Estacada Rural Fire District- Summit Report
Past: Estacada Fire was able to recover 1.2 million of the 1.9 million that was stolen from us. The Board has chosen to place this money in a fund to be used strictly toward property acquisition for future fire station construction. Fiscal Controls including separation of duties and financial oversight have been initiated. The Fire Chief and Division Chief both attended a two week class at the National Fire Academy on Fire Service Financial Management. All agree that with what had occurred in the past, efforts to safeguard Fire District funds were a priority.
Estacada Fire responded to 1,326 calls for help in 2009. Fire Calls included: 17 structural fires, 18 vehicle fires, 11 wildland (brush) fires, and 65 other fires. We responded to 836 medical alarms and 77 motor vehicle accidents. We had one” code save” in 2009, within the boundaries of the city, resulting in a citizen returning home after suffering cardiac arrest. Early recognition, CPR, rapid defibrillation, and advance life support (ALS) all came together in what’s commonly referred to as the “Chain of Survival”.
Awards banquet was held for 2009 last weekend. Firefighter of the year was Jeff Holman, Jeff has proven to be a valuable volunteer with our district and had not only answered 288 alarms last year, but also became certified as a Firefighter 1, Haz Mat first responder- Operations, Wildland interface firefighter, NFPA Driver, and Pumper Operator. Jeff signed up and staffed more duty shifts than any other volunteer. Emergency Medical Technician of the year was Career Engineer Jason Crowe. Jason has been serving as the EMS coordinator, ensuring EMTs meet State requirements for training. Jason attended all regular drills in 2009 and answered 372 alarms. Officer of the year was Volunteer Lieutenant Michael Huret. Michael responded to 139 toned alarms and put in an additional 101 hours of training above the regular drills. Recruit of the year was Richard Hoefer. Although relatively new to our organization, Richard has established his desire to commit to our community by being a representative on the East County Fire District Civil Service Commission, as well as taking on many projects when requested. Richard also responded to 175 toned alarms. Fire Corps member of the year was Pam Peters. Pam has helped develop the Fire Corps into a first class support group for our firefighters. Constantly striving to better herself through continuing education and attendance at almost every drill, and assisting in every way possible.
Present: Contract negotiations with career firefighters resulted in a three year contract with minimum staffing of 2 one of our greatest challenges. Recognizing the importance of increasing minimum staffing to help us complete our Mission Statement: To provide the best care possible while maintaining a cost effective service. This begins with an increased commitment from our volunteers and when necessary, overtime for our career employees.
ERFD will not use the same auditor more than 3 consecutive years and are presently in the process of selecting our 2009-10 auditors.
We are currently reviewing our Strategic Plan and are preparing to meet the challenges of putting together next year’s budget.
Property negotiations are progressing with the owner of the properties east of the present station site. Mr. Misley has been given a copy of the “friendly condemnation” letter and has been negotiating with our department the final details of the purchase.
Future: We are in the process of accepting the final bid for a new fire engine, and will, if all goes according to the plan, be accepting delivery in December of this year. We have an equipment replacement schedule that takes the projected useful life of fire apparatus and recommends when each unit should be replaced. Through preventative maintenance and loving care we have been able to extend industry standard service life by a small amount. By conscientious planning, money is dedicated to reserve funds each year in order to be able to outright purchase needed replacement apparatus when their service life is over. This process has worked well for us and our citizens by providing reliable equipment without any additional cost to taxpayers.
Our department continues to explore grant opportunities. We have just been informed of several successful grant awards. One involves a security system for our stations and includes cameras and recording equipment for $3000, another is for 3 thermal imaging cameras to allow each of our engines to be able to use modern technology to search through smoke to find either the seat of the fire or trapped victims. This second grant is for about $25,000. We also received a grant for the entire east Clackamas County Fire Districts to sponsor training in the incident command system and firefighter 2 training, this grant is for up to $20,000. We have also been advised of a grant we have been awarded for an emergency AM radio transmitter to deliver lifesaving directions and information to citizens in an emergency or natural disaster. The National Guard and State surplus have upgraded our emergency standby generators with “like new” units, adequate for powering our complete operations in a power failure, at no cost to our department.
We are still awaiting word on our application for a new fire station grant. With the present state of our economy, the Fire Board has determined not to pursue construction of a new station unless the grant application is awarded. The responsible choice is to wait until the economy improves before asking voter approval of any tax increase.
We will continue our focus on training, improving our member’s knowledge and resources available to them. We will be focused on preparedness and response capabilities and technological advances in both the firefighting and medical fields. We will continue to improve our communications equipment utilizing mobile data computers obtained when possible through grant funding.
