Norwalk FD's cold water/ice rescue team assisted Winterset FD, Madison Co EMS, and the Madison Co Sheriff's Dept with an apparent double drowning. For more information, see: http://www.desmoinesregister.com/article/20120131/NEWS/301310033/Pair-drown-while-ice-fishing-Madison-County?odyssey=obinsite http://www.desmoinesregister.com/article/20120201/NEWS/302010047/After-drownings-officials-say-fishing-on-ice-unsafe-scary-

CONGRATULATIONS to the West Des Moines Fire Training Academy recruits who graduated today!!! What an accomplishment for everyone.....you should all be proud!!! Norwalk FD Recruits Don Sleeth, Tyler Dahms, Shane Card, Robert Nichols, Jason Powell, Tom Westhoff, & Branden Kuhns each received a number of awards in addition to their Firefighter I, Firefighter II, and Hazardous Materials certifications.

On Saturday, January 21, 2012, members of the Norwalk Fire Department conducted an ice rescue drill. For more pictures, go to the Photo Gallery.

SCBA drills were conducted for the January fire training. For pictures, go to the photo gallery.

Today, at 7:30 AM, the Norwalk Fire Department was dispatched to Highway 28 & Dubuque Trail for a motor vehicle crash with injuries. One patient was extricated by Fire Department staff and was transported to a Des Moines Trauma Center by air ambulance. A second victim sustained minor injuries and was released at the scene. None of the injuries appear to be life threatening. The Norwalk Fire Department was assisted by West Des Moines EMS and Mercy One helicopter. The Warren County Sheriff’s Department is investigating the cause of the crash. Please click photo for more images.

The Iowa Department of Public Safety, State Fire Marshal Division reports 2011 ended with 186 people saved from fire death or injury by working smoke alarms. Most of the fires from which the citizens escaped, occurred in the evening when the occupants were sleeping. The simple sound of a fire alarm saved their lives. The two most common causes of these fires were improperly discarded smoking materials or careless smoking, and unattended cooking or stove fires. “As Iowans are trying to pinch pennies, people are staying home to eat instead of dining out. Inexperienced cooks are trying to make fast foods at home and it’s resulted in a large spike in kitchen fires,” says Special Agent Supervisor Kyle Gorsh. While the 186 lives saved by smoke alarms is a positive increase from the 146 lives saved in 2010, it should not overshadow the fact 46 people died from fires in 2011. That is an increase of thirteen deaths compared to the 33 fire deaths from 2010. State Fire Marshal Ray Reynolds says, “We occasionally hear news stories in which a person wakes up on their own and alerts other family members to a fire. These instances are pure luck. While we’re always happy to hear of lives saved from fire, we hope your fire prevention plan doesn’t rely on luck alone.” The State Fire Marshal Division offers these important fire safety tips to prevent fires in your home as well as prepare your family to respond if a fire does occur: Never leave cooking materials unattended and assure you have shut the burner off when walking away from the stove; even for a minute. If you smoke, consider smoking outside your home and place cigarette butts in a metal can filled with sand. Be sure cigarettes are completely extinguished before discarding. We also recommend you consider the health benefits of not smoking. Creating a healthier you and a decreased risk of fire is a win-win! Practice exit drills with your family to make sure everyone knows how to escape a fire and where to meet once outside the home. Install smoke alarms on all levels of the house and in every bedroom and hallway. If using battery smoke alarms, consider using lithium batteries for extended life. Sometimes small fires can be extinguished with a ten pound, ABC rated fire extinguisher. Fires grow rapidly so never over commit to extinguishing a fire. Know how, and when to retreat out of your home if you are using a fire extinguisher.

From the 26 November 2011 Des Moines Register: "A fire caused an estimated $30,000 worth of damage to a Norwalk house Friday afternoon, authorities said. Nobody was inside 4653 Wakonda Drive. The fire started in a laundry area in the basement. That area was damaged, and there was extensive smoke damage in the house, Norwalk firefighters said in a news release. Norwalk and West Des Moines firefighters had the fire under control by 1:30 PM, about 15 minutes after they were called to it."

The Norwalk City Council voted on November 17 to approve funding for “funding of the Public Safety Communications Project with Westcom” after the council met in a special session at Westcom with officials from Westcom and Motorola on October 27. Westcom is in the process of launching a complete rebuild of their 800MHz radio system next year, comprising of a five-site simulcast Project 25 system. With Norwalk joining as a subscriber, coverage will stretch across Dallas, Polk, and Warren counties. The City of Norwalk will add a sixth site in Warren County that is connected to the main Westcom cell. The plan also calls for mobile data terminals for all Norwalk Police & Fire vehicles. The Westcom Dispatch Center is a consolidated Public Safety Answering Point (PSAP) aka: emergency dispatch center, that currently receives public safety related calls and dispatches for the cities of West Des Moines, Clive, and Urbandale. Westcom is located in the West Des Moines Public Safety building located at 8055 Mills Civic Parkway, West Des Moines, Iowa. The newly updated and expanded dispatch center moved to this building in March 2009. The consolidation of dispatch centers into one allows for greatly improved communication between all of the public safety agencies by placing all participating cities onto one trunked 800 MHz radio system. This merger allows the agencies to directly communicate with one another during large-scale incidents / accidents rather than attempting to communicate via the three separate radio systems. Other advantages of the centralized dispatch facility are: * financial savings through the shared use of an existing radio / mobile computer system. *increased savings and better information sharing by having multiple metro cities on one police and fire computerized records management system. *elimination of duplicated governmental services by consolidation and centralization of this function. *opportunities and methods involving new technology can be pursued more economically by the cities sharing the cost rather than each paying for individual systems or applications. It has taken nearly 2 1/2 years of research, planning, legal processes, and much discussion for the city of Norwalk to reach this decision. The formal agreement between Norwalk and Westcom was signed by Mayor Pierce on November 18, 2011. The communities that make-up Westcom share the related expenses for the dispatch center based upon a percentage breakdown of the total number of calls for service received by the center. Westcom is currently staffed by sixteen full-time dispatchers and four part-time call takers. The center is managed by three Dispatch Shift Supervsiors, an Assistant Chief, and a Chief. The policy oversight body for Westcom is a committee made up of representatives of the three cities and chaired by a city manager. Look for more information on our website as this PSAP merger continues to move forward to a cut over date!

Wednesday night, members of the Norwalk Fire Department service tested fire hose. Fire hose is tested annually to ensure that the hose is in optimum condition and able to function under maximum pressure during fire fighting conditions. Hose is pressurized and examined for defects or damage, and any damaged or defective hose is taken out of service.

As you may have seen, Saturday November, 12th the Norwalk Firefighter’s Association is sponsoring the 2nd Annual Chili Cook-off. While we are excited about this event, this year it takes on a different purpose. This year the Association has decided to donate the proceeds from the event to FireMedic Brian Onstot who was injured in a farming accident in his “regular” job to help with medical bills, personal expenses and whatever else he or his family may need as he recovers. I have written how thankful I am being the Fire Chief for the City of Norwalk knowing it has supported Public Safety, always seen value in this service and wants to ensure we have what we need to do our jobs safely. However, FireMedic Onstot is the piece you rarely hear about. He is one of many people who show up to the calls at all different hours, not knowing what to expect, but willing to help. Without members like FireMedic Onstot the trucks do not roll, the equipment does not get used and we can’t answer your call for help, whatever it may be. All of our members work hard to provide the best service possible and FireMedic Onstot is no different. They all give countless hours for meetings, trainings and calls. FireMedic is very active with his family which includes five children, works with a wrestling program for young children and gives freely of his time to provide Fire and EMS services to the citizens of Norwalk. He is a part of our family of almost 45 people here at the fire station and we would appreciate your help in supporting him (and us) in a difficult time. I can honestly say that he has already “paid it forward” to many in the community and this is our chance to show that what these people do is important to us and appreciated. The Norwalk Firefighter’s Association has taken a lot of pride in not soliciting many donations or having a lot of fund raisers. However, I am asking you to stop by and try a bowl (or two) of chili to help support a member of our community, a fellow firefighter and EMT and a genuinely good person. Thank you in advance for showing you are thankful for people like FireMedic Onstot and for your continued support of the Fire Department. Respectfully, Dustin Huston, Fire Chief, Norwalk Fire Department