ALERTS

NEWS

West Valley Firefighters

Quarterly Newsletter

1st Quarter of 2012

PDF

Chief's Monthly Report

Chief's Monthly Report

Agenda Topic:            Department Monthly Progress Report

Prepared By:              Chief Nathan Craig

Date Prepared:           September 11, 2023

 

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:

Lt. Cameron Haubrich resigned to move to Sunnyside where he accepted the Chiefs position.

Starting August, our total on-call Members is 84, 62 operations, 7 recruits and 10 support.  We have 2 on medical and 3 on leave.  Our total number of personnel is 95.

Operations: 

In August there were a total of 83 alarms for our District, 78 we responded to, and 5 ambulance only calls (with 1 Lift Assist).

Incidents:                                                 YTD                   Incidents by Zone       YTD Zone               

Station 51                   6                     81                                12                    146 (27%)

Station 52                   15                   100                              33                    211 (39%)

Station 53                   11                  72                                27                    122 (22%)

Station 54                   3                     29                                6                       64 (12%)

Station 50                   43 (4 duty)         261                   

Yakima                        0                     7

Ambulance Only         5 (1 Lift)          84

Total                                                634

 

Incident Type:                        Month            Type                                                                YTD

            Fire                              12                    1 bldg (MA), 11 veg (1AA, 7MA)                            78

            EMS                             55                    47 EMS, 8 MVC                                                456

            Hazardous Condition      1                      1 Electrical                                                      11

            Service Call                   3                      3 Assist Invalid                                                 30

            Good Intent                  7                      2 Smoke (4 Duty), 5 Outdoor Burn                    33

            False Alarm                   5                      3 AFA, 2 CO                                                     24

           

 

Action Taken:                         Month            Type                                                 YTD

            Canceled enroute       9                      5 EMS, 2 AFA, 1 MVC, 1 AA Veg          68

            Extinguishment          10                    2 Veg, 7 MA Veg, 1 MA Bldg               63

            Provide BLS                 39                                                                         287

            Assist Invalid               4                                                                           28

            Investigate                  21        5 Burn, 5 MVC, 4 EMS, 2 Smoke, 2 CO, 1 AFA, 1 Power      66

            Other                          0                                                                          14

 

Automatic Aid Received (both agencies respond)    Automatic Aid Given                                    

From Highland            0                                  To Highland                0

From Yakima               1                                  To Yakima                   1

From Gleed                 0                                  To BIA                         0

YTD                 3                                              YTD                 16       

 

Mutual Aid Received             1                                  Mutual Aid Given       8 (2 Yakima, Dist 1 & 9, 1 Dist 3 & 4)

            YTD                             6                                              YTD                 22       

 

There was a total of $10,000 of loss in August from a brush fire that burned 1 acre and got into the attic of a detached garage.

 

Response Times: (Target= within 1 mile of station 8 minutes or less, add 2 minutes every mile after) Qualifying Alarms: 52mo,405yr, Target met: mo. 39 (75%) yr 252 (72%), Target not met: mo. 13 (25%) yr. 114 (28%). 

Department Training and Safety: by DC Jim Johnston

August Drills included: Equipment Check / Station Drill, EVIP Rodeo & Fit Testing, EVIP Road Course, Emotional Intelligence, and OTEP Module 4 (Abdominal & Respiratory Emergencies).

Developed the September Drill Schedule: Equipment Check / Station Drill, OTEP Workshop C (Chest Trauma and Pediatric Emergencies), District BBQ, and Multi Company Operations.

On August 31st we started the structural component of Recruit Class, there are currently 12 in the class, 10 from West Valley, 1 from Highland, and 1 from Naches Heights.

I was approached by the Deputy Chief of District 4 about participating in a joint recruit academy along with District 5.  The immediate benefits would be training all our new recruits to IFSAC FF1 certification along with Hazardous Materials Operations certified as well, this will also help with WSRB scoring.  A lot of moving parts will have to happen to make this work, but I am willing to put forth the effort if it is a good fit for us.  The rough draft plan shows starting in January with Wildland training, then Hazardous Materials training followed by structural training in March and wrapping up with EVIP and AFA in early May and then graduation on May 11th. 

Recruitment / Retention: by DC Jim Johnston

The Retention focus group will be meeting on September 13th.

Our next hiring application deadline is November 30th, currently I have three applications.

Fire Prevention/Public Education: By Officer Boisselle

We had 23 participants in our Jr Safety Academy on August 18th.  Kids participated in a bike rodeo, hands only CPR, knot tying, received free bike helmets and had a spray down grand finale.  Lots was learned for planning in 2024.

West Valley will host the Yakima Valley Fire & Injury Prevention Association booth at the Central WA Fair on Friday September 22nd.

Budget/Finance: By Officer Boisselle

Stations have turned in their budget requests for 2024.  Staff will tour the stations on September 14th and prioritize requested items.  Budgets are due to the County by November 17th.

Logistics: 

Brush 52 chassis has been sent to Cascade to start the build.

Front mount nozzles have been installed on Brush 51 and Brush 53; Brush 54 goes on the 18th for installation.

We have had several issues with the new Engine 51, all repairs and changes have been made under warranty.

Strategic Plan:

 

We continue to work on the 3rd quarter action plan items, the report is on the agenda.

 

The final draft of the 2024-2028 updated plan is ready for approval.

 

Interlocal:

 

I have been working with the County and Falcon Ridge regarding installing an access road and gate off North Cottonwood. If the District gains ownership of the land or a long-term lease it is possible for us to install the gate and access road, if not it would be the responsibility of Falcon Ridge to install.

 

Yakima is holding a meeting regarding an RFA on September 19th, as a District with a common boundary we have been invited.

 

Grants:

 

We applied for a grant to receive free narcan.

 

Good of the Order:

 

The Department family picnic is September 20th at 18:00.

We have 50 donors signed up for our 9/11 blood drive.

Respectfully,

Nathan Craig, Fire Chief