January 2009
On Saturday evening, January 3, the Garden Valley FPD hosted the 2009 Divide Fire Academy family night. The 14 recruits that will be attending this year's academy were joined by approx. 40 friends and family members for a presentation on the expectations and commitment required for success in the academy. Refreshments were providing by the GVFPD FAST Team. The academy held its first class on January 5 and will continue through May.
The GVFPD accepted delivery of the California Office of Emergency Services SAFEACT engine on Friday, January 9. Chief Dekker, Capt. Burch, Director Souza and Scott Vail traveled to OES headquarters in Sacramento where they were given a tour of the State Emergency Operations center and facilities. The staff will be working over the next month to put the unit into service.
On December 30, 2007, Chief Dekker and Scott Vail hosted a meeting at OES headquarters in Sacramento for California Fire Department that support All -Risk Teams. The purpose of this meeting was to address proposals by the National Wildfire Coordinating Committee (NWCG) to change payment methods and administrative rates for Type 1 & 2 Incident management personnel. The participants from throughout California came to a consensus and a position paper was prepared and forwarded to the NWCG in Boise Idaho.
On December 29, 2008 as a result of an investigation by Christina Havens, GVFPD accountant, we were notified by the County Auditors office that due to a cost code number error at the county, we have been paying the wages of a Pioneer Fire District employee since July 1, 2008. We were advised that the funds will be returned to the GVFPD, however as of this date we have not heard anything back from the County on the total amount due for refund or a timeframe to resolve it.
On December 22, 2008 the GVFPD was visited by auditors from the California Department of Homeland Security. The purpose of this meeting was to spot check and inspect items that the District had received as a result of a 2006 county wide FEMA grant. All items that the GVFPD received were accounted for and in order (SCBA's).
The installation of the Mobile Data Terminals in GVFPD units is continuing. Difficulties with the Vendors have slowed things down over the past few months but are getting back on track. Train the Trainer classes on the use of the mobile computers are being conducted on January 14-15 with 2 GVFPD staff attending. MDT's are being installed in Engine 51, Engine 251, the new Engine and Chiefs vehicle. Funding for this program was from a county wide grant the US Department of Homeland Security and is being administrated by the El Dorado Hills Fire Department.
The GVFPD, in cooperation with the Golden Sierra High School, El Dorado County Sheriffs Department, CHP, Marshall Hospital, other Fire Districts and agencies will be once again presenting the "Every 15 Minutes" DUI awareness program on the Divide, May 6, 2009. This real-life scenario based program focuses on teenage drunk drivers and follows tragic DUI event from start to finish with role players. The GVFPD will be the Incident Commander at the rescue/medical stage of the event.
On January 6, 2009 Rick Nelson, Dave Souza and Chief Dekker met with representatives from Atwood Insurance agency and VFIS to discuss our current insurance policies.
On January 8, 2009 Chief Dekker, Local 4691 President Jeff Burch and Directors Souza and Nelson met with El Dorado County Fire District officials to discuss a study of the feasibility of consolidation of fire district's.
The status of the Aid to Fire District's program (augmentation) is still unknown.
Captain Rich Waters is still off duty due to an injury suffered at the scene of a structure fire last month.
Assistant Chief Szczepanik appeared on a local Placerville television show as a guest of Director Karen Smith, the host to discuss the District All Risk Team program and other Incident Management issues.
The Municipal Service Review (MSR) was completed and turned in to LAFCO as requested as part of their Consolidation.
Report Archive
