Apex got a new Fire Chief two years ago and this evening he was our special guest speaker. Chief Tim Herman came to us from Garner where he was in the Garner Fire Department for 26 years and was the Chief for the last 12 of those years.
Tim started off by informing us that the primary mission statement for the Fire Department includes Risk Reduction, Response Redness and Commitment to Excellence. You might be surprised to learn that putting out fires is actually a relatively small part of what the fire department actually does. Not surprisingly, it is the goal of the fire department to avoid having fires to put out in the first place.
Currently there are 115 Full-time employees in the department. The firefighters themselves are divided up into 3 shifts of 34 which rotate so that there is 24-7 coverage. The department has 8 trucks and each firefighter receives approximately 3,000 hours of training every year in many different disciplines. They can handle all sorts of hazards including fire, medical, chemical, hazardous materials, technical rescue (Jaws of Life and water rescues, and confined spaces for example), non-emergency services, inspections and more. The Town of Apex and rural Apex (Hipex) are both included in the coverage area and encompass 40 square miles.
The presentation was both informative and entertaining. Tim did a fantastic job of presenting the information and included quite a few photos to illustrate the topics. He also showed us exactly how the department measures and monitors response time since that is such a critical aspect of the services provided. He also explained how the “CAM” partnership which stands for “Cary, Apex and Morrisville” works. These three departments effectively operate as a single joint fire department. Not only to they share dispatch and coordination of responses but they also train together.
After the presentation there were quite a few questions which was a testament to how well everyone was listening and how interested they were in the subject and presentation.
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