211213 1901 Chief's Monthly Bulletin - December 2021From:Fennessy, Brian
To:OCFAdistribution
Cc:ExecutiveLeadership; Huizar, Maria
Subject:Chief"s Monthly Bulletin - December 2021
Date:Monday, December 13, 2021 7:00:51 PM
Attachments:image003.png
Chief"s Monthly Bulletin - Dec 2021.pdf
Chair Shawver, Vice-Chair Steggell, and Honorable Board of Directors:
I’m pleased to provide you with the December 2021 edition of the Chief’s Monthly Bulletin. In this
bulletin, we’ve captured informational updates from all departments of the OCFA, and which cover
topics not routinely communicated in our formal Board agenda packets. Our Clerk of the Authority
will be mailing each Director a hard copy of this Monthly Bulletin.
I hope you find the information in the Chief’s Monthly Bulletin to be informative and look forward to
hearing your input for future editions.
Chief Fennessy
Brian FennessyFire ChiefOrange County Fire Authority714.573.6010 (Office)714.559.2700 (Mobile)brianfennessy@ocfa.orgwww.ocfa.org
In service of others!
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DECEMBER 2021
MONTHLY
BULLETIN
By Chief Brian Fennessy
Excellence in
Service –
Crews in Westminster
battled a 2-alarm fire on a
windy night where
firebrands were being
blown to multiple homes.
Firefighters saved
countless homes that were
exposed and imminently
threatened.
OCFA firefighters Fleck
and Antonio rescued an
elderly man when a fire
broke out in his Mission
Viejo home.
Monthly Spotlight – Excellence in Service
OCFA personnel often perform in manners that far exceed the service they were called
upon to perform. In this month’s bulletin, I’m proud to shine our spotlight on recent calls
that demonstrated this excellence in service.
Personnel from Station 64 in Westminster
saved a 14 year-old who went into full arrest
while attending his brother’s basketball
game. The child has made a full recovery
and recently visited the station to meet the
crew that saved his life.
Crews from Station 73 in Santa Ana treated
and transported a child on Thanksgiving
Day. Realizing that the family wouldn’t be
able to make Thanksgiving dinner, the crew
arranged to have a meal made and brought
it to the family.
In this issue :
Monthly Spotlight – Excellence in Service ●
Career Firefighter Academy 53 Graduation ●
“Ask the Chief” Video ●
Monthly OCFA Social Media Feature Topics ●
Remembering OCFA Fire Captain Eric Weuve ●
Page 1
Join us for Academy 53 Graduation
We are pleased to invite our Board of Directors to attend OCFA’s 53rd Career
Firefighter Academy Graduation on December 15th at 6:00 pm, at the RFOTC.
The event will be held outside on our training grounds, and the ceremony includes
remarks delivered by the Board Chair and Fire Chief, along with a live fire
suppression dem onstration by our graduates.
Academy 53 began on August 30, 2021 with a mixture of Firefighter Trainees and
lateral Firefighter/Paramedics who had 3-years of prior experience. At the outset,
Academy 53 was planned as a standard 16-week academy for all recruits;
however, given the significant number of force hiring that was taking place during
August/September for existing personnel, a decision was made midway through
the Academy to modify plans. The lateral Firefighter/Paramedics were placed into
a separate group from the Firefighter Trainees, allowing us to accelerate
completion for these experienced personnel and place them in the field sooner.
This course of action provided relief to our personnel from forces 2-weeks earlier
than original plans, with each day of relief being a positive outcome.
We will be celebrating graduation for all Academy 53 recruits on December 15th:
24 Firefighter/Paramedics began in the field on December 3rd
14** Firefighter Trainees will begin in the field on December 17th
**Pending successful completion of final written and manipulative exams
A53 Recruits:
Firefighter Trainees
1. Cooper III, Paul
2. DePaola, Dustin
3. Diaz, John
4. Grimes, Nicholas
5. Gunsolus, Ryan
6. Henderson, Brian
7. Henery, Joseph
8. Hidalgo, Matthew
9. Medina, Isaac
10. Richardson, Zachary
11. Rue, Joel
12. Ruiz, Obed
13. Suarez, Matthew
14. Walsh, Grayson
Firefighter/Paramedics
1. Blunt, Juvan
2. Call, Sean
3. Castanon, Antonio
4. Chiaravalloti, Christopher
5. Damon, Forrest
6. Duckworth, Kyle
7. Feather, David
8. Fee, John
9. Garcia, Jorge
10. Harris, Grant
11. Hoggatt, Christopher
12. Judd, Justin
13. Keithley, Oliver
14. Kowaleski, Trevor
15. Kruthaup, Kyle
16. Reynolds, Brett
17. Richmond, Sean
18. Sherlock, Joshua
19. Stinson, Cameron
20. Valenzuela, Jonathan
21. Warren, Joshua
22. Watson, Thomas
23. Williams, Charles
24. Wood, James
Page 2
“Ask the Chief” Videos
The OCFA’s SharePoint (or intranet), known as “The HIVE”, is a portal for sharing
information internally with employees, archiving communication memos, libraries
for Standard Operating Procedures and a variety of other informational resources
for all employees.
On The HIVE’s homepage, a button titled “Ask the Chief” is available for employees
to submit questions to Chief Fennessy anonymously. “Ask the Chief” is an
opportunity for staff to pose questions, no matter how “hot” the topic, to the Fire
Chief and hear directly from him. Chief Fennessy will answer as many questions
as possible on video, that will be shared via email and posted on The HIVE. These
Q&A sessions are intended to be just another communications tool to ensure
information is provided to all equally. All questions remain 100% anonymous
unless the employee chooses to add his/her name.
This month’s questions for “Ask the Chief” covered topics including radio
encryption, staffing, promotions, OES patrols and more. Here is the link to the
November video:
Ask the Chief - Nov 2021_01.mp4 on Vimeo
Page 3
Other Recent
“Ask the Chief”
Videos
OCFA’s Ask the Chief
October 2021 on Vimeo
Ask the Chief - August
2021_01.mp4 on Vimeo
Monthly OCFA Social Media Feature Topics
OCFA’s Corporate Communications personnel and Public Information Officers seek
opportunities to share information of interest with the citizens we serve. Social media
posts that attracted a high level of interest in the past month are featured below.
Social Media
Statistics
Over the past month,
OCFA had:
Over 3.3 million
impressions
260,000
engagements
8,858 link
clicks/redirects
Page 4
Page 5
Eric Weuve Anniversary
December 13, 2016
Five years ago, Orange County Fire Authority lost one of our own to the ever -
increasing numbers of suicide within the fire service. Eric Weuve was not only a
firefighter, colleague, and friend, but more importantly, he was a husband and
loving father of two children.
Please continue to keep your thoughts and prayers with the family and loved
ones who were impacted by this tragedy.
The health and wellness of everyone at OCFA is the absolute highest priority.
In remembrance of Captain Eric Weuve, all personnel were urged to check in
with those around them during this busy holiday season and, if help is needed,
encourage them to reach out to colleagues, friends, or family and utilize the
resources available to all personnel via our Behavioral Health page located on
the HIVE.
Suicide
Prevention
If you see something,
say something.
Be Direct:
Be proactive and
approach someone when
you’ve seen them
exhibiting some of the
warning signs or appear to
be in crisis.
Listen
Practice active listening
techniques and let them
talk without judgement; if it
appears they are in crisis,
do not leave them alone.
Get Them Help
Don’t be afraid to get them
the help they might need.
If you are not a trained
peer, find one that they
can speak with; or if you
think this may be above
what a peer can offer, get
them professional help.
Be There
Everyone deals with pain
differently. Be there for
your injured colleague.