April 2009
The topic of continued parity funding by El Dorado Count under the Aid to Fire District's contract has been the focus of much of my, the staff and Fire Board members time in the past month . Numerous meetings, preparation of documentation, justifications, contacts with the public and the mailing of the informational flyers required the time and efforts of many. I appreciate the teamwork of all who are working together on this very important matter. As of this time there has been further word on the issue.
The Garden Valley Fire District conducted its pre-season refresher and workshop with the Incident Command Support Division employees (formerly identified as the All Risk Team) on April 4, 2009. The 20 participating employees met to discuss new federal policies, update required documentation, review 2009 wildfire season predictions and complete a fire line leadership course presented by former California Office of Emergency services deputy Chief (and current GVFPD IMSD employee) Scott Vail. Chief Bob Patton of the USFS El Dorado National Forest was a guest speaker and answered questions from the audience. Much thanks to Assistant Chief Szczepanik for organizing this workshop and the the FAST team for an excellent lunch.
Engineer Wes Norman has been working with Beth Dougherty of Garden Valley and Genie Churchill of the GVFPD Support Group on a fund raising project to purchase an Automatic External Deliberator for Golden sierra high school.
The "Every Fifteen Minutes" teen DUI program is in the final preparations for the event to be held on May 7 & 8 2009. This CHP grant funded scenario based program presents a staged incident involving all aspects of a teen DUI tragedy. Participants include the GVFPD, Medic 61 from Georgetown, the EDC Sheriffs Department, Cal Star, Marshall Hospital, The Black Oak Mine School District, CHP, MADD and other El Dorado County agencies and organizations. The GVFPD FAST Team will provide logistical support at Station 51. This event is presented every other year.
I attended the California Air Tactical Group Supervisors annual refresher at the USFS training facilty at McClellan Field on April 1 & 2.
Engine 351 is in the process of having its Mobile Data terminal installed. This will be the last of the Districts MDTs to be installed. The MDT program was funded by a grant from Homeland Security and involves all of the El Dorado County Fire Departments.
The staff has completed the reorganization of Engine 251. This project involved all shifts who provided input and labor into making this unit more functional for its mission as the districts first out unit.
Christina Havens and I will begin work on the FY 09-10 budget and will have a draft available for discussion and review by May 1. With the uncertainty of funding, this will be difficult and we will present numerous options to consider with the different scenarios.
Respectfully submitted,
William Dekker, Fire Chief
