Chief's Monthly Report
West
Valley Fire Department
Yakima
County Fire District 12
For
the Meeting May 13, 2025
Agenda Topic: Department
Monthly Progress Report
Prepared By: Chief
Nathan Craig
Date
Prepared: May 9, 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
- FF Fate
resigned his position on the duty crew, position filled by Travis Schlaman
off our current eligibility list.
- Current Staffing: Total personnel
stand at 90, with 79 on-call members (58 operations, 14 support, and 7 on
leave).
Operations
In
April there were a total of 93 alarms in the District, 38 were ambulance only
calls.
Incidents: YTD Incidents by Zone YTD Zone
Station 51 5 25 12 52 (23%)
Station 52 7 46 19 86 (38%)
Station 53 10 36 16 69
(30%)
Station 54 7 17 8 21 (9%)
Station 50 26 (1 Duty) 104 228
Yakima 0 1
Ambulance Only 38 (3 Lift) 106
Total 335
Incident Type: Month Type YTD
Fire 6 4 bldg (1MA), 1 veg, 1 trash 19
EMS 72 59
EMS, 7 MVC, 6 AMA 229
Hazardous Condition 0 5
Service Call 6 6
lift
27
Good Intent 6 6
Smoke
17
False Alarm 3 1
AFA, 2 AMA 25
Action Taken: Month Type YTD
Canceled enroute 5 1
AFA, 2 EMS, 2 AMA 30
Extinguishment 6 4
building, 1 vegetation, 1 trash 18
Provide BLS 57 191
Assist Invalid 6 24
Investigate 18 4 MVC, 4 AMA, 4 EMS, 6 smoke
67
Other 0 2
Automatic Aid Received (both agencies respond) Automatic
Aid Given
From Highland 0 To Highland 0
From Yakima 2 To
Yakima 0
From Gleed 0 To
BIA 0
YTD 9 YTD 3
Mutual Aid Received 1 Mutual Aid Given 1
YTD 1 YTD 1
There were $556,000 in losses from two fires last
month, a kitchen fire caused $20k in damage and a second alarm house fire caused
$536k in losses. Additionally, 2 acres
of wildland burned.
The Nurse Navigator line is in service, during the
first week there were 26 calls triaged to the navigator, and of those 18 were
returned to AMR for dispatch. As of this
week, the numbers continue to trend around 60% comebacks compared to the
National average, however the system is reducing unnecessary EMS responses in
our system and only one call returned resulted in an ALS response.
At a recent 911 Operations meeting it was thought
that funding for Pulse Point was lost due to federal cuts. This funding was supposed to come from the
EMS levy; the 911 Director is following up and hopefully we will have the
program running in Yakima County soon.
Response Times: (Target=
within 1 mile of station 8 minutes or less, add 2 minutes every mile after)
Qualifying Alarms: 45mo, 127yr, Target met: mo. 29 (64%) yr. 86 (68%), Target
not met: mo. 16 (36%) yr. 41 (32%).
NFPA
1720 Responses for rural areas (6 FFs on scene within 14 minutes, 80% of the
time). Incidents: 3mo, 9yr, target met mo. 1
(33%), yr 5 (56%), target not met: mo. 2 (66%) yr. 4 (44%).
Recruitment/Retention Prepared by DC
Johnston
We are recruiting for our upcoming Fall Recruit
Academy with applications due by May 31st. I have targeted the areas around Station 53
and 54 as that is where we have the greatest demand for personnel. I also have a flyer that I dropped off at the
High School for Cadet recruitment.
Currently our Cadet program onboards Cadets for the
Fall academy, we are thinking about extending this to the Winter academy as
well.
Department Training and Safety Prepared by DC
Johnston
April
Drills included: Equipment Check / Station Drill / SCBA Quarterly, OTEP Module
2 (Cardiac, Toxicology, & HazMat), Wildland Refresher, Wildland Pumps &
Porta Tanks, and Water Supply & Hose Deploy.
Developed
the May Drill Schedule: Equipment Check / Station Drill, Natural Gas
Emergencies, OTEP Workshop B (Cardiac, Toxicology, & HazMat), and
Drafting. There is also a Wildland
Refresher for the Sawyers.
On
April 12th we hosted Selah Fire with their recruits Live Fire
training.
On
April 17th & 18th we hosted the Spring Mechanics
conference at Station 51.
On
April 18th we hosted the Nile Fire Department with their IFSAC Live
Fire testing.
On
April 26th we hosted Sunnyside Fire Department with Live Fire
training as well as Search evolutions.
On
May 2nd we hosted East Valley Fire with their IFSAC Live Fire
testing, two of our members also tested with them.
On
May 3rd & 4th I instructed a 2-Day National Fire
Academy class (Incident Safety Officer) four of our members attended the
training along with 16 other firefighters from the valley.
On
May 8th through 10th, we hosted a 16-hour wildland class
- S-200 (Initial Attack Incident Commander), three of our members attended this
class, Lt Pfaff assisted Chief Woodall with the instruction. This class is for individuals working on
their Incident Commander Type IV credentials.
On
May 10th the current recruits in the Wildland class conducted their
final training – a joint wildland field day at Yakima County District #5 Sawyer
Station. Other participants were City of
Yakima, Gleed, Selah, East Valley, District #5, and Sunnyside.
Fire Prevention/Public Education Prepared
by Officer Boisselle
EDITH
house visited Ahtanum, Cottonwood and Mt View elementary school’s 2nd
grade classes. Two hundred and sixty kids went through the house to receive and
practice fire safety skills.
Cpt
Haubrich, along with YSO and AMR, presented to a group of 35 preschoolers from Learning
Together Preschool.
The
Yard Waste event at Station 51 was a success. Filled two 40-yard dumpsters with
chips and yard debris.
The
second edition of the 2025 newsletter is being prepared and will be in
mailboxes soon.
Interlocal
Coordination
- Wildland Fire Cooperators:We held our pre-season meeting amongst
fire departments, federal, and state agencies to prepare for the upcoming
season. At this time Yakima will
not be base to any fixed wing aircraft as we have been in the past.
Logistics Updates
- Apparatus
Updates:
- Brush
51: Under
construction.
- Engine
54: Found
a suitable apparatus to replace Engine 54, finalizing specifications.
·
Carports:
o
Plans
submitted to the county for permits; the carports are in the District waiting
for permits to be erected.
· PPE: The PPE order we placed early this
year has arrived and gear issued in service.
·
Purchasing
Schedule:
o
This month we
are re-decking our trailer, installing remote nozzles on Tender 51 and 53, replacing
all booster nozzles, and purchasing equipment to print ID badges.
Strategic Plan –
- Action
Plan: Report
included in packet.
- Operational
Assessment: With part of our data in the old system, it
has taken longer than anticipated to generate the necessary information
for the consultants. At this time,
they have all they have requested, and we are waiting for technical review
2.
- Public
Forum: Two forums scheduled for June 4th
12:00 and 18:00.
Grants
- Local
Community Project State Request: Awarded $295k to install
generators at Stations 52 & 54.
- Anheuser
Busch: Awarded a pallet of water.
- NVFC:
Awarded 5 laptops, and a training stipend.
- DNR:
Awarded 2025 PPE/Communications Grant- Purchased gloves and King
radios.
- Applied
for: Ecology grant for EV fire blankets, DNR
Ops, $100k for Brush 51 build, IAFC fuel reduction $5k for dump trailer.
Community Engagement and Events
- Association
Events:
- Community Easter Egg Hunt held April 19th
in conjunction with Wildfire Ready Neighbors Event.
- Flea Market Training Grounds May 31st.
·
Wildfire Ready Events:
o The Chip it Don’t Burn it yard waste
event held at Station 51 April 26th 0900-1300 took in 40 yards of
chipped material and another 40 yards of debris
o Next event is Station 52 May 31st.
Good of the Order
·
YCFCA Meeting:
o
Training Center May 15th 18:00.
·
Drone Program:
o
One certified pilot.
o
Drone registered with FAA.
o
Developing policy/SOG for program.
Respectfully,
Nathan Craig
Fire Chief