Wisconsin State Fire Service Emergency Response Plan Approved
WI Emergency Response Plan Document Link
The Wisconsin State Homeland Security Council unanimously approved the Wisconsin State Fire Service Response Plan (WSFSERP) today at its regularly scheduled meeting in Madison, Wisconsin. Wisconsin Mutual Aid Box alarm System President Fire Chief Bryan Satula (Oak Creek) made the presentation to the Council on behalf of the plan development taskforce. General Dunbar, Adjutant General of the Wisconsin National Guard and Chair of the Security Council made the motion to approve the plan which was followed by a unanimous vote for approval. Chief Satula states, “This is a great day for the fire service because this puts a plan in place that serves all of Wisconsin and completes a several year project of developing and advancing mutual aid concepts in our state.” Chief Satula also reported that today the State of Minnesota passed into law an interstate mutual aid pact that allows mutual aid resources to flow freely between Wisconsin and Minnesota. This dramatically increases the available resources between states that were previously only available through special agreements with the states attorney generals offices.
The Wisconsin Fire Service Emergency Response Plan places the Wisconsin fire service at the forefront in our state. We are the first of the big three municipal disaster response components to complete a statewide plan. DPW and Police are still in the planning states. The framework of the plan is the Mutual Aid Box Alarm System. As each county or region begins to stand up divisions we exponentially expand the resources that are available to us. All it takes is a radio call and without a seconds thought you will get what you need. This allows the incident commander to focus on the fire ground and the job at hand.
The future of the program will allow the dispatch of units from all over the state simultaneously to a major disaster in your community. There is more work to be done. The frame work exists, now the infrastructure of the dispatch must be put in place. Once that exists the taskforce will conduct full scale exercises with the goal of 90 units in 90 minutes. This program works, it was tested at the Patrick Cudahy Fire in Cudahy, WI. See the attached success story below.
Chief Satula reiterated the, “the development of this plan was a team effort; the taskforce was composed of representative from the Wisconsin State Fire Chiefs Association, Wisconsin Emergency Management, and Wisconsin MABAS. This collaborative effort ensures that our plan will be interoperable and useful for all fire service agencies in Wisconsin. Chief Satula further expressed his gratitude to General Dunbar and the Security Council for the endorsement of the plan.
SUCCESS STORY: WI Fire Chiefs Activate Newly Approved IMAS
Two weeks after the Wisconsin State Fire Chiefs Association approved their newly developed Intrastate Mutual Aid System (IMAS), the Wisconsin Fire Service Emergency Response Plan (WFSERP) was put to the test and encountered great success. The City of Cudahy (pop. 18,000) Fire Department, a suburban community south of Milwaukee, battled a large industrial facility fire at the Patrick Cudahy Meat Processing Plant for more than three days. The size of the facility and the intensity of the fire required the first activation of the recently approved Wisconsin Fire Service Emergency Response Plan.
The Cudahy Fire Department is a participating member of the Mutual Aid Box Alarm System of Wisconsin (MABAS-WI). The 25 member career department responded to the fire at 10 pm on July 5, 2009 and immediately elevated the response to a box and second alarm through their local MABAS agreement. Three additional subsequent alarms were requested resulting in 16 engines, 9 ladders and 10 Chiefs on the scene.
On July 6 at 9:23 am the Wisconsin Fire Service Emergency Response Plan was activated to bring additional fire resources to the scene over the next three days. The state plan, using the MABAS-WI Interdivisional Box assignments provided: seven Task Forces, two Strike Teams (Ladders and Tenders) and a number of special equipment including the City of Milwaukee HazMat, Airport Rescue, Rehab Unit, and Utility Units (Lights). In total the WFSERP sent to the scene and/or held on deck for relief assignments: 25 Engines, 15 Ladders, 5 Heavy Rescues, 23 Chiefs, and 6 Tenders. There were about 150 firefighters on the scene at the peak of the firefight. Fire crews remained on the scene for about a week.
The coordination of resource management and communication was handled by the MABAS Division 107 Dispatch Center at Wauwatosa Fire/Police Dispatch Center. They followed the plan and did an outstanding job of finding the appropriate resources, and tracking these resources during and after the deployment as requested by the Incident Management Team (IMT).
The Wisconsin Fire Service Emergency Response Plan was developed to provide an Intrastate Mutual Aid System (IMAS) to efficiently move fire service resources throughout the state of Wisconsin. This plan was created through cooperative efforts and leadership of the Wisconsin State Fire Chiefs Association (WSFCA), the Wisconsin Emergency Management (WEM), the Mutual Aid Box Alarm System – Wisconsin (MABAS-WI) and the International Association of Fire Chiefs.
For more information about the Wisconsin mutual aid plan, please visit www.mabaswisconsin.org. For more information about the IAFC’s Intrastate Mutual Aid System (IMAS) program, please visit www.iafc.org/mutualaid.
Together we can and we will make a difference!
Fire Chief Bradley J. Liggett President, WSFCA
City of Beloit Fire Department
1111 Church Street
Beloit WI 53511
Office (608) 364-2902
Fax (608) 364-2925
Cell (608) 751-6201
Email: liggettb@ci.beloit.wi.us
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