vernonia rural fire protection district
Vernonia Rural Fire Protection District
Wildland Chainsaws
By Robert Schattschneider
A few weeks ago Jeff Pricher,
Division Chief of Scappoose Fire
District, was in Vernonia instructing
firefighters from as far away as Lane
County, teaching the hands on portion
for S-212.
S-212 is titled “Wildland
Chainsaws” by the National Wildfire
Coordination Group (NWCG) and is
the foundational education necessary to
receive certification for chainsaw use on
interagency fire responses.
Pricher stated that, “The class is
a 4-day class that covers Maintenance,
Hazard Tree identification, limbing,
bucking and felling of trees. All of the
core content is derived from federal
OSHA and essentially gives students the
requisite information, technical skills,
and mentoring to safely utilize a power
saw.”
Pricher said, “The instructor
cadre are currently certified operators
with the United States Forest Service
(USFS) and have many years of
experience between them. Chainsaw
use is what most consider to be a high
risk/low frequency skill set. In addition,
the reactive forces of the tool do not
lend to friendly accidents or mistakes,
so the class spends a lot of time
providing technically correct skills with
mentoring.”
Pricher also stated that, “The
instructor to student ratio is generally
kept low to provide the student with
optimal instructor time to acquire
proficiency. All in all, the ultimate goal
is enhanced awareness and safety for
all of the firefighters with the hope that
that information can begin to be shared
within their respective agencies and
others.”
Chief Smith and I were able to
meet up with Pricher and the firefighters
from several of our surrounding fire
departments. Pricher explained that one
of the unique factors of this particular
class is that they were able to obtain
permission from one of the local logging
highlighting the amount of training and
dedication that first responders devote
themselves to on your behalf.
Please express your appreciation
the next time you run into any of our
companies to practice all of these skill
sets on an active logging unit right here
in Vernonia.
Pricher said, “This cooperation
almost never happens, and as a result,
we are very thankful that Mike Pihl
from Pihl Logging had the foresight and
willingness to allow firefighters from
as far away as Lane County to come
to Vernonia to practice, learn and gain
proficiency with this tool.”
Firefighters at the Vernonia
Rural Fire Protection District have
several different types of chainsaws and
other cutting devices that are carried
on several fire apparatuses in the event
that they are needed in firefighting or at
accident scenes.
This is just another example
local or out of town emergency services
personnel. They all deserve a pat on the
back for their continued dedication to
training and serving our communities.
The Vernonia Rural Fire
Reminder
Fire District Operating Levy #5-253
will be on the Election Ballot in May.
If you are not registered to vote please do
so. If you have any questions regarding the
ballot or the needs of the district please
contact us at the station and/or any of the
Board of directors and volunteers.
Calls responded to March 1-31
Fire
Emergency Medical Service
Hazardous Condition
Service Call
Good Intent
Severe Weather & Natural Disaster
Special Incident
No Emergency Found
False Alarm
Total
3
24
6
6
3
3
0
0
0
45
april21
2016
15
Protection District would also like to
recognize and thank Mike Pihl for all of
the support that he has given to us over
the years. Thank you Mike!
CAN YOU FILL
THESE BOOTS?
VOLUNTEERS
WANTED
Call Dean Smith
for more information
on free training
(503)429-8252