vernonia rural fire protection district
october16
21
2014
Vernonia Rural Fire Protection District
Salmon Festival
Thank you to all that came out this year future apparatus acquisition. Although we
to visit and donate to the cause. A total of did not have our wood raffle this year, we
$325.00 was graciously donated for the were happy to bring back our homemade
Salmon Chowder and fresh
baked artisan rolls. Next
to us were our partners
from Columbia County
Emergency Management.
They educated participants
on
preparedness
and
handed out information
from
mapping
your
neighborhood, to the
components of a 72 hour
kit.
Time and Money
Time and money. These are
things that we all seem to lack. If one
is abundant for a moment, the other
is scarce. In this day and age it seems
that families are cutting every penny
to make ends meet. Men and women
work full time and some work two
jobs just to stay afloat. After making
the money to pay the bills, time is
spent on household duties, bonding
with the kids, school activities
and sports. With what time is left,
some spend volunteering for local
charities and community groups.
Volunteers at VRFPD are
required to give up countless hours
from the time they are added to the
roster. These hours include basic
training (145 hours), drill (every
Monday night for 2.5 hours),
weekend training for any outside
classes, driver training (16 hours),
Pumper Operator training (40
hours), First Responder training
(45 hours), EMT Basic (145 hours),
plus any hours spent driving out of
district to attend outside training. All
these, along with the requirement
hours of continuing education, to
remain certified.
In the past few installments
of the newsletter and newspaper
articles we have broached the issue
of our aging fleet, which is well
beyond what the National Fire
Protection Association (NFPA)
deems appropriate. An apparatus
should be moved to second position
after ten years,
and can be
considered as
a backup unit
after twenty.
At
twenty-
five it should
be removed
c o m p l e t e l y
from service. Our first out engine
is fourteen years old and our oldest
responding apparatus is forty years
old. It starts and runs, responds to
calls and training, but is slow and
only a handful of the volunteers can
drive it. It requires much more work
for our volunteers than an updated
machine would.
One of our officers has
been tasked with reevaluating our
fleet and how we use it. Can we
recycle and up fit what we have to
better and more efficiently serve our
community? What changes can we
make that will save funds in the long
run? We are considering all angles
and have a plan in the works.
Your current tax dollars
provide upkeep for the station and
grounds, an office person that keeps
the bills paid and accounting in
check, apparatus to put fires out,
control accidents and generally
help people in need. The Fire Chief
is tasked with making sure that
apparatus respond, personnel is
trained, nobody gets injured and the
public gets served.
So at this time you might
ask, “What does this have to do with
time and money?”
We need more volunteers
so we can spread the work load
more evenly, freeing up more
time for those that have worked
themselves ragged. We need
funding for apparatus upgrades to
make our service to the community
more efficient. We need funding to
entertain the possibility of one more
paid personnel, which will benefit
our volunteers, our students, and
most importantly, you.
It is our mission to figure
out how to make this all possible and
continue to grow, serve and protect.
Calls responded to
September 1-30
Fire
Emergency Medical Service
Hazardous Condition
Service Call
Good Intent
Severe Weather
& Natural Disaster
Special Incident
No Emergency Found
False Alarm
Total
0
29
4
9
3
0
1
0
1
47
