, which mandates that the city fire chief live within the Genesee County lines.

Maxwell says with a year to go, moving isn't yet his top priority. He plans to first sit down with Fire Captain and former Acting Chief Craig Williams next week to find out about normal station operations. Then he'll set up a formal meeting with the entire station, and research the strategic five-year and 10-year plans for the fire department.

All that while still commuting from Greece. Maxwell says once he's comfortable in the new role, then he'll think about moving.

"It's close to home, living in Monroe County," notes Maxwell. "So with family close by, it makes that commute a lot easier than traveling to different areas of the country."

Commuter or not, Maxwell brings a level of stability -- finally -- to a department that's seen five chiefs in less than five years.

"I'm excited about the opportunity," he says, "and looking forward to working with the dedicated individuals in the organization...and moving forward in the right direction."

At National Night Out in Austin Park this evening, Batavia City Fire Department was on hand with Ladder 15. My joke, pointing to the top, "What's the price of the ride?"

That evolved into permission to get an actual ride high over Batavia aboard the platform of Ladder 15.

Thank you to city fire for letting me get a view of Batavia from such a great vantage point.

Firefighter Bob Fix drove the rig up and back down, and I know he was laughing under his breath when he said, "You know you can let go of the railing. You're wearing a harness."

The wind and any movement causing the bucket to sway wasn't frightful so much as it was disconcerting. I politely declined his offer to not keep one hand on the railing to steady myself.

More pictures after the jump (and more pictures from National Night Out T/K):

You may seen firefighters around town in pink T-shirts over the next week or so. It's not the new team color. After the wife of a firefighter was diagnosed with breast cancer, the entire department agreed to start wearing pink T-shirts as a sign of support. It's also turned into a fundraiser.

Members of the department will be at Thursday's Batavia Muckdog's game selling pink T-shirts with the Batavia City Fire Department logo on the front for $10 each. The proceeds will benefit Genesee Caner Assistance.

Pictured from left are, Rich Stefani, Mike Morris, Jeff Stevens, Bill Hilchey and Frank D'Angelo.

City firefighters raised $5,601 in support of the Muscular Dystrophy Association this year as part of its annual "Fill the Boot" campaign.

It's the most ever donated in a single MDA boot drive, according to Greg Ireland, president of IAFF Local 896.

On Friday, off duty firefighters, stood at the intersections of Main and Court and Ellicott and Court with firefighter boots and asked passersby to drop in donations.

"It was an amazing day," Ireland said.