Chief's Monthly Report
Fire Department
Monthly Progress Report
West Valley Fire Department
Yakima County Fire District 12
For the Meeting of October 12, 2021
Agenda Topic: Department Monthly Progress Report
Prepared By: Chief Nathan Craig
Date Prepared: October 11, 2021
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:
Firefighter Jeremy Catron resigned. Support Services Lieutenant Sharon Gillette retired after 13 years of service at the end of September.
Starting October, we have 72 on call members, 59 in service for operations, 10 support, 1 medical leave and 2 on leave of absence. Our total number of personnel is 83.
As we approach the vaccination deadline next Monday, we have 66% of our operational personnel that will be in service for EMS alarms. We are currently working on contingency plans for stations that will be low on manpower due to the mandate.
Budget/Finance: By Officer Boisselle
The staff toured the facilities looking at proposed projects and station budget requests. The list has been pared down and we are currently working to see what fits within the budget.
At the end of September, the Dept of Labor & Industries posted that the 2022 minimum wage will increase to $14.69, this is up a dollar from 2021. This affects approximately 30 personnel we will have to adjust.
Fire Prevention/Public Education: By Officer Boisselle
Banners were hung at each station in anticipation of Fire Prevention Week in October. Unfortunately, due to COVID restrictions, we haven’t gotten back in the classrooms yet.
On September 30th West Valley staffed the Yakima Valley Fire & Injury Prevention Association booth at the Central WA State Fair.
Operations:
Last month there were a total of 93 alarms, 82 we responded to.
Incidents: YTD Incidents by Zone YTD Zone
Station 51 10 94 23 164 (24.7%)
Station 52 16 157 33 279 (42.0%)
Station 53 8 90 16 143 (21.5%)
Station 54 6 43 10 78 (11.7%)
Station 50 42 (2 duty) 280
Yakima 0 10
Ambulance Only 11 67
Total 741
Incident Type: Month Type YTD
Fire 12 8 building (4AA, 1MA), 1 cooking, (2MA), 3 vehicle 95 EMS 66 54 EMS (1MA, 1AA), 11 MVC (1AA) 506 Hazardous Condition 0 14 Service Call 8 8 assist invalid 51 Good Intent 3 1 outdoor burn, 2 smoke (2duty officer) 47 False Alarm 4 4 Automatic Fire Alarm 22
Action Taken: Month Type YTD
Canceled enroute 5 3 AAid, 1 AFA, 1 Cooking 58 Extinguishment 5 2 Vehicle, 1 vehicle/brush, 1 AA Bldg, 1 MA Bldg 62 Provide BLS 62 440
Assist Invalid 8 48 Investigate 13 1- outdoor burn, 2 mvc, 3 AFA, 2 Smoke, 3 Bldg, 2 EMS 119 Other 0 5
Automatic Aid Received (both agencies respond) Automatic Aid Given
From Highland 0 To Highland 1
From Yakima 1 To Yakima 5
From Gleed 0 To BIA 0
YTD 4 YTD 41
Mutual Aid Received 0 Mutual Aid Given 2 (Yakima)
YTD 6 YTD 18
Response Times: (Target= within 1 mile of station 8 minutes or less, add 2 minutes every mile after) Qualifying Alarms: 57mo, 455yr, Target met: mo 39 (68%) yr 329 (72%), Target not met: mo 18 (32%) yr 126 (28%)
Recruitment and Retention: By DC Jim Johnston
Our next hiring date is currently open with applications due by the end of the day on November 30th. To date we have received four applications, this class will start on February 1st. I will begin putting out the banners and roadside signs soon.
One Member contacted me about devising a streamlined program to bring on former Members that would like to re-join the Department but don’t have the available time to attend the full recruit academy. I have been approached on several occasions from past members on this very topic, with volunteer members dwindling I believe this is a very viable approach to consider.
Department Training and Safety: By DC Jim Johnston
September Drills included: Equipment Check / Station Drill, OTEP Modules 5 & 6 (Burns & Well Being of the EMT), Department Family BBQ, Multi-Company Ops, and Extremity Injuries – Splinting.
Developed the October Drill Schedule: Equipment Check / Station Drill / SCBA Quarterly, OTEP Workshop C (Burns & Well Being of the EMT), ERG Review, and Engine Company Attack Evolutions.
The Recruit class has currently finished their structural classroom training and has had three practical days, at this time we will be focusing the rest of our time on practical evolutions. They will be set to finish with live fire training on November 1st and 6th and EVIP on November 20th.
We currently have one Member attending a modified EMT class that the EMS Office rolled out in September. We also have three Members that have submitted applications for the Winter EMT Academy, which is set to begin on November 20th.
At the beginning of September, I received some information on a safety program that the Department of Labor & Industries is piloting this year called FIIRE (Firefighter Injury and Illness Reduction) by signing up we will receive a 10% reduction in our Workman’s Compensation premium. The goal of the program is to reduce firefighter injuries and illnesses through a proactive risk management and implementation of best practices. I assigned Firefighter Kaimana Makalii’ as our representative, he participated in the first meeting which was held virtually on September 27th.
Strategic Plan:
In addition to our regular monthly action plan items, in September we are creating a report of available Members for different times of the day/week, toured all facilities and submitted the Management Excellence Award. Our external communications were on child safety. Internal communications were focused on communications.
In October we are reviewing our retention programs, state mobilization, updating the recruitment booklet, review of budget and tax rate while analyzing the quarterly budget and continue to work on ambulance availability.
Logistics:
The Station 53 floor project is complete, and work is scheduled to start on Station 54’s floor this month. All SCBA’s and masks were flow tested last month and all Engines are scheduled for pump testing in October.
Interlocal:
All Districts in the Upper Valley are meeting with District 5 this month to prepare for the dispatch changeover, at this time we are planning an April 1, 2022 switch.
The County radio study RFQ’s were due last month, a scoring system was developed, and the committee will be briefed on the results at our meeting next week.
Grants:
We received notification from FEMA that our Assistance to Firefighters grant request for radios will not be funded out of the 2020 grant cycle.
Good of the Order:
The Firefighter’s Association is holding a drive through potato feed on the 22nd this month.
Respectfully,
Nathan Craig
Fire Chief