Chief's Monthly Report
West Valley Fire
Department
Yakima County Fire
District 12
For the Meeting September
9, 2025
Agenda
Topic: Department Monthly
Progress Report
Prepared
By: Chief Nathan Craig
Date Prepared: September 4, 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
- Retirement:
Captain Haubrich retired with 46 years of
service 8/31/25.
- Current
Staffing: Total personnel stand at 91, with 80 on-call members (62 operations,
11 support, 4 medical and 4 on leave).
Operations
In August there
were a total of 88 alarms in the district, 26 were ambulance calls.
Incidents: YTD Incidents by Zone YTD Zone
Station 51
10 65 14 116 (24%)
Station 52
12 100 22 177 (36%)
Station 53
16 84 19 145
(30%)
Station 54
4 38 6 49 (10%)
Station 50
19 (1 Duty) 200
487
Yakima
1 4
Ambulance Only
26 (6 Lift) 214
Total 705
Incident Type: Month Type YTD
Fire 11 1 bldg(AA), 5 veg (1MA, 2AA),
2 car, 2 trash 71
EMS 61 58 EMS, 3 MVC 457
Hazardous Condition 0
6
Service Call 14 11
lift, 3 unauthorized burning 76
Good Intent 1 Smoke 42
False Alarm 1 AFA 39
Action Taken: Month Type YTD
Canceled enroute 5 1 AA, 1 Lift, 3 EMS 57
Extinguishment 9 1
MA, 2 AA, 2 car, 2 veg, 2 trash 65
Provide BLS 50 369
Assist Invalid 10
62
Investigate 13 1MVC, 7 EMS, 1 smoke, 3 burning, 1 AFA
138
Other 1 Standby 5
Automatic Aid Received (both agencies respond) Automatic Aid Given
From Highland 0 To Highland 3
From Yakima 0 To Yakima 1
From Gleed 0 To BIA 0
YTD 16 YTD 16
Mutual Aid Received 0 Mutual Aid
Given 2 (YAK, Dist 4)
YTD 1 YTD 15
There were $8,000 in losses from two fires. An RV fire caused $5k, and a golf cart caused
$3k in damage. Additionally, 2 acres of
a landfill burned.
Response Times: (Target= within 1 mile of station 8
minutes or less, add 2 minutes every mile after) Qualifying Alarms: 48mo, 308yr,
Target met: mo. 32 (67%) yr. 206 (67%), Target not met: mo. 16 (33%) yr. 122 (33%).
NFPA 1720
Responses for rural areas (6 FFs on scene within 14 minutes, 80% of the
time). Incidents: 0mo, 12yr, target met mo. 0
(%), yr 7 (58%), target not met: mo. 0 (%) yr. 6 (42%).
Department
Training and Safety Prepared by DC Johnston
August Drills
included: Equipment Check / Station Drill / 2026 Budget Request items, Ladder
Fundamentals, Multi-Company Operations @ Highland Fruit, and Water Supply &
Hose Handling.
Developed the
September Drill Schedule: Equipment Check / Station Drill, OTEP Workshop C (OB
/ GYN and Wounds), Family BBQ, and OTEP Module 4 (Respiratory & Infectious
Diseases).
We received the 80
Particulate Blocking Hoods that were purchased with the FIIRE’s Grant
money. On Sept 3rd drill
night I visited all the stations and issued one to members that were in
attendance that night.
The Recruits are
currently beginning their structural firefighting training, their first
practical day was September 6th where they worked on SCBA
familiarity and Water Supply along with some hose work.
Recruitment & Retention Prepared by DC Johnston
At the September Training Officers meeting I
will be discussing ideas for Recruitment and Retention with my counterparts
from other fire departments.
I will also solicit members from our
department to form a committee which focusses on retention. We have looked at this in the past and
limited it to people with less than five years of service with us, I will open
this up to anyone that would like to participate.
Budget/Finance Prepared by
Officer Boisselle
The 2025 mid-year budget review is included in the
packet.
We may need to schedule a second meeting in October
to review the proposed budget, before approval in November. The Public Budget
hearing is scheduled for November 11th. The approved budget is due
to the County by November 14th.
Fire Prevention/Public Education Prepared by Officer Boisselle
For the second
year in a row, we’ve had to cancel the Jr Safety Academy due to participation.
We will reevaluate this event, possibly holding it or something similar earlier
in the summer would help.
The 3rd
edition of the District newsletter was mail out last week.
Interlocal
Coordination
- BOCC
Outdoor Burning:This was a joint effort with Yakima County, Fire Marshal, County
Commissioner McKinney, Fire Commissioners, Chiefs and Clean Air. A draft resolution with common sense
regulations of residential outdoor burning for fire safety has been
developed, the next step will be for the BOCC to go through the public
hearing process before adopting the new regulations.
Logistics Updates
- Apparatus Updates:
- Brush 51: Should be finalized this month.
- Tender 52: Still at General Fire, will be visiting them
September 12th.
- Engines: On order, pre-construction meeting September 11th.
- Tender 53: Tank leaking, researching options and adjusting CIP.
· In Progress: Security
cameras, carports, furniture, and asphalt sealing.
· Station 52 & 54 Generators: Scope of work developed, and contact made with 5
contractors to quote the project, once all quotes are received will move
forward with the projects.
Strategic Plan
- Action Plan: Update in packet.
- Operational Assessment: Angle Group presented recommendations.
Grants
- Outstanding Requests: Ecology
grant for EV fire blankets, AFG Engine 54.
Community Engagement and Events
·
Wildfire
Ready Events:
o Final event of 2025 is Station 51 September 13th.
·
Association
Events:
o September 17th Family BBQ
o October 10th Potato Feed
o November 15th Bazaar
Respectfully,
Nathan
Craig
Fire
Chief