CAMP WALKER, Republic of Korea — U.S. Army Installation Management Command has recognized USAG Daegu's firefighting team with two awards for efforts in 2021: Medium Fire Department of the Year and Fire Chief of the Year.
The awards cap off a productive year for Area IV Fire & Emergency Services, which included more than 800 emergency responses as well as training and community outreach. Additional accomplishments include:
- Intensive care and assessment of patients in critical condition provided to 78 individuals
- Battled six fires with zero government fire loss
- Conducted 189 housing safety checks provided; educated 678 residents
"The USAG Daegu F&ES Division has continued to solidify themselves as the premier Fire Service agency in Korea. Through hard work and dedication, the [team] has dramatically improved fire safety, not only for the USAG Daegu community, but all of United States Forces Korea," noted Col. Brian P. Schoellhorn, USAG Daegu garrison commander.
"Our team is very similar to other departments, but they're very unique in how well they work together," said Mike Diehl, Fire and Emergency Services Fire Chief. "All of our team members are willing to step up and help at a moment's notice and that's part of what makes this team special."
According to Diehl, the Area IV F&ES team protects an area of 20,000 square miles and is the most geographically dispersed garrison. The team has mutual aid agreements with multiple South Korean emergency service organizations to help provide additional assistance to cover this area.
"The relationship we have with our mutual aid partners is great. They've been extremely supportive of us and our community. We conduct joint training and work together as a team to keep the city and our installations safe."
Diehl credits one member of his team, in particular, for continuing to build and strengthen this partnership.
"Our deputy fire chief, Chong Tong Chae has really been the glue and foundation for the fire department amongst the different chiefs that have come through here. He's the continuity that maintains the strong relationship that we have with our mutual aid partners off-post."
Do you know what emergency numbers to call while in Area IV?
- Dial 9-1-1- from any DSN phone to report your emergency
- Dial 0503-364-5911 from your mobile phone
- For off-post emergencies you can dial 0503-364-5911 from your mobile phone and the Fire Department dispatchers will translate your emergency to the local first responders.
The off-post emergency number is 1-1-9. You can also call that and wait for a translator.
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