FORTUNE BAY— Nearly 20 firefighters from several area fire departments turned out here last week to get a refresher on how they might be expected to respond in the event of an emergency. The sprawling facility here, which includes a 173-room hotel, a multi-level casino, associated offices, a golf course clubhouse, and a marina is by far the largest and most complex within the area and its protection would be dependent on mostly small, volunteer departments with little experience outside of wildland fires and single-family residential structure fires.
Fortunately, noted Kevin Poffs, with the Virginia Fire Department, most of the buildings on the Fortune Bay complex are well equipped to suppress and control the spread of fires. He noted that the fire and safety regulations that govern the construction of such large structures make them expensive to build, but largely safe in the event of emergencies. “We rely on the systems in place in these kinds of buildings,” he said, noting that Virginia has a few large, multi-level buildings of its own.
Based on a recommendation of the state’s Fire Marshal, the Virginia department, which is the only professional department within 25 miles of Fortune Bay, is automatically dispatched with a ladder company to any fire alarms at the facility.
Poffs noted that, in most cases, fires in the casino or hotel would be quickly suppressed by the facility’s sprinkler system. He said fire doors and fire walls, which close or drop down automatically as conditions warrant, also would help contain any fires.
“At most, we might be looking at dealing with a smoldering mattress,” he said.
Poffs said smoke is the bigger issue, as was the case back in 2018 when fire in a hotel room produced a substantial amount of smoke throughout the hotel even as the fire was largely contained. Jeff Damm, safety manager and EMS coordinator for Fortune Bay, who presented last week’s refresher, said a malfunctioning heater was the determined cause of that incident.
Damm has held similar pre-planning sessions with local firefighters in the past and it’s proven a good opportunity for firefighters to be reminded of the systems in place, key locations to assist in their response and work through the potentially complicated logistical issues that would likely accompany any incident.
Firefighters peppered Damm throughout the 90-minute session with questions, comments, and suggestions about how Fortune Bay staff and responding fire departments could better coordinate their responses to emergencies. Damm, who was taking his own notes during the session, indicated he hoped to follow up on some of the suggestions and have firefighters back for additional training in the near future.
Participating departments included Vermilion Lake, Breitung, Greenwood, Cook, Pike-Sandy-Britt, and Virginia.