Chief's
Corner
November 5, 2008
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.
ARCHIVE WORDS FROM THE CHIEF
October 1,
2008
(TOP) North Whidbey Fire
and Rescue is at a critical
juncture in
its history. In less then a month the voters will decide whether to
approve our
levy lid lift or to reject it. Historically the district has spent 60%
of its
tax revenue on operations and 40% on capital expenses. Capital expenses
would
be apparatus replacement, new BAs, major repairs to the buildings,
drainage
work like at station 21 or the car prop at 27.
In 2008 our
operations budget is 93% of our tax
revenue. It
is obvious that without this levy replacement of apparatus, equipment
and
buildings will be impossible. Hopefully that message is getting out to
the
voters.
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 lik. 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) Reading the August Fire Rescue
magazine there was an article titled “Shut Up and Train More”.
Obviously that peaked my interest. The next line was “and 49 other tips
every probie (& all of us) should know.” As I read these 49 items I
could not help but think how appropriate they were for all of us. Over
the next few months I will paraphrase a few each month that I feel are
important for each of us.
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.
