Cook County fire departments frequently work together—sharing training, giving safety presentations at area schools, and most importantly, providing mutual aid in the case of a major fire. At the Lutsen town meeting on Tuesday, October 19, Lutsen Fire Chief Paul Goettl introduced a new way that the Lutsen and Grand Marais Fire Departments plan to work together— with a rapid intervention team (RIT).
Goettl explained that when there is a structure fire, Tofte and Schroeder normally respond with fire trucks and firefighters to assist with extinguishing the fire. The same type of mutual aid happens in Grand Marais, but there it is the Maple Hill and Colvill Fire Departments that are called to assist.
Goettl said the RIT is something different than mutual aid. He explained that a RIT would come from Grand Marais to serve as standby responders for Lutsen. The team of four firefighters would not actively fight the fire. They would stand by to assist if any of the Lutsen, Tofte, or Schroeder firefighters ran into trouble.
Reached by phone, Grand Marais Fire Chief Ben Silence said this is another way to ensure the safety of firefighters. “We would have four guys with air packs, ready to go in to help if a firefighter was down or there was some kind of problem,” he said.
Thesame would happen if Grand Marais had a major fire—a Lutsen RIT would stand by to assist Grand Marais if needed.
“This came about during discussion in the Firefighter I classes,” said Goettl. “We realized this is something we should have.”
The fire departments are also discussing establishing an automatic mutual aid call in the event of a structure fire. This would reduce the delay that now occurs while one fire department arrives to assess the scene and then calls for mutual aid.
Silence said he is happy to see the increased collaboration between fire departments. “We need to start implementing what we’ve learned. It will benefit the community overall.”
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