This was the task facing the Tempe, AZ, Fire Department (TFD) on Jan. 28, 1996, when Super Bowl XXX took place at Sun Devil Stadium on the campus of Arizona State University. According to Nielsen Media Research, the Super Bowl was the most-watched TV program in history.
Photo by Michael Heller/IFPA Two members of an EMS bike team patrol the grounds of the NFL Experience.
Tempe, adjacent to Phoenix, has a population of 160,000. The TFD, under Chief Cliff Jones, protects an area of 39.5 square miles and consists of 150 members staffing five stations and comprised of seven engine companies (six paramedic), two ladder companies, two reserve engines, a battalion chief, a hazmat unit and a trench incident truck. In 1995, the department responded to 11,934 alarms, 9,347 of them EMS-related. While the fire department provides a first-response/EMS function for medical emergencies, ambulance/transportation services are furnished by Southwest Ambulance Service, which is dispatched concurrently to all EMS calls.
The pre-planning that went into providing fire protection for Super Bowl XXX began on March 22, 1993, the day Tempe was awarded the 1996 game by the National Football League. The real work, however, began about a year before Super Bowl XXX, when Jones and Fire Marshal Marc Scott attended the 1995 Super Bowl in Florida to study the way Metro-Dade Fire Rescue handled fire protection for that game. With experience at several Super Bowls, Metro-Dade Chief Robert Paulison and Captain Tom Quinn provided information used in planning for the Tempe game. The college football Fiesta Bowl, also at ASU Stadium, let the TFD "dry run" tactics and strategies that would be used for the Super Bowl.
The Super Bowl festivities in Tempe actually were made up of dozens of smaller events in addition to the game that began a week prior to Super Sunday. Of those, four were of primary concern to the fire department: the NFL Experience, the downtown Tempe Street Spectacular, the Corporate Hospitality Village and the Super Bowl Tailgate Party. Each was a large-scale event with its own challenges regarding providing fire and EMS protection, above and beyond the normal anticipated crush of alarms that would come with the influx of over 100,000 fans.
The first challenge facing the TFD and the City of Tempe in devising a comprehensive public safety plan was one of coordination. An NFL Host Committee was set up for the city, which included Commander Lee O'Leary of the Tempe Police Department as public safety coordinator for the Super Bowl. Sun Devil Stadium is on state property, and thus under the code jurisdiction of the Arizona State Fire Marshal's Office. A good working relationship between the Fire Marshal's Office and the TFD was already well-established, so it was decided that due in part to their working knowledge (as first-response agency) of the campus and stadium the fire department would oversee the fire and EMS operations of the event. In total, a dozen agencies took part in the planning and/or execution of the Super Bowl Public Safety Operations, including the TFD, City of Tempe, Tempe Police Department, the Phoenix, Chandler, Glendale and Mesa fire departments, Arizona State University, Arizona State Department of Public Safety, Arizona State Fire Marshal's Office and Maricopa County Emergency Management Office. Super Bowl XXX was the first time all the agencies worked concurrently in an emergency preparedness plan.
Photo by Michael Heller/IFPA Members of Tempe Fire Department EMS Team 3, stationed on field level of the south end of Sun Devil Stadium, keep watch during the game.
Early firematic preparation work involved the City of Tempe and its Fire Prevention Office. Scott and his staff were contacted by the NFL, which produced the pre-game and halftime shows, the NFL Experience, Tailgate Party and other events, to determine what was needed to comply with city and state fire codes and to obtain permits for additional construction for the events.
One point of concern for the TFD was a planned helicopter landing in the stadium. As a part of the halftime show featuring singer Diana Ross, plans called for a helicopter to land on the stage mid-field at the end of her set, pick up Ross and fly out of the stadium. TFD officials opposed the idea of an aircraft attempting to touch down on a small stage that was surrounded by hundreds of dancers and thousands of fans. Because the stadium is on state property, however, the decision was made at a higher level to go ahead with the landing.
While the Fire Prevention Office was doing its work, a Fire Department Event Operations structure was being designed. As chief of the TFD, Jones would oversee the entire event, with Assistant Chief Jim Gaintner acting as chief of operations, overseeing the separate Super Bowl event operations and normal fire department shift operations and communications for both. It was decided that any Super Bowl operations and logistics would take place separately from day-to-day fire department operations; in essence, the areas involved with the Super Bowl would become a separate "protection district" on game day, with its own resources and command. Battalion Chief Ralph Stayner would be the Super Bowl command team event coordinator, while Battalion Chief Terry Barrett handled normal shift operations outside this temporary "district." To accommodate TFD's apparatus needs for Super Bowl-related operations, resources from neighboring Phoenix, Chandler, Glendale and Mesa were brought in.
For the Super Bowl, Stayner had five battalion chiefs under his command, each to handle a different aspect of operations. Battalion Chief Tom Abbott represented TFD hazmat and the Phoenix Fire Department Urban Search and Rescue Team at the Super Bowl Joint Command Center. The Joint Command Center, in the TFD/APS (Arizona Public Service) Joint Fire Training Center, included representatives of all the agencies involved with game day operations. Battalion Chief Dave Eason handled logistics planning, including inventory, disbursement and accountability of all fire department equipment as well as credentials, transportation, food and drink.
The TFD also provided for fire and EMS safety through the Air Operations sector of the Joint Command Center, under the command of Battalion Chief Curtis Konkel. For the game, the TFD/APS Joint Training Center driving course/skid pad was converted into a heliport with 12 helipads. To accommodate game day air traffic, the top floor of the training center tower was converted into a temporary air traffic control center. EMS protection was provided by a TFD crew, while crash fire rescue protection was provided by Phoenix units Foam 2 and Engine 219 and their crews. All told, on game day there were 388 takeoffs and landings, all without incident.
Managing Resources
The job of coordinating, scheduling and deploying the resources and manpower associated with actual fire and EMS services for the Super Bowl fell to Battalion Chiefs Gary Ells and Pat Bailey, respectively. The days prior to the game found all chiefs commanding the various Super Bowl event-related teams from wherever they happened to be during their normal shift duties.
Fire protection for the NFL Experience, Street Spectacular and Corporate Hospitality events was provided by an advanced life support (ALS) engine company, rotated between the Tempe, Chandler and Mesa fire departments. EMS protection took the form of a "Medic Cart," a specially built extended golf cart designed to hold a gurney, heart monitor, triage bags and other ALS equipment, and two ALS two-person bike teams, which were able to move easily through crowds.
On game day, TFD command was shifted to the command van within the stadium complex, and operations were divided into interior and exterior stadium operations. Exterior operations included the NFL Experience, the Corporate Hospitality Village, the Super Bowl Tailgate Party and other stadium exterior areas, utilizing the resources discussed above. In addition, Tempe Engine 278 and a two-person ALS bike team were stationed at the south end of the stadium.
Inside the stadium, TFD Captain Tom Kiefer, in a skybox high above the field, maintained coordination of fire and EMS operations within the stadium with Tempe police through the command van. Three two-person EMS teams were assigned to the stadium interior, one each on the ground, loge and upper concourse levels. Fire protection for the interior of the stadium was provided by Tempe Engine 279, Phoenix Brush Truck B23 and two two-person fire teams.
Just prior to the halftime show, the fire and EMS teams moved to a staging position at the north and south end zones. Out of sight of the public, the fire teams donned full bunker gear and SCBA and stood by, ready to man large hose/extinguisher carts stationed in the end zone tunnels. Engine 279 was moved from the Corporate Hospitality Village into position to follow the halftime performers down the north stadium tunnel as they went onto the field. The unit remained in the tunnel during the show, with its crew ready to enter onto the field to rapidly deploy foam in the event of a helicopter emergency. The Phoenix brush truck repositioned behind Engine 279, ready to pull a supply line to a hydrant outside the entrance to the tunnel. At the end of the halftime show, the units returned to their previous positions.
The TFD recorded only 176 incidents related to Super Bowl activities, 170 of them EMS-related. Of those, 116 were minor incidents requiring no additional aid, with the other 54 requiring transportation. Of those, however, 30 declining transport, so in all only 24 patients were transported to local hospitals. Of the six fire-related incidents logged on game day, two were dumpster fires, one was a small fuel spill, one involved an alarm sounding, one was an overloaded electrical cord and one was an oven fire that was out on arrival.
Jones attributes the success of the operation to four areas: the ability to implement ongoing flexible planning; support from the Tempe city management and council; the cooperation between all the public safety organizations involved; and the overall positive attitude of flexibility and support from the members of the TFD, who had schedule changes and long hours thrust upon them in order to provide protection for the event. The planning paid off, resulting in a safe, well-run Super Bowl.
Michael Heller, a member of the International Fire Photographers Association, is a freelance photographer and writer with an interest in the fire service.
