Portland Fire crews continue to put water on hot spots at the Portland Garment Factory at southeast 79th and Stark, where crews responded early morning on April 19, 2021 for a construction fire. No one was injured in the three-alarm blaze.
Kristyna Wentz-Graff / OPB
Firefighters will soon get bulletproof vests. Gun violence has been surging in Multnomah County, according to county officials. But the call for vests is a request that firefighters have made for years. Isaac McLennan is the vice president of the Portland Fire Fighters’ Association. He joins us with details.
This transcript was created by a computer and edited by a volunteer.
Geoff Norcross: From the Gert Boyle Studio at OPB. This is Think Out Loud, I’m Geoff Norcross. Portland Firefighters will soon have something else to add to their personal protective equipment. The city will provide them with about 200 bulletproof vests. By doing that, Portland joins other cities like Seattle and San Francisco in giving firefighters this extra level of protection. Isaac McLennan is the vice president of the Portland Firefighters Association, that’s the firefighter’s union and he joins me now. Isaac McLennan. Welcome to Think Out Loud.
Isaac McLennan: Hi there, morning, Geoff.
Norcross: Does the Firefighters Union support this move?
McLennan: Yes, absolutely. I’ll just say outright that we look for any opportunity to be able to do our job and do it safely. If we’re not able to do our job safely, then we’re not able to help people who call 911 who are in need of help.
Norcross: Why is it important that you have these vests?
McLennan: We haven’t seen the specifics of how Portland Fire and Rescue will be addressing or at least indicating how we’re to use these vests, on what type of calls in which scenarios, but even without seeing that, I can tell you that when there’s an incident such as an active shooter or hostile event response, something like we’ve been seeing in the around the country over at least the last decade. Those types of scenarios require firefighters to go into what we refer to as the warm zone, where a hot zone would be something where potentially somebody would still be there where they have a weapon. Warm zone would be behind the police line where there would be people who need critical care, immediate care, where we can go into that area, rescue them, bring them out to a safe area where we can assess and treat them for any injuries they may have sustained. The ballistic vests provide firefighters the protection that they need and that’s in that risky environment to be able to do our job and do it safely.
Norcross: Can you point to a specific incident that you can recall when it would have been necessary for firefighters to have these vests?
McLennan: I think in Portland, this is a proactive response to potential threats that we may face here in Portland. We’ve had, in Portland, what we would call a mass casualty incident, something where multiple people have been a victim of, say gun violence or something similar, that scenario would be an appropriate scenario to don a vest, like a ballistic vest, to protect us in the incident, that there is somebody still there. So there we know that there was an active threat situation that happened out in, I believe it’s Fairview, several years ago. Fairview or Gresham, several years ago, in Clackamas Town Center, there was an incident that happened. So those are the types of scenarios where firefighters are going to be going into an area where there potentially is an active threat still happening and going in to rescue people who have been injured.
Norcross: This has been a record year for gun violence already in Portland. Does that factor into this decision?
McLennan: I would say, record violence in Portland, gun violence, absolutely. We are certainly a part of those types of calls, anytime anybody is injured. This has been in the planning process for quite some time, well before the gun violence in Portland has gone up. Firefighters do not belong in any scene where there is an active threat situation, of a small gun violence situation where there is not an area where we can go and safely operate, safely work. We need the police to be able to do their job in order for us to do our job.
Norcross: You’re right. The policy on when and where to use these vests will be set by others. But do you have an idea for what you would like to see, what kind of policy, how the vest would be deployed, who makes the determination when they’re put on, and what kind of situation you’re in, where they would be necessary?
McLennan: My understanding is these vests, like you mentioned in the out take, is that there will be roughly 200 at any point. Today, for instance, there are 165 firefighters on duty throughout the city of Portland, across 31 fire stations. Every single person that’s working today will have access to the ballistic vests and the remaining numbers would be there for possible different sizing issues or as vests become damaged, possibly just wear and tear, to replace any of those things that come up. That said, the intent is that they’ll be kept on the fire apparatus, fire engines and fire trucks and available to people who know when they respond to incidents. We have to be ready for any and all incidents at all times. That is the way we train, that is the way we operate. We don’t know when anything serious is going to happen. It could happen at any point in time. We need to be prepared. And ballistic vests such as this allow us to be prepared for any and all threats in a situation where we need to go and be close to harm’s way in order to rescue people. These vests would provide firefighters the security they need and the safety that they need in order to do their jobs safely.
Norcross: If you’re just turning in, we’re talking about Portland Firefighters being outfitted with bulletproof vests. Isaac McLennan is the vice president of the Portland Firefighters Association. Isaac, firefighters have to carry a lot of gear anyway. Will the vests weigh them down even further?
McLennan: Absolutely. You know that I don’t think the intent is to have firefighters put on a ballistic vest and then our normal firefighter gear, which we call ‘turnouts.’ When we go into a burning building, we’re not going to put a ballistic vest underneath our fire fighting turnout. When we go to a fire, our primary motive is to extinguish the fire. We’re very aware that there have been incidents in Oregon, and just recently, two years ago, I believe it was in Springfield, Oregon, where fire crews were responding to a fire and met with gunfire. That’s obviously something that we’re paying much attention to. That said, it’s not something that we typically see. If we see more of that type of incident, obviously that would require us to change our policies and procedures. But when there’s a fire, we put on our firefighting gear and not ballistic vests. So it would be a different type of wear for a different type of incident. Like I said earlier, an active shooter, hostile act, hostile event response, that would warrant wearing something like ballistic vests over our normal uniforms, but not necessarily with firefighting gear.
Norcross: Some cities have already gone here, before. What kind of feedback are you hearing from them? The cities that already equipped their firefighters this way?
McLennan: It’s a similar type of response is why they have these ballistic vests and every department has different situations. Portland is, while similar to Seattle, is slightly different, or Los Angeles or any other large city in the United States, or some of similar size, and everybody’s going to have slightly different policies, procedures in the way they respond to certain incidents based on the climate that’s in their city. We pay close attention to that. We are very concerned with the health and safety of our firefighters in Portland and we know that the Fire Bureau Administration and Fire Chief Boone is also equally focused on the safety of firefighters. We need to be able to be safe and protected in order to do our job. We certainly work with neighboring cities, but I haven’t heard any direct feedback.
Norcross: Isaac McLennan, thank you so much for your time.
McLennan: Thank you, Geoff.
Norcross: Isaac McLennan is the vice president of the Portland Firefighters Association.
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