City Employees sacrifice to help others
Oct 7th, 2004
From the Museum of ArtDonnie Curtis our Museum Attendant Supervisor had to come in to the Museum on Thursday, September 16th because our fire alarm was going off non-stop. It was Friday before he and a serviceman from Johnson Controls were able to stop the alarm. It required going into the attic and removing some batteries. Apparently wind had been blowing through the attic and had dislodged something that made the alarm go off.
The building did not lose power but with no fire alarm or burglar alarm system working, Donnie had to "move in" to the Museum from 6:00 a.m. Friday, September 17th until Monday, September 20th when he was able to leave about 4:00 p.m. He brought bedding and an air mattress from home and slept in the hallway near the Museum Store each night. This is a "spooky" building in the dead of night with all kind of creaking noises that you don't hear during the day, Donnie said. He also mentioned that he had to make sure the building was securely locked or we would have had other "campers" inside. But it still wasn't as bad as staying in the Bernstein/Bush House at 355 Government Street (our former location) where the roof blew off the Mardi Gras gallery during Hurricane Frederick and soaked the Mardi Gras gowns.
From the Municipal Court
My name is Sandy Bettner and I work in Mobile Municipal Court second floor, Government Plaza. This is not about an employee, but about my own husband- Charles Bettner.
We live in a mobile home at Brown's Trailer Park off Moffat Road and most of the people that live there are older retired people with no family close by. My husband went to each and every trailer and checked on everyone. He told them that he was staying at our trailer until the weather got too bad and then he would move up to the office in front of the trailer park. He gave out his cellphone and home phone to everyone in the park to call to check on their trailer if they needed to while they were gone. He took one lady to a shelter at Baker High School, along with a lounger, snacks, drinks, books, water and a cellphone to call back after the storm because she had no family at all to take her in or check on her. After everyone left the park, including myself (I stayed with my father and stepmother off Cottage Hill Road) he drove around the trailer park at all times of the night with a big watt flashlight and checking to be sure that no one was breaking into these peoples homes. So that they wouldn't have to worry about more than a hurricane destroying their possessions. He stayed up all night patrolling the park and checking the trailers for would be looters.
Although there was not much damaged done to the trailers and the trailer park, other that limbs, leaves and debris, no one was hurt and was very thankful for what he had done for the people that lived there. No one had gone out of there way to help any of them this way before and they all tried to pay him for marshalling the area.
No one had power for 3 to 4 days, so my husband and I would grill what we had in the freezer and take it to the one's in the park that we knew did not have a great deal of income or transportation to go to the free food and ice drop off areas.
We made a choice of coming together and helping each other in a time of need and did what the best be could with a bad situation.
Thanks,
Sandy Bettner
From Traffic Engineering
Our tiny, but remarkably efficient Traffic Engineering Warehouse Crews spent a few days after the hurricane assisting the Public Works Dept w/removing obstacles from the roadways while repairing damaged and lost signs.
Our first priority was to replace STOP signs that were damaged or missing. We are still working long hours repairing the damaged and missing street signs including:
1. Street Name Signs
2. Stop/Yield signs
3. Speed Limit signs
4. No parking signs
5. Etc.
Our Electrical Dept. has been equally vigilant repairing Traffic Signals. The first ten days after the hurricane worked our two departments to exhaustion.
From Urban Development
Forestry Crew:
Urban Forestry with its 17 employees were ready for Hurricane Ivan on Wednesday morning, September 15, and were still cleaning trees from the streets at 8:00 PM on September 16. As of September 22, we have worked 1,827 man-hours and are scheduled to work twelve-hour days until all streets, public buildings and parks are safe. More than 700 trees have fallen from City property, and we have had an excess of 160 streets blocked by trees. Presently there are over 140 trees down within our park system, with Langan losing the most at 44 trees.
Urban Forestry was better able to serve our citizens through advanced technology, which includes 800-megahertz radios, wireless laptops and cell phones. This enabled us to communicate and monitor storm information throughout the weather event.
City of Mobile Damage Assessment:
Urban Development Code Inspectors Frank Sigler, Dennis Mott, Pat Lilley, Larry King and Rick Wilkerson, teamed up with personnel from the City Engineering Department to conduct damage assessment surveys within the City after Hurricane Ivan. This was the first tier general assessment whereby the team made windshield surveys identifying damage to streets and homes, and determining how many homes were inhabitable.
City of Orange Beach Damage Assessment:
Five Urban Development Code Inspectors have been loaned to the City of Orange Beach to assist in their second tier damage assessment. This second tier assessment consists of actual building investigation and identifying overall hazards to the building and site, and determining if a building is subject to collapse. After each evaluation, a notice will be posted on the building indicating if it is safe, unsafe or if there should be restricted use. Team members include Carl Broadhead, James "Mike" Black, Doug Tidwell, Wendy Mead and Larry King.
Urban Development Code Inspector Assists Occupants of Burning Building:
Dennis Mott, Urban Development Code Inspector, was driving down Dauphin Island Parkway conducting damage assessments in the vicinity of Hurtel Street when he was hailed by an anxious woman. She pointed to her family's place of business which was filled with smoke and informed him that her husband and children were in the building and refused to come out. Right away, Dennis called 911 and informed them of the situation and proceeded to drive to the structure. Once on the scene, Dennis went through one of the doors where he saw the husband and at the same moment, the children ran past him to safety. He led the distraught husband out of the burning building which at that time had become totally engulfed. Once outside, the husband realized he had left his keys inside and wanted to go back to retrieve them. Dennis realizing the danger, held the man at bay until the police had arrived to take control of the scene. Rather than leave, Dennis continued to assist the police.
A Municipal Court Story....
Saturday the Mobile Police Department needed a Magistrate to workup paperwork on arrests but the three Magistrates for Municipal Court were dealing with their families and problems at home due to the storm. The Court usually has six Magistrates and a Supervisor but due to retirement and personnel leaving we are working very shorthanded. Court Operations Supervisor, Laura Tarver came all the way in to Headquarters from her home in Calvert to accommodate the paperwork required for the arrests. She worked 10 hours to cover for those who could not get away to fulfill their duties before returning to her home.
This kind of dedication to duty should be applauded and rewarded.
Mobile Fire Rescue Department
1705 Alba Ave. House Fire
First unit on scene: 8:05 p.m.
We had a waterfront house on Dog River fully involved that was threatening the house directly to the east. The second house suffered minor damage and was protected by extraordinarily aggressive firefighting. The firefighters did an outstanding job considering the wind gusts that were occurring down off of DIP. There was substantial risk during this operation.
Once the fire was controlled to the exposures, E16 made an interior attack to the fire building to extinguish the main body of the fire. Remaining units continued to mop up around sides 2 and 4, and to address the remaining fire located in the basement of the fire building.
Much consideration was given to the overhaul stage to eliminate any chance of a rekindle during the "cease operations order" expected from the EOC. Conditions deteriorated rapidly near the end of the operation as crews were loading hose to return to service. All crews performed admirably throughout the operation, and we credit their aggressive attack and extensive overhaul as major events enabling us to save two exposed residences.
Engine 9
R.A. Kesterson
J.E.Hudson
A.L.Simon
C.D.Stewart
L.N.Tait
Engine 16
Eric Frazier
Brent Becker
Maurice Vautier
Elbert Cross
Randall Reed
Engine 20
Paul Cumba
Gordon Pierce
Wayne Dixon
Bobby Pounds
Steven Reed
Rescue 24
Gerry Rutland
Brad Cox
Truck 24
J.D.Lyons
M.T.Hall
E.A.Ard
J.R.Martin
B.D.Jackson
Inspectors
Gene Bennett
Roderick Shoots
Joe Dowling
Command
Martin Stanley
Todd Allman
6445 Dauphin Island Parkway House Fire
First unit on scene: 8:31
On 9/15/04 @ 20:17 the Mobile Fire-Rescue Department responded to a structure fire at 6445 Dauphin Island Parkway. Weather conditions were poor at best during the initial response due to Hurricane Ivan approaching. The house located just south of Dog River on DIP was fully involved upon arrival. Engine 9 was first on the scene and began and aggressive attack in an attempt to save the structure. Weather conditions were rapidly deteriorating with strong wind making the fire impossible to extinguish. After a short time on scene the winds picked up to where just standing up was difficult at times. The wind gusts were so severe that streams from deck guns traveled less than 8 feet.
Power lines including a transformer on side B of the structure, began to arc as they were whipped back and forth. The power lines failed and fell across the yard of the burning structure minutes after the firefighters pulled back from the structure for safety. We immediately went into defensive operations in an attempt to contain the blaze and prevent it from spreading to other structures and property. In the face of impossible operating conditions the personnel on these companies performed above and beyond the norm.
Engine 9
R.A. Kesterson
J.E.Hudson
A.L.Simon
C.D.Stewart
L.N.Tait
Engine 7
R.I.McKeown
P.G.Howell
J.M.Walter
S.A.Schmidt
K.E.McLarty
Engine 23
B.S..Zirlott
R.C.Easley
W.C.Lowery
R.L.Long
J.T.Gambill
Truck 24
J.D.Lyons
M.T.Hall
E.A.Ard
J.R.Martin
B.D.Jackson
Rescue 7
R.J.Hodge
J.L.Kinkead
Command
D.C.Meyers
H.L.Smith
T.G.Smith
D.D.Cooper
W.A.Pappas
HazMat Incident
On 9/15/04 @ 22:56 the Mobile Police Department requested assistance with a meth lab, at 3201 Schillinger Rd N, that was leaking ammonia. Mobile Fire-Rescue's Hazardous Material Team was dispatched to assist. Despite high winds, that made getting to the scene dangerous, the members of our Haz-Mat units braved the storm to get the specialized equipment and expertise needed to stabilize the situation to the scene. The members of our Haz-Mat team who responded to this call went above and beyond and deserve to be commended.
Haz-Mat 15
J.G.Beatty
J.B.Connick
C.R.Carter
C.E.Hudson
W.J.Holmes
Command
P.R.Smith
J.D.Turner
Mutual Aid Response
Gulf Shores, Ft Morgan, and Orange Beach
On 9.19.2004 a request was made by Chief Tim Blakemore though State EMA which triggered the Alabama Mutual Aid System (AMAS). The MFRD agreed to commit resources and Monday morning a team arrived at Gulf Shores Fire Station #1 and began operations. During the week additional personnel and equipment were sent to Gulf Shores and Ft Morgan, equipment was requested by Orange Beach.
The Gulf Shores Fire Department utilized the member's extensive training for a variety of needed tasks. Personnel used their structural training to assist with building assessments, their hazardous materials training was used to help secure LPG tanks that had been displaced by the storm and were leaking, their medical training was used to treat injured victims. In addition to the above duties our personnel also manned the fire trucks so the local firefighters could go home to take care of the needs of their family and get some much needed rest. Even with all the chaos that was going on our personnel spent what little down time they had washing the apparatus and cleaning the sand out of the stations so the members of the Gulf Shores Department would be able to get back to some sort of normalcy as soon as possible.
A 24-hour shift rotation was set up with crews changing @ 0830 every morning. The operation began on 9/20/04 and ended on 9/25/04.
Chief Blakemore, Gulf Shores Fire Department was extremely grateful for all the help provided and stated that "I never realized what a top notch department Mobile was until I got a chance to work with these guys. If this an example of how things are done in Mobile, you should all be extremely proud."
The below members of the Mobile Fire-Rescue US&R Team that participated in this operation went above and beyond the norm and acted as outstanding ambassadors for the City of Mobile.
MFRD-AMAS assistance to the Coastal area was terminated on 9.25.2004 at 10:00 am.
Participating Members
S.M.Crush
P.M.Sealy
E.D.Creel
C.L.Anderson
R.L.McKenzie
L.A.Tacon
C.L.Lyons
M.J.Smith
C.O.Lucky
B.K.Weaver
G.C.Brewer
K.R.Tillman
E.A.Lyons
L.O.Williams
A.A.May
K.H.Keller
C.P.Cooper
J.B.Frank
M.S.Campbell
R.F.Brannon
Mobile Police Department
On noon Friday, September 17, 2004, Lieutenants Keith Stalling and Bruce Yunker were tasked with the difficult assignment of working out a distribution process for thousands of tons of water and ice to serve the hurricane-stricken residents of Mobile County. This job turned out to be stressful and complex. On the first day, the distribution was limited solely to one site at the Mobile Civic Center. There were so many needy citizens that the line of traffic in the first hour of operations became unwieldy and dangerous as it blocked traffic on a major thoroughfare. Both lieutenants were tasked with working out a plan, eventually for both the Civic Center site and a site at Moffett and Shelton Beach Roads, to peacefully and expeditiously move an enormous amount of traffic for nine to 12-hour days in 90-degree weather. These two men were in charge of off-loading up to a dozen tractor-trailers a day. Each of them had a minimum of 25 officers working under them. Lt. Yunker commanded the site at the Civic Center, and Lt. Stallings headed up the distribution at Moffett and Shelton Beach Roads. From the first day, when both lieutenants had to corral and organize the huge numbers of motorists seeking aid, they planned and commanded an efficient operation. They were required to think quickly; in that first day of operations the moved 20,000 bags of ice and 10,000 cases of water. The operation, which the next day expanded to the Moffett Road site, functioned successfully for five days, through September 21. I was pleased as well as impressed with both lieutenants' performance in difficult times. They both performed under considerable stress with success and did not once complain or ever indicate that they were becoming weary.
Mobile Police Department
While assigned to the Emergency Operations Center, Captain Barton took the lead in many functions. Two of the functions was coordinating with FEMA, the state, county, and EMA to properly stage and deliver goods. He also coordinated with the Salvation Army the delivery of food and water to the police department. Both of these task was done for many days. Walt Dickerson, EMA Operations Officer, stated to me Captain Barton's actions were exceeded than outstanding. He assisted Walt in many fucntions in addition to the above. His actions brought much credit to the department.
Mobile Police Department
Chief, I would like to name Captain James Barber, First Precinct Commander, as an Outstanding Performer during Hurricane Ivan. Captain Barber evacuated the First Precinct due to expected high water levels. He relocated his officers to the Fourth Precinct and made sure everyone was accounted for and the building and equipment was secure before leaving the area. He was in fact the last one to leave.
Captain Barber took command of both Precincts due to the re-assignments of Captain Barton and Major Rodgers to the Emergency Management Agency. He worked closely with all the Lieutenants to provide police service to all the citizens of Mobile during the storm. Captain Barber stayed on the streets during most of the time, touring the emergency shelters, checking for damage to our city and kept watchful eye for the safety of our citizens and officers. He also made rounds of the city with other command officers, keeping them informed of what was going on. Captain Barber, remained on our city streets until the order was given for all officers to find a place of safety.
Captain Barber, continued to provide outstanding service during the aftermath of Ivan's destruction. He provided personnel from both Precincts for security at the ice and tarp distribution centers, the Salvation Army stations and the many other assignments that was required.
Mobile Police Department
The entire Ranger Unit demonstrated the kind of performance in the ice distribution that reflects the type of performance that we all should strive for. I recommend Major Garrett, his supervisors, and all the officers involved be recognized. A unit award may also be in order. Captain Barton did an exceptional job while in the Emergency Operations Center. A Commander's Citation is probably in order for him. I will prepare it later.
Mobile Police Department
The entire Identification Unit performed superbly to minimize the damage and loss of equipment and facilities during the storm. Storm preparation included the removal of computer equipment from the desks along the windowed side of the building. The AFIS equipment was removed from the main office. All computer equipment was covered with plastic. Fingerprint files were also all covered for protection.
Upon learning from EMA that a strong possibility of flooding in the basement area of property existed, the day shift personnel removed all equipment from the photo-lab. The removal of the photo-lab itself became an involved ordeal. The lab was too large to fit in the elevator and a lift truck was unavailable. Cpl. Jernigan then suggested that we call the contract wrecker and have them respond with a roll back. As the rains moved in they were able to get the equipment on the roll back and moved into a more secured area on the east side of the building. Officer Sarubin and Lt. Rose who were assigned to the night shift storm duties came in early to assist.
During the storm a few hours after we lost total power, one of the windows on the north wall burst open. Glass landed on the desk of CSI Myers as he sat seated. The night shift acquired a board and a brace and secured the gapping hole. As the winds increased the patch failed. Moving quickly they the covered the whole with two boards, a folding table, a brace, and several long nails. This patch held and prevented substantial water damage.
After securing the window, the roof literally came off. Ceiling tiles becoming soaked with water began crashing to the floor. The entire crew supplemented by detectives began utilizing every available garbage can to collect the incoming water. The cans were then manually bailed until the rain subsided. This action prevented further damage and perhaps collapsing of the second floor, minimizing the damage sustained to the ground floor of the building. Similar incidents also occurred in the C.I.D. area of the building. A list of the I.D. personnel along with Detectives whose actions minimized the damage sustained to police headquarters follows:
Lt. Joe Rose
Lt. Linda Tims
Sgt. Ed Elia
Sgt. Glenn Garside
Sgt. Matt Garrett
Cpl. David Ellzey
Cpl. Greg Camilleri
Cpl. Lawrence Jernigan
Cpl. Russell Benefield
Cpl. Michael Womack
Ofc. Stephen Gordon
Ofc. Nick Crepeau
Ofc. Louis Screws
Ofc. Joanne Watson
Ofc. Angela Prine
Ofc. Lane Wittington
Ofc. Rick Chenoweth
Ofc. Mark Sarubin
Ofc. Raymond Pecue
CSI Ronald Myers
CRO Christen Brown
It should also be noted that Lt. James Graham performed his duties in an outstanding manner, displaying positive leadership in a very stressful environment. Lt. Graham although he was junior to most of the Lt.'s assigned to the Criminal Investigations Section, stepped up to the plate. He arrived early Thursday morning found me, and sought out the tasking of the day. Furthermore, he repeated this routine throughout the emergency operation period. In addition to assigning detectives to handle calls and details on the day shift, Lt. Graham handled the daily accounting of payroll for more than 80 assigned personnel.
Mobile Police Department
Subject: Maintenance Supervisor James Ward (JW)
During and preceding hurricane Ivan JW took initiatives to avert many of the problems we had dealt with previous storms. During and after the storm JW addressed issues as they arose and limited our losses.
Prior to the storm;
- The generator was checked for fuel; the electrical panel was checked to verify it was sealed from the environment.
- Sandbags were placed in strategic places to brace against possible flooding; the storm surge was predicted to cause flooding in the basement which has two large garage type door; two standard doors and an elevator door.
- Plywood had to be purchased to cover the lower front windows on the east end of the building; the old plywood used previously was stored in a building near training. Its roof had collapsed and ruined the wood. The wood had to be measured and cut precisely, then put in place.
- File cabinets from the basement, Property Unit, were moved to the first floor. The cabinets contain many years of records of valuable evidence.
- Electrical equipment, file cabinets, and desks had to be covered with polypropylene plastic to shelter it from the water which might enter the building.
During and after the storm;
- When the storm struck the generator failed (again because of an electrical short), and JW who was working the 6am to 6pm shift had to be called at home in the middle of the night on his cell phone. The problem couldn't be corrected although JW talked personnel through the procedure to check known problem areas. It was finally determined that the problem couldn't be repaired by our personnel.
- When JW reported for duty on Thursday morning (after the storm) he was faced with a building without power and a building with a hole in its roof which had and was leaking water into the occupied areas of the building. He proceeded to secure equipment from wet areas of the building to areas were still dry and proceed to remove water that was standing in areas of the building.
- During the day he worked with the electrical department to restore power to the building. A portable generator was put in place; he worked alongside the electrical department. Although the generator didn't work he was there to lend a hand.
- On Saturday he spent the entire day removing wet carpet from the building.
Throughout storm JW placed his job with the Police Department ahead of his personal affairs and property to make sure the department's needs were met. It was through his endeavors that valuable equipment wasn't damaged or destroyed.