November 2009
With the coming of cooler and wetter weather it appears that the wildfire season here on the Divide is coming to a close. Burn restrictions have been lifted by Cal Fire and the USFS Cal Fire Station #50 located in Garden Valley has laid off seasonal staff with full time station staffing to end on November 16. Quick response by the Garden Valley Fire District and its mutual aid cooperators have made the 2009 fire season on the Divide one of the least active here at home, with the majority of our efforts helping other affected communities throughout California. A GREAT JOB goes out to the staff and volunteers of the Garden Valley Fire Protection District.
The written examination, physical agility testing and a oral board made up of 4 professional fire officers from other agencies and a member of the GVFPD Fire Board have been completed. New engineers hired by the District are: Jake Koontz and Clyde Rust. As an added bonus both have just completed Paramedic school and along with current employee Wes Norman, will lead the efforts to have a paramedic engine available at the GVFPD 24/7/365. We are planning to start full time paramedic engine service on or about February 1, 2010
October found the GVFPD scrambling to keep up with much needed maintenance and repairs to both Engine 251 and Engine 51. Engine 251, after a year of running hard as the first out unit with career staffing was taken to Burton’s Fire Apparatus in Modesto to have electrical, pump and transmission service completed. A pressure relief valve was found to be defective and had to be replaced. We hope to have this unit back by the end of this week. Engine 51, after having all the pump valves rebuilt last month at great expense experienced brake problems in the front which required us to take it out of service until repairs could be made by the mobile repair service Katmando from Placerville. However, this was not easily done as parts for this 22 year old truck were obsolete and not made anymore. Efforts by Captain Burch, Burtons Fire Apparatus and Katmando found the needed items at the Contra Costa County Fire District’s maintenance facility in Concord where they have sat on a shelf for 10 + years. CCFD worked with us to acquire the parts (they no longer have this type of truck) and the unit is now back in service.
The staff of the GVFPD is currently in the process of rebuilding the hose drying rack in the back of the station. All labor is being done by on-duty staff during the workday. Volunteer FF Austin Palmiere donated the steel with Jerry at Georgetown Divide Ace Hardware in Greenwood giving the District a healthy discount for the Trex decking and delivery.
GVFPD Accountant Christina Havens attended a 2 ½ day workshop sponsored by the California Public Employee Retirement system.
Captain Charles Frost is currently enrolled in the California State Fire Marshal’s Fire Service management course. This is one of the 10 40 hour courses required for state fire officer certification
A/C Linda Szczepanik is working with the USFS to schedule wildfire and Incident Management courses to be sponsored by the GVFPD this winter/spring. This courses are advertised state wide and attended by personnel from many departments throughout California. Sponsorship of these classes generates much needed revenue for the District.
I have completed the initial computer based survey sent out by the counties contractor, City Gate as part of their $100,000 dollar contract to evaluate (consolidate?) the Fire Districts of El Dorado County. A meeting is scheduled with City Gate on November 12 for District Chiefs and interested Fire Board members. The first draft of this study is due in January 2010.
The staff and responders of the GVFPD will have the opportunity to receive the H1N1 vaccination should they desire on Wednesday, November 11, 2009. The vaccination will be administered by an RN (Terra Dekker) and is scheduled for the evening. I will have more details later today. This opportunity is only available to GVFPD members. Due to a shortage of the vaccine, the County Health Department will not make it available to family members yet.
Arrangements and planning are continuing for the 2010 Divide Fire Academy. Applications are being accepted for new volunteer firefighters who will spend 180 hours of training in this program before becoming members of the GVFPD.
Don’t forget the GVFPD Christmas party scheduled for December 12, 2009 at the Garden Valley Grange Hall…….
Respectfully submitted,
Bill Dekker, Fire Chief
11/09
