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West Valley Firefighters

Quarterly Newsletter

1st Quarter of 2012

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Chief's Monthly Report

Chief's Monthly Report

West Valley Fire Department

Yakima County Fire District 12

For the Meeting of March 14, 2023

 

Agenda Topic:            Department Monthly Progress Report

Prepared By:              Chief Nathan Craig

Date Prepared:           March 7, 2023

 

The primary purpose of this report is to keep the Board of Fire Commissioners informed as to the activities and progress on major programs or objectives.  The items listed, as near as possible, are in priority order. As a second purpose, this report will be shared with the Officers Management Team and all fire personnel.

 

Personnel:

One member took a leave of absence this past month, otherwise, no personnel changes.

Starting March, our total on call Members is 84, 62 operations and 11 support.  We have 1 on light duty, 1 on medical and 3 on leave.  Out total number of personnel is 95.

Operations: 

In February there were a total of 74 alarms for our District, 59 we responded to, 2 YFD covered AA, and 13 ambulance only BLS calls (1 Lift).

Incidents:                                                 YTD       Incidents by Zone       YTD Zone                       

Station 51                   11                   17                    21                      34 (31%)

Station 52                   12                   19                    22                     42 (38%)

Station 53                   5                    16                    9                        22 (20%)

Station 54                   4                     10                    7                        13 (12%)

Station 50                   27                   49                    

Yakima                        2                     2

Ambulance Only         13 (1Lift)         19

Total                                                 132

 

Incident Type:                        Month            Type                                                                                        YTD

            Fire                              5                     5 bldg (1AA, 1MA)                                                                       7

            EMS                             63                   56 EMS, 5 MVC, 1 Search, 1 AMA                                          113

            Hazardous Condition       1                      1 Electrical                                                                           2

            Service Call                   2                      1 Assist Invalid, 1 Leg Stuck                                                   4

            Good Intent                   2                      2 Smoke (1 Duty)                                                                  2

            False Alarm                    1                      1 AFA                                                                                   4

           

 

Action Taken:                         Month            Type                                                                                        YTD

            Canceled enroute           8                      5 EMS, 1 MA, 1 AA, 1 Search                                                  13

            Extinguishment             3                      3 BLDG                                                                                   4

            Provide BLS                 53                                                                                                                  97

            Assist Invalid               2                                                                                                                     3

            Investigate                  7                      1 AFA, 1 Electrical, 3 MVC, 2 Smoke                                           7

            Other                          1                      Remove Pinned                                                                         1

 

Automatic Aid Received (both agencies respond)    Automatic Aid Given                                    

From Highland            0                                  To Highland                0

From Yakima               0                                  To Yakima                   1

From Gleed                 0                                  To BIA                         0

YTD                 0                                              YTD                 3         

 

Mutual Aid Received             0                                  Mutual Aid Given       1 (Dist 9)

            YTD                             0                                              YTD                 2         

 

Two separate fires at the same address resulted in a total of $599k in loss last month.  The original fire was a garage fire causing $149k in loss, the second fire was the home causing $450k in loss.

 

Response Times: (Target= within 1 mile of station 8 minutes or less, add 2 minutes every mile after) Qualifying Alarms: 47mo, 89yr, Target met: mo. 31 (66%) yr 56 (63%), Target not met: mo. 16 (34%) yr. 33 (37%). 

Interlocal:

 

The 911 Operations Board hosted a demo of ProQA’s EMD software for future consideration, next month we have a similar demo scheduled with another company.  Once the demonstrations are complete and we received feedback from call takers we plan to move forward with a new EMD system for Yakima County.

 

DC Johnston assisted Selah Fire Department on promotional testing for two fulltime Lieutenants.

 

Budget/Finance: By Officer Boisselle

Work has started on our 2022 annual State Auditors Financial Report. I am signed up for an update webinar the end of March.  After getting the changes and templates at the webinar I plan on diving in and hopefully completing and submitting the beginning of May. The report is due by May 30th.

Fire Prevention/Public Education: By Officer Boisselle

We will have the EDITH House April 24th – 27th. I am making contact with the schools setting up the 2nd grade class presentations.

Recruitment and Retention: By DC Jim Johnston

 

Chief Craig, Officer Boisselle and I discussed doing a targeted mailing to the Tampico area seeking members to join our Department – we plan to do this mid-April.

 

Department Training and Safety: By DC Jim Johnston

February Drills included: Equipment Check / Station Drill, OTEP Module 1 (Endocrine & Shock), Search, and Extremity Injuries / Vitals / MIR.

Developed the March Drill Schedule: Equipment Check / Station Drill, OTEP Workshop A, Water Supply & Engine Company Attack Evolutions, Multi Company Operations, and Brush Truck Review with Annual Shelter Video and Throw.

On February 15th we held the Lieutenant Assessment testing, all seven who took the written test also did this testing as well.

Lieutenant Pfaff co-instructed a Wildland Saw class (S-212) on February 25th and 26th, a total of 16 people took the class four of which were from outside agencies.

On February 28th Chief Craig and myself met with a representative from VFIS on driver training and building safety related matters.  A report will be made available to us in a few weeks to see where we can make improvements on.

On March 2nd the Recruits started their Wildland Fire training, Lieutenant Pfaff is leading the instruction for this class.

On March 8th Lt Pfaff and I met with representatives from DTG Recycle at their facility to look at a site for this year’s Wildland Field Day which will be conducted on May 13th. 

I will be attending a class at the National Fire Academy in Emmitsburg, MD from March 12th to 17th - Command and Control Decision Making at Multi Alarm Incidents.

Logistics: 

The backup generator at Station 51 was serviced last month, this is an annual service and testing by the manufacturer.

Projects this month are window tinting apparatus and ordering the backup generator for Station 53.

Strategic Plan:

 

Our Strategic Communication this month externally is in regard to open burning, internally we are discussing our on-scene firefighter rehab culture.

 

As we wrap up our first quarter action plan, we will be able to provide information regarding some of the items we are tracking on a quarterly basis after all of March is inputted. 

 

Grants:

 

We submitted two DNR grants, one remote monitor grant for $7,000, and we purchased wildland supplies on the DNR Phase I grant $3,000.

 

We requested State Capital Funding of $36,516 for 3 additional remote monitors, as well as on behalf of the Communications Committee requested $135,000 to replace repeater microwaves.

 

We received $13,000 from FEMA for reimbursement of Covid related supplies and hours for the second half of 2022.

 

Upcoming we plan to submit a FEMA SAFER grant.

 

Legislation:

 

We had a successful trip to Olympia meeting with six Legislators to discuss bills related to our operations.  Currently, it appears the Volunteer Pension bill has cleared the House and is on its way to passage.  HB1670 Limit Factor Increase is stuck in House Rules 2 currently.  HB1498 appears to still be moving, this bill provides funding for fire districts to utilize aircraft on fires before they become mobilizations.

 

Good of the Order:

 

WSRB has changed the date of our re-rating to April 4th, staff is currently compiling all the information required for their visit.

Our next Red Cross Blood Drive is scheduled for March 13th.

The awards banquet is scheduled for March 25th.

 

Respectfully,

 

Nathan Craig

Fire Chief