Chief's Monthly Report
West
Valley Fire Department
Yakima
County Fire District 12
For
the Meeting October 13, 2026
Agenda Topic: Department
Monthly Progress Report
Prepared By: Chief
Nathan Craig
Date
Prepared: October 12, 2026
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: Department staffing 94 personnel, including
83 on-call members: 65 operations members, 10 support members, 11
staff/board, one member on light duty, three members on medical leave and four
members on leave. Two recruits resigned due to moving for work. One fulltime firefighter resigned his
position and is moving to on-call status after a leave of absence.
- Duty Crew Firefighter Testing: Physical ability testing is
scheduled for October 15th with 5 candidates for one opening.
Department Training and Safety Preparedby Cpt Nickolaus
September drill topics included
monthly equipment checks, gear inspections, extrication training, multi company
operations, an OTEP workshop, Denver Drill training, knots and ropes training,
an SCBA air management challenge, and hose evolutions.
October drill topics consist of an
OTEP workshop and module on special populations and abdominal injuries, monthly
equipment checks, SCBA quarterlies, mutual training with Airlift Northwest,
SCBA emergency training, and live fire evolutions.
We had four members attend the Airlift
Northwest trauma and burn seminar. Live fire training took place with Highland
Fire Department at the end of September and will continue with District 5 and
Yakima Fire later this month. We tentatively have six members enrolled in the
upcoming EMT academy hosted by the EMS department. That class begins in January
and goes through April.
Recruitment
/ Retention Preparedby Cpt Nickolaus
Our recruits have finished the classroom portion
of Academy and will herein be focused completely on practical evolutions until
the end of October. Updated numbers include 15 firefighter recruits and 2
support recruits from West Valley, 4 from Highland, 2 from Naches, and 1 from
Gleed. This accounts for one member resigning due to accepting a job in the
Seattle area, one member being released due to missing 8 hours of recruit
academy, and one member making the switch from Station 53 to Support Services.
As of October 1st, all members have been issued pagers. An exit
interview has been scheduled with the fulltime duty crew firefighter that
resigned.
Applications for the next hiring period close on
November 30th, with a meet ‘n’ greet, interviews, and physical
ability testing scheduled for December. As of October 12th, we have
received five applications.
Operations Prepared by DC
Johnston
In
September there were a total of 73 alarms in the district, 21 were ambulance
calls.
Incidents: YTD Incidents by Zone YTD Zone
Station 51 3 56 22 194 (24.3%)
Station 52 14 139 34 344 (43.0%)
Station 53 9 99 12 190 (23.8%)
Station 54 1 33 5 71 (8.9%)
Station 50 24 236 799
Yakima
1 6
Ambulance Only 16 192
Ambulance Lift 5 38
Total 799
Incident Type: Month Type YTD
Fire 5 3 bldg(3-M/AA), 1 Veg
(0-M/AA), 1 MV 111
EMS 47 4 MVC, 1 AMA 519
Service
Call 17 9 Lift, 4 AFA, 2 Power 117
No
Emergency 4 4 outdoor burning 52
Action Taken: Month Type YTD
Canceled
enroute 13 4 EMS, 4 M/AA, 3 AFA, 1 MVC, 1 AMA 75
Extinguishment 3 1
bldg(1-M/AA), 1 veg (4 M/AA), 1 veh 88
Provide
BLS 40 452
Assist
Invalid 11 9 Lift Assist 70
Investigate 5 2 burn, 0 AMA, 1 AFA, 1 pwr 100
Other 1 Powerline 10
Automatic Aid Received (both agencies respond) Automatic
Aid Given
From Highland 0 To
Highland 2
From Yakima 0 To
Yakima 2
From Gleed 0 To
Union Gap 0
From Union Gap 1 To
BIA 0
YTD 15 YTD 46
Mutual Aid Received 0 Mutual
Aid Given 0 (0 YFD, 0 Dist 6, 0 Dist
5)
YTD 4 YTD 17
One
motor vehicle fire (older motorhome) resulted in a loss of $5,000. Less than .5 acres of wildland burned.
September
51- 2/3-
67% 52- 5/9- 55% 53- 0/7 0% 54- 0/1 0%
September
Total 7 out of 20- 35%
On-Going
Total- 181 of 280- 64.6%
On-Duty
Turnout Time: 80 seconds non fire, 100 secondfire responses
September 13 out of
22 (59.1%) 131 of 183- 71.6%
NFPA
1720Responses for rural areas (6 FFs on scene within 14 minutes, 80% of the time).
Incidents: 0 mo., 9 yr, target met mo. 0 (0%), yr 7 (78%), target not met: mo.
0 (0%) yr. 2 (29%).
Public Education Prepared by Officer
Boisselle
In
September the Fire District staffed the Yakima Valley Fire & Injury booth
at the Central WA State Fair.
Departments each take a day, handing out fire prevention materials and
connecting with fair goers.
Financial Prepared by Officer
Boisselle
A
draft of 2027 Budget package is on the agenda for review.
Logistics
- Apparatus
Updates:
- New
Engines:
Delivery scheduled week of October 19th.
- Tender
53: In
Service
- Pump
Testing:
Delayed
· Facilities and Equipment Updates.
o
Station
54 Generator:
Installed, awaiting Cummins commissioning to be in service.
o
Station
52 Asphalt:
Concrete removed, base is prepped, scheduled to begin laying asphalt October 13th.
o Projects Completed: Carpet Administration area, Station 53
HVAC replacement, Station 51 landscaping.
Grants:
·
FEMA
AFG: Awarded $568k for
SCBA replacement.
·
Upcoming:
DNR Phase 3 and
surplus engines reviewing needs, NVFC Dual Compliant PPE.
Community Engagement and Events:
·
Association:
Potato Feed October 16th. Homespun Crafters Bazaar November 14th.
·
Trunk
or Treat: October 24th SunComm, October 31st
WV Missionary Church.
·
Blood
Drive: The September 14th blood drive had
43 donors, next drive November 9th.
Respectfully,
Nathan Craig, Fire Chief