Woo-Hoo! Fire Alarm's Done!

25 Jan 08

I did, in fact, make it to Fire Alarm today, which is housed on West Exchange Street - down behind the building that I will ALWAYS call The Civic Center! (I REFUSE to call it by the "new name".) Anyway...

I arrived at 11 am and was brought to see Chief Jim Taylor. He brought me over to the room where the dispatchers are and as we walked in, my friend Kevin Gomes turned around in his chair. With a huge smile on his face, his first words to me were, "did you bring food?"

I knew at that moment that the day would be a fun one!

I was happy to see that Jim and Kevin were not the only two of my friends there today, but Larry Warner was also working. I was introduced to Capt. Bill Moise and Dispatchers Bob Papa, Sr., Mark Kearney (the new guy) and the world-famous John Lanzone. (Okay, maybe not WORLD famous, but famous in MY world.) Let me explain...

I have been listening to the PFD scanner for a few years now and the first time I listened, there was this one guy who cracked me up. He seemed like he was the kind of guy who was really great at his job - very professional - but able to bring a little levity to the situations when needed. To most people - even firefighters on the Providence Fire Department, he's just a voice that directs companies to go to where they're needed. It seems to me, though, that he's more than that to most people on the department.

Back to the filming. I got my camera set up and did some lighting tests. I was concerned about low light levels, but I think I managed to overcome that. A good portion of it can be corrected in post-production, anyway, but any good photographer takes care of it at the time of the shoot (yes, that's Fran talking!). Ya work with what ya got, folks. I finally got everything set up how I wanted it and it started out slow, not a lot going on. That didn't last long, though. The phones started ringing and I started filming. During a quieter moment, Larry Warner (who just made Lieutenant - YAY LARRY!) explained the board that handles all of the box alarms in the City. (Box alarms are master alarms inside commercial buildings and high-rises, as well as the pull-boxes that are on telephone poles that you can pull for emergency situations.) I talked about the job with each of the guys at one point or another, during the in-between-call times.

What was truly amazing, though, was watching John Lanzone. This guy's been on the job for thirty-two years and is masterful at what he does. You can rattle off any random street name in the City of Providence and he can tell you which companies would be dispatched to it, right off the top of his head. I watched as he dispatched calls to various companies and as he finished dispatching on the box alarms (possible fire calls), I noticed that he would start writing down other available trucks. He explained to me that he does that in case there is an actual fire and another alarm needs to be sent out. He's pre-planning, even though the likelihood of an actual fire is fairly small. He does this every time, just in case. Even after all these years on the job, he never EXPECTS that a call will be a false alarm. He anticipates what will be needed and gets it together on a piece of scrap paper, off to the side. It really is amazing to watch.

Once I got into the groove of what I was doing and the phones started going, I was able to follow a full call, from the phone being answered through the dispatching of units to the scene. The call comes in and is answered by a one dispatcher, in this case, Mark. Mark speaks to the person, gets the pertinent information and before he even hangs up with the caller, the "run card" is on the second dispatcher's computer screen. In this case, it was John Lanzone. He finds the available companies and tips the alarms via a switchboard for each station. He then announces the call over the voc-alarm system, which I've talked about before.

"Attention Engine 2 and Rescue 5 a still alarm." He pauses. "That's Engine 2 and Rescue 5, respond to eleven-twelve, that's eleven-hundred and twelve North Main Street at Radiation Oncology for a report of a man having difficulty breathing." He pauses again and repeats the information, adding, "he has just had a radiation treatment and is now having difficulty breathing." Several seconds later, a voice responds to John. "Engine 2, received." John keys the voc alarm. "Rescue 5?" A moment later, they respond. "Rescue 5 received and on the way."

John turns and begins explaining some of the Standard Operating Procedures to me, but his ear is always tuned to the radio. There is also a foot pedal that keys the radio, so even if his hands aren't close to the button, he can still step on the pedal to respond. As he's speaking with me, a call comes back. "Engine 2 on the scene." John immediately steps on the pedal, turns to the microphone and responds. "Engine 2 you're on the scene at 12:42." He turns back to me and picks right back up where he left off. "Engine 2 to Fire Alarm," a voice announces. John's footpedal immediately activated. "Go ahead, Engine 2," John responds. "Be advised, patient is an elderly male. He has had a radiation treatment we're getting further vitals. We have him on O2 now." John wastes no time. "Received, Engine 2. Rescue 5?" They respond. "Rescue 5 received." He returns to explaining the operating procedures to me. A few moments later, his explaination is cut off by Rescue 5. "Rescue 5 on the scene." Again, he steps on the pedal. "Rescue 5 you're on the scene at 12:46."

It's an incredible little dance that these people do. All the while, phones are ringing and other things are going on, which is why there are multiple dispatchers in the room. When everything hits the fan all at once - and believe me, it does - there are enough people there to handle all of the traffic, even if there are multiple companies at multiple locations.

I was told about the night that the Motiva Pier went up in flames, a stormy night that was already crazy. Once that fire started, all hell broke loose and what's worse, the power was knocked out and the computers at Fire Alarm were lost. John Lanzone was working that night and more people were called in to handle the multitudes of calls going on that evening. While Motiva was burning, there were downed power lines, motor vehicle accidents - all kinds of insanity. John was handling a good deal of the traffic from the mobile incident command unit because of the loss of power.

What did I learn today? It takes a whole hell of a lot of work to be a dispatcher for the fire department. They aren't just some schmuck with a radio who calls out a company to respond to a call. You have to be on your toes and ready for anything. It's the heartbeat of the Fire Department... where it all starts and where it all finishes.

"Engine 2 in quarters and off."

"Engine 2, you're in and off at 13:10," Lanzone responds.

"Rescue 5 transporting to Miriam."

"Rescue 5 to Miriam 13:11."

And when Rescue 5 is finished with the run to Miriam, they will let John Lanzone or Larry Warner or Kevin Gomes or Bob Papa or Mark Kearney know that they are available and they or one of the many others at Fire Alarm will respond.

"Rescue 5 available..."

On and on it goes, folks. Twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week. They're always there, waiting to listen to us, waiting to send the firefighters out to help us and manage communications during the runs. It's truly an incredible operation.

My deepest thanks to Battalion Chief Jim Taylor and all at Fire Alarm for letting me hang out with them today. John Lanzone - thanks for giving me a crash-course in dispatching. I am honored to be able to say that you trained me!

Oh, and Kevin... I hope you actually did share that chocolate cream pie I came back with later on.