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Chief's Monthly Report

Chief's Monthly Report

West Valley Fire Department

Yakima County Fire District 12

For the Meeting June 10th, 2025

 

Agenda Topic:           Department Monthly Progress Report

Prepared By:             Chief Nathan Craig

Date Prepared:          June 4th, 2025

 

The purpose of this report is to update the Board of Fire Commissioners, Officers Management Team, and fire personnel on recent department activities and progress on strategic objectives.

 

Personnel

  • Current Staffing: Total personnel stand at 90, with 79 on-call members (58 operations, 14 support, and 7 on leave).  No changes

Operations 

In May there were a total of 98 alarms in the district, 31 were ambulance only calls.

Incidents:                                                        YTD               Incidents by Zone            YTD Zone                 

Station 51                    13                   38                                19                    71 (24%)

Station 52                    11                   57                                24                    110 (37%)

Station 53                    8                     44                                16                    85 (29%)

Station 54                    5                     22                                8                      29 (10%)

Station 50                    30 (6 Duty)    134                                                      295

Yakima                       0                     1                                 

Ambulance Only         31 (6 Lift)      137                             

Total                                                   433

 

Incident Type:                       Month            Type                                                               YTD

            Fire                             10                    5 bldg (2AA), 4 veg (1MA), 1 cook (MA)\  29

            EMS                            60                    50 EMS, 10 MVC                                           289

            Hazardous Condition  0                                                                                              5

            Service Call                10                    8 lift, 2 unauthorized burning                         37

            Good Intent                 15                    13 Smoke, 2 burning                                      32

            False Alarm                6                      4 AFA, 2 AMA                                               28

           

 

Action Taken:                       Month            Type                                                               YTD

            Canceled enroute        13        3 AFA, 2 EMS, 3 AA, 3 MVC, 1 Veg, 1 Burn             43

            Extinguishment          6          2 building, 3 vegetation, 1 burn                                    24

            Provide BLS               43                                                                                            234

            Assist Invalid              8                                                                                                32

            Investigate                  25        3 MVC, 6 EMS, 13 smoke, 1 AFA, 1 CO, 1 Locked In                    92

            Other                           1                      Extricate                                                             3

 

Automatic Aid Received (both agencies respond)   Automatic Aid Given                                              

From Highland           0                                  To Highland                0

From Yakima              4                                  To Yakima                  3

From Gleed                 0                                  To BIA                        0

YTD                13                                            YTD                6         

 

Mutual Aid Received            0                                  Mutual Aid Given     2 (YAK)

            YTD                            1                                              YTD                3         

 

There were $121,200 in losses from two fires last month, both fires were in mobile harms and caused extensive damage to the structure and contents.  Additionally, 20 acres of wildland were burned.

 

The first four weeks of Nurse Navigator there were 132 911 calls routed to the nurses, 78 of those resulted in a BLS ambulance response, 52 were navigated, and 2 resulted in an ALS response.  Of the 52 navigated callers, 27 were able to perform self-care, 9 referred to a clinic, 9 were handled by a virtual doctor and 7 received a LYFT ride to the ER.  Sixteen callers were unable to be assessed due to hanging up, physician directive, refusing triage, or was a third-party caller.  The nurse line answers the calls on average in 15 seconds or less and the average amount of time on the phone with the patient is 8 minutes 40 seconds.

 

Response Times: (Target= within 1 mile of station 8 minutes or less, add 2 minutes every mile after) Qualifying Alarms: 44mo, 171yr, Target met: mo. 31 (70%) yr. 117 (68%), Target not met: mo. 13 (30%) yr. 54 (32%).

NFPA 1720 Responses for rural areas (6 FFs on scene within 14 minutes, 80% of the time).             Incidents: 2mo, 11yr, target met mo. 1 (50%), yr 6 (55%), target not met: mo. 1 (50%) yr. 5 (45%).

Recruitment/Retention Prepared by DC Johnston

The Fall Recruit academy applications were due May 31st, we received six Firefighter applications, four Cadet applications, and one Support Service application.  There will be a Meet & Greet on June 11th at the stations for the candidates followed by Physical Ability testing and Interviews on June 14th starting at 09:00. 

Department Training and Safety Prepared by DC Johnston

May Drills included: Equipment Check / Station Drill, Natural Gas Emergencies, OTEP Workshop B (Cardiac, Toxicology, & HazMat), and Drafting.  There is also a Wildland Refresher for the Sawyers.

Developed the June Drill Schedule: Equipment Check / Station Drill, EVIP Rodeo / Fit Testing, EVIP Road Course, and Officers Choice.

After the busy first two weeks of May no other extra training or classes took place in May.

On May 28th the Safety and Training Committee met for the 2nd quarter Safety and Training Meeting.

On June 3rd we hosted Yakima Fire Department with their Recruit Academy Live Fire training.

Budget/Finance Prepared by Officer Boisselle

The State Financial Report has been submitted. A copy is available in the packet for review.

 

Fire Prevention/Public Education Prepared by Officer Boisselle

The District did EMS stand by at the Wiley City Rodeo both days.

We once again hosted West Valley FFA’s Farm Day event on May 20 and 21. We had members showing off our engines and handing out stickers.

Interlocal Coordination

  • PROQA:The dispatch steering group met to review nature codes, data, and ensure we are set to switch from Spillman codes to PROQA codes for dispatch July 1.

Logistics Updates

  • Apparatus Updates:
    • Brush 51: Under construction.
    • Tender 52: Requested billing for DNR funding and progress report.
    • Engine 54: Specifications are finalized.

·        Carports:

o   Permits received will be constructed this month.

·       Tender Nozzles: Arrived being assembled and installed this month.

·       Misc: Scene lighting, sparky, trailer decking, and ID badge maker all here or ordered.

·        Purchasing Schedule:

o   This month we are working on security cameras and displaying our hose cart.

Strategic Plan –

  • Action Plan: Report in packet.
  • Operational Assessment: Technical Report #2 is due this week. 
  • Public Forum: All seven RSVPs were for the 12:00 meeting, information will be provided to the board during the planning retreat.
  • Planning Retreat Agenda: Draft agenda for review and requested additions.

Grants

  • Legends Casino Grant: Not awarded again.
  • FEMA: AFG SAFER and Prevention are open now, reviewing requirements for possible submission.
  • Outstanding Requests: Ecology grant for EV fire blankets, DNR Ops, $100k for Brush 51 build, IAFC fuel reduction $5k for dump trailer, BLM slip tank.

Community Engagement and Events

  • Association Events:
    • Flea Market Training Grounds May 31st.
    • Provided a Dollars for Scholars scholarship to a West Valley student.

·        Wildfire Ready Events:

o   The Chip it Don’t Burn it yard waste event held at Station 52 May 31st 0900-1300 took in 20 yards of chipped material and another 30 yards of debris

o   Next event is Station 53 June 28th.

Good of the Order

·        Blood Drives:

o   Next Drive July 7th.

o   2024 Premier Red Cross partner with 215 units collected.

·        Residential Burn Restrictions: The Fire Marshal has restricted outdoor burning June 1 to September 1.

·        State Chiefs’ Conference:

o   Presented on WSRB committee work with Director Brooks.

 

 

Respectfully,

 

Nathan Craig

Fire Chief