Welcome to Jefferson County Fire District 5

2000 Old Gardiner Road, Gardiner, WA. 98382-8778
360-797-7711

Jefferson County Fire District # 5

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Chief's Newsletter 

5/29/2008

Chief’s Newsletter
JCFPD # 5
May 29, 2008
 
Members:
 
Jay Stickney has been blessed with being hired on full time with Snohomish County
FD #7 (Mill Creek) starting August 1st.  Congratulations Jay, we wish you the very best and needless to say long term you will be missed!
 
Debbie Randall has been offered a position with East Jefferson Fire Rescue as a line
FF / EMT-P medic.  Debbie has accepted the position and her last day with us as a full time medic will be June 20th.  Debbie has stated she will continue to be a volunteer with Quilcene and Discovery Bay / Gardiner when available.  Congratulations to Debbie, we want to wish her the very best also in the years ahead. 
 
In the meantime we will be utilizing our current mutual aid agreements for ALS services with EJFR, PLFR, NKFR and Clallam # 3 when needed.  For the long term we will be networking with outside agencies and possibly another medic to work out a more formal ALS response plan if possible.
 
Most of our training in April and May has been focused on firefighting and delivery of water in the urban / rural interface.  We have tested the 1” hose for both our agencies and have been putting the progressive hose packs back together properly.  I want to ask you to continue to look the brush vehicles over, ask questions and make sure you have your brush gear in order.  We do not want to be in our structural gear on a brush fire! If you are in need of PPE or something in particular please let me know.
 
Both FD # 2 and # 5 provided mutual aid support to East Jefferson Fire Rescue on two different structure fires last month.  The first event was on Eaglemount and our staff provided overhaul and water supply support for the event. The second fire resulted in the delivery of 12,000 gallons of water from T21. FF / EMT-B Stickney got to actually work on fire suppression with the PLFR crew during the event.  It was encouraging to see that the north end has begun to call our agencies for assistance!
 
Dr. Sandra Smith Poling has requested the agencies to step up their run reviews for the EMT response staff.  During our meeting with her, she stated most of the issues can be addressed very easily by creating a flow chart to watch how individuals are doing on their skills.
 
The new interactive fire training programs are being installed on the computers at this time and should be up and running next week.  They include the following topic: Fire Rescue Series, Vehicle Extrication Series, Rapid Intervention Services, Pump Apparatus Series and Haz-Mat Response.  We want to acknowledge the Discovery Bay Volunteer Fire Department (Salmon Derby) members for providing the funding for these training materials. This purchase completes our training library for the two agencies.  I would like to also add that this group is purchasing a Stryker Stair Chair, four TFT 1.5” nozzles and radio equipment for Discovery Bay / Gardiner Fire Department.; a total of $17,500.00 worth of training aid and fire equipment!  What a great group of citizens supporting the fire service.  All these funds come from the Salmon Derby in February.  If you have a chance to help out for a few hours next year, they would appreciate it.  I had a great time!
 
Hose testing will be done on July 15th and 16th this year.  I will also be working on doing the pump testing in July or August.
 
July 1st should be the beginning of the burn ban.  Camp fires will be allowed in approved pits up until the Department of Natural Resources raises the fire danger level up to a high level.
 
The EMT class should wind up mid June. I want to thank Debbie for the time she put into the class and the students.  Brandi has been focused and I am sure is looking forward to having her evenings and Saturday’s back.  Take a deep breath and you will do just fine on the test and skill evaluations!
 
The Board is hosting a planning meeting on June 3rd at Station # 52 15:00.  Everyone is welcome to bring their ideas on District # 5 planning.
 
Be safe, drink lots of water and enjoy your summer!
 
Respectfully,
 
Bob Wilson
Fire Chief

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Spring is here – Start planning your Firewise Landscape

Washington State Patrol has supplied some very useful information concerning fire hazards and how to help protect your house. It is a short read that may save the reader a lot of problems. Check it out-->

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Joint Awards Banquet

Below are pictures from this years Joint Awards Banquet, see story below. (Click on picture to see full sized image.)

Chief’s Newsletter
December 4th, 2007
 
Greetings:
 
Congratulations to Barb Knoepfle in her bid for the seat of fire commissioner!  Barb has also just successfully completed an EMT IV certification class.  Awesome!
 
I want to acknowledge Bev Horan for her years of service to the community.   Thank you Bev for all that you have done and we sincerely want to wish you the best in the coming years.
 
Fire District # 2 & # 5 held our joint awards banquet on November 30th at the Quilcene School.  The dinner was provided by the Quilcene High School Vocational Cooking Class.  Eighty individuals attended and they were served a prime rib dinner.  The guest speaker addressing the volunteers and guest was Bridgette Smith Executive Director of the Board of Volunteer Firefighters Pension and Relief Fund.  Jay Stickney and Jason Royer jointly received the 2007 Recruit of the Year award. Barb Knoepfle and Eric Brucker each received Emergency Medical Technician award for 2007. Jim Koutnik and Joe Vierra each received the 2007 Firefighter of the Year award. 
 
Jason Royer and Jay Stickney from Quilcene will be graduating from the North Kitsap Fire Academy on December 8th.  They have both done extremely well in the class and we look forward to working with them in the future.  Most importantly, we will work to help them in their attempt to become career firefighters. Both Jay and Jason will be helping with some of the shift coverage for the Gardiner / Discovery Bay community.
 
Stephanie Batson should be winding up the Clallam County EMT class this month. I am sure Stephanie will do just fine through the testing process.  We look forward to having her on Board as a responder.
 
The SCBA’s hydro testing project is in the last round of bottles being shipped over.  Flow testing on the SCBA regulators will take place in December. 
 
We will be holding a small mini fire academy for the new staff starting in late January.  The classes will be Friday 6-930pm and Saturday 830-5pm each week for three weeks. Our desire is to have the students review the book and computer classes prior to attending the classes.   
 
I want to wish each of you a great time during Christmas and New Years.  Be Safe!
 
Sincerely,
 
Bob Wilson
Fire Chief

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