Lakewood Officers Remembered

The recent loss of 4 Lakewood police officers has reminded us how suddenly we can lose people who are most important in our lives. Our own recent experiences with loss have triggered a particularly emotional response as we watched the news develop last week informing the world of a terrible ambush that took place in our own back yard against local law enforcement officers as they prepared for duty.

Our loss occurred last year when Airport Towing CEO Mark Storer and son Brian Storer died in an airplane crash, shocking the towing industry. Local friends and family members gathered to show their support. Neighboring police and fire agencies joined in to provide assistance to those who were suffering the most, along with other towing companies. The family at Airport Towing voiced their appreciation of the support received from public safety officers and others offering assistance.

Now it is our turn to pay back the support given to our family last year by assisting other families who have suffered a similar fate. Officers Ronald Owens, Tina Griswold, Greg Richards, and Sgt. Mark Renninger have all left behind children and families, both at home and within the police department. The families have endured terrible suffering as a result of the unexpected void that took them by surprise on a Sunday morning. We have felt a similar pain, and we know there are few, if any, words that will bring comfort to the loved one’s who are grieving.

Airport Towing and local police officers work together on a daily basis. The officers and towers provide a public service, working together at emergency scenes and during non-emergency traffic situations. Our company got it’s first bitter taste of tragedy when King County Sheriff’s Deputy Steve Cox was shot and killed in the line of duty in December of 2006. Officer Cox worked with our Burien Towing drivers on a daily basis during his work week. When he was gunned down on a late winter night. Those who knew him and worked with him were heartbroken. It often seems as though the greatest hero’s of our community are those who suffer the most tragic fate. Two years after Deputy Cox died, Airport Towing lost Mark and Brian. Now, the attention has shifted South, to the families of the fallen Lakewood Officers.

A memorial service was held Tuesday at the Tacoma Dome for all four Lakewood police officers. Prior to the service, a procession of nearly 2,000 emergency vehicles led the ceremony from McChord Air Force Base near where the officers were killed in Parkland, past Lakewood Police Department Headquarters, to the memorial site. More than 20,000 people attended the service, including thousands of police officers and firefighters. The emotion filled service lasted more than 3 hours and featured many stories of the lives of the four slain officers. Family members were surrounded by thousands of attendees, including police officers, firefighters, dignitaries, and others. Governor Christine Gregoire was on hand to speak to the crowd, as was House Representative and former King County Sheriff Dave Reichert. More than 700 Canadians mounted police officers attended, as well as hundreds from Chicago, New York, Boston and other places around the world. The scene was awe-inspiring, with an honor guard of multiple agencies leading the way. For the families, the service was just the beginning of a long road ahead.

Several memorial funds have been set up to support the family of the fallen Lakewood officers. You can donate directly through the Lakewood Police Independent Guild here.

Hooked on Super Heavy Duty School

Three members of Airport Towing’s heavy recovery team participated in Super Heavy Duty Recovery School last month in Wenatchee, Washington. The classes were put on by the Towing & Recovery Association of Washington and hosted locally by Randy’s Towing. The Super Heavy Duty Certification earned by these heavy operators represents the highest level of achievement offered by TRAW.

Though many towing companies believe the only education a driver needs is experience (OJT), Airport Towing and other members of the Washington State Association believe differently. Clearly, there is no substitute for training. Participants are able to work in a controlled environment, and can take the time to work through scenarios, luxuries they do not have when on the scene of real working incidents.

TRAW’s Super Heavy Duty class includes classroom time and a final written exam, but the emphasis of the class is clearly geared toward hands-on training. Instructors work hard to stage large donated trucks, trailers, containers, and equipment in difficult geographical locations designed to challenge the tow operators. Throughout the class, the recoveries progress from simple winch-outs to basic tractor-trailer roll-overs, then on to more complicated situations.

Not only were students challenged with recovering heavy trucks that were thrown into the most precarious situations, but they were also given the realistic scenario of working through the night. Responding to accident recoveries in the middle of the night is nothing new to a tow truck operator, so the instructors decided to add the challenge of working in the dark during early morning hours without giving prior notice. The task was to recover a rolled over cement mixer, down an embankment, and off the main road. Through auxiliary lighting and careful rigging, the crew was able to safely recover the disabled vehicle.

Another scenario students were faced with  was to retrieve a heavy excavator, buried thoroughly in the mud to the point where the wheels were no longer visible. The class was broken up into two teams and students were asked to come up with a recovery plan that would get the job done most efficiently. Participants were given an opportunity to think on their feet, work in teams, and understand the limits of their equipment. From the working limit of the chain to the snatch block, the boom, cable, straps, shackles, and all other equipment must be considered when working a heavy recovery incident.

Students at Airport Towing observed that the value of working together as a team was the single most important lesson learned while working a heavy recovery incident. Their opportunity to train together helped the trio gain confidence in each other, which will increase efficiency while working together during real emergency operations. Just as any emergency scene responder has come to expect, tow truck operators must work quickly and in unison to be able to best serve the motoring public. Incidents need to be quickly analyzed and a plan for recovery operations must be implemented in a short period of time. This is especially true when heavy duty tow trucks are called on scene. Experience at work and training opportunities such as TRAW’s Super Heavy Tow School are the only way to prepare for such situations.

The location for the four day school and recovery class was at the Chelan County Fire District 1 training grounds. Fire departments are known for their level of expertise, directly related to their relentless training. Professional towing operators would love to have as much training as firefighters, but because towing is privately funded it is difficult to receive funding for training programs. Operators that donate equipment and drivers to these classes take a loss while their businesses operate short-handed.

This year TRAW was able to gain the support of 14 students who participated in the class and several instructors who were willing to volunteer their time for the benefit of the towing and recovery industry. Attending students came from all around the northwest to enhance their working knowledge of operating heavy equipment. Participating companies sending students included Airport Towing, Willette’s Towing, Pro Tow, Ron May Towing, Lakewood Towing, Randy’s Towing, Bethel Towing.

In addition to time and personnel donated to the super heavy duty class, several pieces of equipment were also donated to be used at the training facility. Airport Towing, as well as 3 other companies from Washington State sent heavy duty tow trucks to the Super Heavy Duty class, including Randy’s Towing of Wenatchee, Bethel Towing of Port Orchard, and Lakewood Towing near Tacoma. Randy’s Towing also provided a medium duty tow truck; George Washington Towing volunteered equipment transportation via a lowboy, and Nelson Truck volunteered the use of a new flatbed tow truck with side pull capabilities. Class instructors from TRAW included Rich Steele of Lincoln Towing, Keith Lewis of Pro Tow, Kurt Gillard of George Washington Towing, and Mike & Joanne Walcker. Visiting instructors from California were Bob Berry and Steve Cardineli.

Overall, the 2009 TRAW Super Heavy Duty Recovery School was a huge success thanks to the participation from regional towing companies, eager tow truck operators, and dedicated instructors. These participants are proud improve their professionalism and lead the way in our state’s towing and recovery operations.

Burien Kids Day 2009 is Fun for the Family

More than 1,000 people visited Burien Fire Station 28 last weekend to celebrate “Kids Day”, an annual community event organized by Fire District #2. The weather was perfect, large trucks were on display, and there were plenty of free hot dogs for everyone.

King County Fire District #2 (Burien/Normandy Park Fire) has established a tradition of hosting an event at Burien Fire Headquarters for kids and parents to learn about public safety and to have a fun filled Saturday at no cost to the individual. This is made possible through donations made by many local businesses and organizations. Airport & Burien Towing volunteered to help by transporting and donating vehicles for auto extrications, as well as displaying a 35 ton tow truck and a 1935 Ford hot rod tow truck from their antique collection.

Kids of all ages enjoyed the extensive variety of activities. Small diamater fire hoses and knock down fire displays were set up and operated by the SeaTac Explorers for young firefighters to enjoy. North Highline Fire District allowed families to tour their fire engines and pose in the seats for pictures. For the young kids with endless energy, inflatable toys were on site to help mom and dad get a little break while watching the kids burn off some calories. For those looking to learn about fire safety, Burien/Normandy Park firefighters taught interactive classes inside a 2 story smoke house, complete with emergency exits and lighted fire displays. Other activities included a candy search, free child identification bracelets, a helicopter landing by the King County Sherriff’s Office, prize drawings, face paintings, 100 foot high angle rescue show, multiple vehicle automobile extrications, along with many other fun things for kids to do and watch.

An auto extrication is a rescue scenario that includes the removal of persons who are trapped inside a vehicle. Some cars involved in accidents are so badly misshapen that the doors and windows will only open by use of excessive force. Because these types of accidents have become more common, local fire departments train firefighters to use heavy duty hydraulic tools to remove patients from vehicles. Burien Fire performed 2 auto extrications on vehicles donated by Burien & Airport Towing. The extrications are a main attraction, and typically the hilight of the day for spectators.

Airport Towing & Burien Towing have been donating cars to the Burien Fire Department for this type of training for many years. The photo above features Burien firefighters putting on an extrication display for Kids Day 1999. The Burien Fire Department plans on hosting Kids Day next year to continue the annual tradition. If the City of Burien acts quickly and secures a new location to replace their outdated station, the event may be held at a brand new fire station in 2010 or 2011.

Giving to the Needy in a Bad Economy

Now is a great time to help those in need and Vision Collision (Burien’s newest auto body repair shop) stepped up to the challenge in a big last week. It’s no surprise that there are people are hurting all across the nation. Food banks are in high demand, some charities are short on funds, and many good people are in need of support now more than ever, including cancer patients.

In 2005 cancer accounted for more than half a million deaths in the United States alone. In fact, we all have at least a 40% chance of getting some form of cancer at any point in our lives, and there is more than 20% chance any one of us will die from cancer. That’s the harsh reality that affected Amy Driscoll (formerly Hughes) and her family when she lost her grandmother to ovarian cancer nine years ago. Now the family has committed to helping others who are fighting the same battle by participating in Relay For Life.

Despite a struggling global economy the family at Vision Collision teamed up with 3.5 million people from around the nation to raise funds and awareness for the American Cancer Societyby participating in the relay. Mike & Amy Driscoll took an extra step by opening up their new Burien business on a Saturday to wash cars & sell refreshments as a fundraiser. Their efforts earned more than $500 to be donated to charity and their hopeful that they can increase their donation total at future events.

To show our support Airport Towing sent an antique tow truck over for a bath before participating in a local car show at Bernie & Boys Market in Top Hat. The 1933 Ford hot rod earned some extra attention and was undoubtedly the most unique truck that attended the wash. Vision Collision is planning on hosting another non-profit car wash Saturday May 16th and we plan to attend with another classic tow truck from our collection. We encourage anyone who would like to support their efforts as well as anyone who appreciates a quality hand wash to stop by. Click here for directions to Vision Collision where the next car wash is going to be held from 10am to 3pm on May 16th.

VP Climbs Stairs for Charity

I was honored to be part of a tremendous fund raising effort for The Leukemia and Lymphoma Society at this years Big Climb Seattle. With 300 participants on our team, we were able to raise over $40,000 for charity. Together we battled 1,311 stairs and 788 vertical feet of elevation all in the name of our sponsored patient.

Our team was named “Climbing for Caleb” because a 2 year old cancer patient inspired us to give it all we had on a cold Spring morning. Caleb Thorsteinson, nephew of North Highline Firefighter Scott Thorsteinson has been battling cancer for about a year. His family and friends have drawn together to back him in the difficult fight against Leukemia. Airport Towing has a close relationship with the North Highline Fire District as we have donated vehicles to them for training, they performed honor guard services at our founder & sons memorial service, and I personally volunteered for the district and consider the Thorsteinson’s personal friends.

In our effort, team Climbing for Caleb finished 4th out of 234 total teams for time and I personally finished 125/2931 with a time of 10:39. We are hoping to finish first in fund raising as a team. If you would like to support my fundraising efforts or help the progress of the team go to my personal page and fill out a pledge form. All donations go to a great cause and have made a huge difference in many people’s lives.

I was truly honored to be a small part of such a large effort to help fight blood cancers. The event was fun as well as inspiring and I encourage anyone in the Seattle area who appreciates a challenge to sign up for next years event. Climbing the Northwest’s tallest building can be intimidating, as is taking on something as terrifying as cancer, but it is possible if you face it head on and take it one step at a time.

Carwash Benefits Storer Memorial Fund

The LeMay family decided to take a day out of their busy lives to do some good for a dear friend that was recently lost in a plane crash. Grieving the sudden loss of Brian Storer and his father Mark, the LeMay’s were determined to help since the day of the accident.

On a sunny Saturday this month, the LeMay family set up a car wash outside the B&E Meats store in Burien to raise money for the Storer Family Memorial Fund. Brian Storer left behind a wife and two small boys, Sam & Toby, ages 2 and 1. The Storer family has since set up a benefit for the two boys.

Children and adults worked side by side to keep up with the steady line of cars that pulled in for a quality hand wash. The LeMay family worked all through the day to keep the donations coming in and to do some good for a family that is in need of support.

Donations are being accepted for the Storer Family Memorial Fund at all Sterling Savings Bank locations and through PayPal.