November 12, 2009
First we have the Board which
approves the Budget, paying the bills, major purchases and approves
resolutions that govern us.
Then we have the office staff that process payroll,
process the ordering and bill paying, order supplies and equipment, as well
as keep and submit all the records that we are legally required to keep.
Next, we have the officers that have command at
emergency calls, submit incident reports, train firefighters, request repairs and
equipment along with many details of managing emergency scenes.
Last but certainly not least we have the Firefighters
that train and respond to the calls.
Why do I bring this up? Sometimes we tend to think that
our part of this team is more important then the other three. Eliminate any of
the four parts and we no longer have a department. It is important that we
respect and appreciate each individual and the part they play in making this a
successful Department.
ARCHIVE CHIEF REPORTS
(TOP)
You have heard the saying “do more with less’ that seems to be the unofficial
motto of the fire service. Over the past 59 years North Whidbey Fire and Rescue
has continued to provide more and more services to the community. In the early
years we only responded to fires, but now with the resourceful and talented
group of firefighters that we have we are able to respond to almost any need our
community might have. When the public calls for help we run to their aid.
This
is the time when we develop the budget for the next year. As costs continue to
rise it becomes more and more of a challenge to operate within and maintain the
programs, facilities and equipment that we currently have. I encourage you to
attend commissioners meetings as plans are made for the future and budgets are
approved.
June 17, 2009
(TOP)
North Whidbey Fire and Rescue
continues to make changes to improve our response and service to this community.
Change is difficult and some of us have become used
to change as a way of business, and others continue to struggle as NWF&R
continues to change.
On
July 1 st we
will be taking another huge step as we serve this community. The second duty crew will stand up on that day. We know this
will be difficult to staff and at times may not be fully staffed. The volunteers
can run duty shifts and they will receive $40.00 plus calls for a 12 hour shift.
We
have sent a tender to H&W in Hillsboro to be reconditioned. That cost will be +-
$40,000.00. To accommodate the changes, we will be placing A-205 at station 27
and tender 27 at station 25. They will become A-207 and Tender 25.
The
last big change for this year is the hiring of a training officer. We are
anticipating that on July 6, 2009 our new training officer will be here and
working. I am looking forward to the added help and added training that this
will accomplish.
May 1, 2009
(TOP)
North Whidbey Fire and Rescue
continues to change and continues down the path towards a combination department
verses an all volunteer department. We have seen these changes over the past 7
years. Starting with a paid Chief, then adding the POC's, an Operations Chief two
days a week, an EMS Chief one day a week, and now the Board has approved the hiring
of a training officer. Once again, this will bring change to our organization and
change the way we do business.
This has been a long process, I appreciate all the help from
staff, chief officers and the assessors to make this process run smoothly.
March 23, 2009
(TOP)
2009 is definitely going to be an interesting and
different year then we have historically had. As we continue to
readjust priorities and look at cost savings, we must continue to
operate in a safe and effective manner.
At our current pace, we will run over 1630 calls in
2009. We will do this with less people and less equipment, and at no
time will we sacrifice the safety of our firefighters to trim our
expenses.
Last Tuesday E-26 was delivered to H&W Emergency
Vehicles in Hillsboro, Oregon to have several updates and repairs done
to it. The engine will be out of service for approximately six weeks.
We look forward to seeing the results. The plan is to have this done to
a tender and engine this year and next and then if finances remain the
same to have the other two Pierces done in 2011 and 2012. If all goes
as planned that will extend the life of our apparatus 5 years.
We continue to make budget decisions, having
adjusted 14 items to save money in the 2009 budget. Your input and
cooperation is appreciated as we go through these economic times.
January 21,
2009
(TOP)
As we start a new year we tend to look back at what
has happened over the past year. The year had its ups and downs. Our
levy lid lift failed twice, but we received a grant for new SCBA’s.
Through the ups and downs our POC’s and Volunteers again have done an
outstanding job of protecting our community!
There will be many changes in the next year as we
look at where we can trim the budget and what is necessary, to not only
survive financially over the next five years, but to maintain our
programs and protect this community.
We have already started to make changes, we will
limit our total number of personnel to 85 POC's and Volunteers. We will
not take applications once we have reached that number, unless the
firefighter is already trained. We will no longer be able to allow the
use of our facilities for free. The board has passed a rental rate
schedule for all who use our buildings. This is just a start, we will
continue to look at all we do, what is necessary and what each cost.
One thing to remember, there are a lot of rumors of
what is being cut and what is not. There will be a lot of thought,
backed by facts, before we do anything. This is not an emergency
situation. We will trim and regroup and hopefully be stronger for it.
Until you hear that a change is made, business is as usual, programs
continue to run. I will let you know when a change is made.
December 18,
2008
(TOP)
Winter has arrived! This past week we have had more
winter weather, snow and ice then we have had in several years. Along
with the weather come increased hazards for our responders.
Remember to clear your vehicle windows of ice before
you leave home. Drive slower and allow increased stopping distance. The
stopping distance on ice is 6 times as far as the stopping distance on
dry roads. We need you to arrive safely at the station and on scene;
the last thing we want is to respond to one of our own.
The next few months will be interesting as we
re-evaluate our operation and spending. The good news of a $257,000
grant helps take away the disappointment of the levy lid lift failure.
Unfortunately we will still have to tighten our belts and make some
major adjustments to survive the next 5 years. I appreciate your
concern and welcome your ideas and attendance at commissioner meetings.
Your presence is important.
Thank you for another year of service and I wish you
and your families a Merry Christmas and a Happy and blessed New Year.
November 5,
2008
(TOP)
I appreciate and want to thank
you for all the
work that
many of you did to try and pass our levy lid lift on November 5.
Unfortunately
we were unsuccessful. I believe the combination of the economy and the
good job
that you do responding to emergencies probably did us in.
Now
the tough times
begin,
what cuts can we make
and survive
the next 5 years? Everything is on the table, from equipment to
stations to
personnel to programs we will have to make some difficult decisions.
The direction
of the department will change, how much and how quick is still up in
the
air.
I appreciated the
large attendance at the
Board
Meeting on
November 6; hopefully you will continue to come to these meetings.
Several of
you had questions, my door is always open! If you question what we are
doing,
please ask me.
Serious suggestions on how to save money are
welcome.
September
9,
2008
(TOP)
Open House on
September 8 was one of the most
successful we have had in recent years. I want to thank all of you that
participated and helped make it a success. The next few weeks we will
be having small open houses at the outlying stations. Our hope is that
we can get our name out a have a successful levy this fall.
So far this has been
a slow year for us, calls are
down and that is good. The normal surge of grass and brush fires did
not happen with the wet august weather. Now that summer is over and
school has started we will see if we have a typical fall. If the first
few days of September are any indication this could be a busy time of
year.
The last few months
we have seen some very good
and active firefighters transferred out of the area. We have some new
recruits who are excited to take their place and learn how to be
firefighters. We all need to remember that we all started at one time
and try and help these new personnel as they prepare for the academy.
Captain Amidon
has returned and we are happy is
back. He is temporarily assigned to station 21.
June 3,
2008
(TOP)
Summer is fast approaching,
although you
would
never know by
looking out at the rain that is coming down today. As summer approaches
so does
the onset of grass and brush fires. This year there is an anticipation
of large
wildland fires do to the wet spring with a long growing period before
the dry
weather comes (hopefully).
I have been asked if we will
participate in state
mobilization this year. That answer depends on the weather we are
having and
our resources at the time; for example: Do we have engines down for
repair?
What’s the availability of personnel? So the answer is yes, we will if
conditions are right for us to go.
Congratulations to our 11 recruits that have
completed the
academy. We appreciate your willingness to volunteer to help the people
in this
community. Welcome to NWF&R! I wish you well as you work with and
become
part of this unique family. Stay safe, work hard and good luck in your
career
at NWF&R.
We also
want to give Ken Kendall our best
wishes
as he
retires from NWF&R after 25 years as a volunteer firefighter and
the last
17 years as a dedicated member of North Whidbey Fire & Rescue.
February 28, 2008
(TOP)
Tuesday,
February
19th was a disappointing day for
NWF&R.
First we received an e-mail
that we did not
receive a grant for SCBA’s; then that evening we were shocked by the
overwhelming defeat of our levy lid lift proposal.
The question that
comes up is
where
do we go from here? As
we look into the future and look at our building needs, our apparatus
replacement schedule and our small equipment replacement plans, we
definitely
can not afford to do all that we would like.
Over
the
past few years we have aggressively replaced
apparatus and equipment, but now the buildings are showing there age. Do we
replace SCBA’s? Do we close
stations?
Do we repair or replace
stations?
These are all questions we
will be discussing with the Board over the next few months
January 23,
2008
(TOP)
Over the past few months I have had several
discussions with
firefighters about attitude; some good and some bad. When this month’s
Fire
Rescue came out, the front page article was “Attitude Check”. The
article
started out with, “In the fire service, attitude is everything. Your
attitude
toward your fire department and fellow firefighters determines an
important
part of your character; it could even save lives”.
The article goes on to talk about the
necessity
and need of
a fire department to be a paramilitary organization and I would say -
the
necessity of being a team. In order to be a well functioning team, we
need to
show respect to all team members.
Following orders, team work and respect are
the
backbone of
the American fire service.
One way to show this is to operate with the
idea
of doing
what is right even when no one is watching. If we respect each other
and do
what is right our team will continue to grow and continue to become
stronger.
As we
start a new year, remember we are all
on one
team, we
all need to respect one another, check our attitudes at the door and
work and
act as if we are being watched.
November
27, 2007
(TOP)
As you are aware the board has approved a
February
19, 2008
vote to increase our levy. This vote if approved by the people will
increase
our revenue by over $700,000.00.
If we are going to build our new station,
remodel
or replace
our oldest stations and replace our equipment fleet on schedule we will
need
this to pass. We appreciate your support as we promote the levy. If you
have
questions or concerns about our levy stop by and we will discuss your
concerns.
This is
the holiday season. We have had
Thanksgiving and now
are on our way to Christmas and the New Year. I would like to take this
opportunity to wish you and your families a Merry Christmas and a Happy
New
Year.
Stay safe, 106 firefighters have died in
2007.
October 15,
2007 (TOP)
Continuing on in the same mode as last month, I
will steal a
few more of the 50 suggestions for a successful firefighter from the
fire
rescue magazine.
Volunteer
to do whatever needs to be
done.
Be
proud that you’re going to learn
to help
people who are having the worst day of their lives. Few people get to
do that.
Learn
the departments policies and
traditions
Always
show respect to those in
positions of
authority over you, use sir, ma’am or captain etc.
When
arriving at a call always get
off the
apparatus ready to go to work, that means a fire you are in all your
PPE
including SCBA. Be ready to perform.
Just a few more ideas
on what
makes a successful fire fighter, we are in a dangerous profession, 95
firefighters have already died in 2007. Be careful, be safe and be
successful.
September
17, 2007
(TOP)
Check your equipment, when
the tone goes off it is too
late to
make sure you and your equipment are ready.
When reporting for duty, look around and see if
anything needs to
be done, or look around and find what needs to be done.
Look, touch and learn.
Number 4 on their list was make coffee, for me that probably should be
number 1. But for most it probably doesn’t reach the top 20.
Empty the dishwasher, clean the toilets, clean
sinks, clean pots
and pans.
Volunteer for whatever needs to be done.
I realize they are talking about full career departments, but how much
more important is this when we have volunteers.
Be proud that you are going to help people on the
worst day of
their lives, be proud of your station and equipment.
