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Fire Department prepares for active shooter events

By ABBY NITTA
abby.nitta@jrn.com

Franklin Franklins fire

department now offers ballistic
protective equipment (BPE) for
all of its personnel that would respond to an active shooter situation the equipment was purchased using funds from 2015s
budget and will be available to
personnel before the end of 2015.
The recent purchase of additional protective gear is the fire
and police departments response to what Police Chief Rick
Oliva called a paradigm shift
for fire department personnel
the need to enter a live scene.
You see what happens in different parts of the country seemingly on a daily basis, Fire Chief
Adam Remington said. Prior to
Columbine, we would stay at a
distance and wouldnt be involved until afterward, and basically the problem with that was
people died from injuries.

After recent mass shooting

events, such as the events in Paris
and San Bernardino, the police
and fire department saw a need
for fire and medical responders
to enter a potentially unsecured
shooter situation.
We dont go in there while
bullets are flying; thats not our
intent, Remington said. We
dont go in by ourselves we
would always go [with the police]. The police department is
armed, thats not our expertise.
Our focus is on the patients, gettingthemoutofthereandgetting
them treated.
Being prepared
While the fire department
had a few sets of BPE gear, the
new purchases will provide all responding personnel with their
own sets of protective helmets
and body armor.
Who would have thought
that there would be a mass shooter in Oak Creek? It can happen

anywhere, said Mayor Steve Olson, referring to the Sikh Temple

Shooting in 2012.
Our paramedic units were
on the scene just after the Oak
Creek units were.
In addition to providing protection in the event of fire department personnel responding to
another community, the purchase of additional gear realistically prepares for the future, according to Oliva and Remington.
You look at where these
things happen its communities like Franklin, Remington
said. Its happened in Oak
Creek, its happened in Brookfield. Its similar demographics,
similar makeups.
While Remington admitted
he was not an expert on active
shooter
or
mass-casualty
events, they typically dont occur in impoverished communities, but in suburban type communities similar to Franklin.
In
October,
several

Staff photo by Peter Zuzga

Police officers, fire department personnel and EMTs remove a

simulated victim from the scene of a mock mass shooting
exercise at the Wisconsin State Fair Park hosted by the
Greenfield Police Department in October.

Milwaukee-area police and fire

departments participated in an
active shooter simulation at the
Milwaukee State Fair grounds

hosted by the Greenfield Police

Department. Additionally, Oliva
anticipates more active shooter
training in 2016.

OPEN
Continued from Page 1

SO
Staff photo by Peter Zuzga

Though the difference between the Milwaukee area weatherandothernorthernareascanbe

only 3 to 4 degrees different, Pfeifer said, they can make snow and

wed just be watering the hill if we

turned the machines on.
While some classes and events
have been canceled due to the
warm weather, Pfeifer said that

rail jams, adult tubing and other Snowpark events will be scheduled after the park opens.
In the meantime, The Rocks
bar, Tap Works, will be open for

people to watch the snow being

madewhileenjoyingwineorbeer.
For updates on Snowpark
hours and events, visit mke.rock
snowpark.com.

December 31, 2015

Three of 14 Snow Guns operate at The Rock Spots Complex Tuesday, Dec. 29, in Franklin. The local ski hill is making snow as
weather permits.

cooperate.
The colder the temperatures
get, the more snow we can make,
Pfeifer said.
For safety reasons, the Snowpark must have a minimum
depth of 30 inches of snow in order to open the Snowpark.
We require at least a 30-inch
base to make sure any debris, a
boulder or rock thats 18 inches
high we want to make sure that
thats fully covered by snow and
wont pop up with a little bit of
melting, Pfeifer said.
Using the same snow machines used at Olympic events,
staffatTheRockwillmake10to12
feet tall snow piles the snow is
then spread out across acres of
land using a PistenBully.
We can output a large
amount of snow in a short
amount of time, but the temperatures have to be there, Pfeifer
said. I know a lot of the other ski
venues in Wisconsin were able to
make snow.