On May 21, 2010 at 11:42 A.M. Lincoln County Fire Protection District #1, Lincoln County Ambulance District, Lincoln County Sheriff’s Department and Wright City Fire Protection District responded to the scene of a child trapped in a vehicle, overturned in a creek on Linn’s Mill Rd. approximately two miles south of Highway 47.
Agent Tim McDaniels of the Missouri Department of Conservation heard the call for help and arrived first on the scene, as well as Lincoln County Sheriff’s Sergeant Doug Hawk, and an employee from a local cable/satellite company who was working nearby. All three men entered the water in a valiant attempt to rescue the four year-old trapped child, but were unable to open the doors or windows of the underwater vehicle. Lincoln County Fire Rescue-Pumper 6414 arrived on-scene.
Firefighter Mike Weitkamp and Lieutenant Jack Cope exited the apparatus wearing their water rescue gear and immediately entered the water. Firefighter Steven Fair and Captain Allen Heyer hoisted the vehicle on its side using a winch attached to the rescue pumper and within minutes, firefighters were then able to gain access and rescue the child, still seat-belted in a car seat.
The child was immediately handed to Paramedics from Lincoln County Ambulance District. Paramedics determined the child was not breathing and immediately started CPR. The child was transported to Lincoln County Medical Center. After more than an hour of resuscitation efforts by Paramedics and Lincoln County Medical Center staff, the child passed away.
As many of you know, on May 17th the City of Troy reverted to the 2003 International Codes from 2009. Unfortunately, this decision was reached without consultation of the Fire District and is not in line with our original agreement between the City of Troy, Fire District, local builders and the Home Builders Association. This agreement was that both the Fire District and the City of Troy would remain on the same code cycle (year) for purposes of uniform enforcement in overlapping jurisdictions, such as ours. This drastic and unexpected change brought to the forefront a few options, from which Chief Cherry and I felt a decision was needed for the greater good.
The first option was for the Fire District to follow suit and revert to the 2003 codes. We felt this was not progressive or beneficial and that additional fire and life safety concerns are addressed in the newer version of the codes that are not addressed in the old. In other words, let’s do it right or not do it at all. The second option was to begin charging for all residential permits in the City of Troy due to the added and time consuming building plan reviews, which the City was currently performing under the original agreement. This option would have created a greater hardship, if you will, for builders and homeowners who would then be required to obtain two permits for the same house. The third option and decision is as follows…
Effective May 18, 2010 Lincoln County Fire Protection District #1 will no longer issue permits or perform inspections for single-family dwellings. This includes new construction, remodels, basement finishes, additions, etc. All existing permits issued prior to this date will continue to be inspected through the usual process up to and including a Final Occupancy Inspection. Any builders or homeowners still wishing a residential inspection conducted, may request a voluntary inspection by submitting an Application for Permit and following the established process.
It is important to note that ONLY single-family dwellings are exempted. All other required permits and inspections such as duplexes, townhomes and commercial occupancies remain in effect and the 2009 codes will apply. In addition, a permit and plan review remains required for new residential developments including street widths, fire hydrants, etc.
Although we do believe fire and life safety is important in a residential setting, this change resolves many controversial issues and more importantly will allow us to re-focus our existing resources on other critical items such as district accreditation, public fire education and other areas which will greatly benefit the residents and businesses in our community.
