VRFPD
October 20
2022
5
Vernonia Rural Fire Protection District
VRFPD Staffing Update and Other News
By Rob Davis
Deputy Fire Chief
Back as far as the early 2000s the
Vernonia Rural Fire Protection District
employed one full-time fire chief and
one part-time executive assistant. The
fire district responded to less than a few
hundred total calls per year, and the pres-
ence of volunteers that both lived and
worked in the community was plentiful.
The volunteers and the Fire Chief re-
sponded to the needs of the community
members and the visitors one call at a
time. The fire station adequately fulfilled
its need to house the district’s apparatus,
the ambulances, work space for staff, and
a location for the volunteers to train. For
all intents and purposes, this was small
town America and the volunteer fire ser-
vice! It was a model that worked for de-
cades across the nation, in small towns
and medium size cities. Volunteers were
generally all folks who lived, worked,
and played in the communities they vol-
unteered in and fire departments were the
staple of the community.
As time has continued on, we are
seeing the 100% volunteer model dwin-
dle, and those departments move to a
combination career, and volunteer model
that provides a fire and EMS response
in a different way. As we fast forward
to 2022 we have seen nothing but sig-
nificant call volume increases. Now we
always expect that our call volumes will
increase slightly, but for the past several
months we are seeing increases as much
as 50% of the average.
In July of 2022 your Fire District
was awarded a grant from the Oregon
State Fire Marshal’s office to increase
staffing during fire season. That grant, in
the amount of $35,000, was used to hire
two additional seasonal firefighters. This
was huge because at the same time, af-
ter losing our Training Chief, we made
the decision to replace the administrative
position with two full-time firefighter/
EMTs. In a matter of weeks the Fire
District went from having two full-time
employees, to now having six full-time
response personnel. This could not have
happened at a better time because in July
we ran 98 calls for service compared to
our yearly average of 50-60 calls per
month. The seasonal staff were quickly
brought onboard and assigned to a 24-
hour-on and 48-hour-off schedule while
our two permanent full-time firefighters
were working a 4-days-on and 4-days-off
schedule from 8:00 am to 8:00 pm. These
two models complemented themselves
perfectly, ensuring we had someone in
the station 7 days a week from 8:00 am
to 8:00 pm as well as 4-5 nights a week
ensuring we have 24-hour coverage.
These staffing models were unlike
anything this district has ever seen be-
fore. When we reviewed the data, the
number of personnel per call average
was up, the response time average for
2022 vs. 2021 is just over one minute
FASTER, and we know for a fact that the
additional staff have no doubt saved lives
in our community.
The scary part about all of this is we
know that the calls will continue to come
in, and the needs of the community will
need to be met. At the end of October
2022 we will have exhausted our grant
funds and our seasonal firefighter posi-
tions will come to an end, taking our dis-
trict back to being staffed 12 hours a day,
7 days a week. We are currently working
on an additional grant to fund three ad-
ditional full-time positions for the next
three years, to once again increase the
staffing and provide a better level of ser-
vice to our community. We hope to have
the outcome of that grant within the next
few months, and if successful will be
looking to quickly engage firefighter/
EMT candidates through a recruitment
and hiring process.
Our number one goal is to care for
our community by ensuring that we have
personnel to respond to your needs, with
good equipment, and the right tools, to
solve all problems. We can not do this
without the continued support of our
constituents.
On a side note, it had been rumored
VRFPD Board Meetings Are Held on the Second Tuesday
of the month at 7:00 pm. The next regular meeting is
scheduled for November 8 at the fire station, 555 E. Bridge St.
CAN YOU FILL
THESE BOOTS?
VOLUNTEERS
WANTED
Call Dean Smith
for more information
on free training
(503)429-8252
that the Vernonia Rural Fire Protec-
tion District was getting a new fire sta-
tion! Wow, do we wish that was true,
but fortunately or unfortunately, that
is just rumor. We did however receive
a seismic retrofit grant to ensure that
our fire station is capable of withstand-
ing an earthquake. When this project
is finished your Vernonia Fire Station
will look new, with lots of great work
being put into it to ensure that it is
functional and ready to serve our com-
munity during a natural disaster. What
it does not do, is make needed changes
to the building, add square footage, or
increase apparatus bay parking space.
This grant is 100% focused on ensuring
we have a standing structure after a large
earthquake.
What we are currently doing is work-
ing on renovations inside the station to
add things that we need as a growing fire
district. Currently the only living space
in our fire station (dorm rooms) is rented
to Metro West Ambulance. The kitchen
was part of the original fire station (prior
to the addition of office space) and has
been for years located in the apparatus
bay where the fire engines park. Imag-
ine moving your kitchen into the garage,
right next to your vehicle’s exhaust pipe,
Yikes! So in order to save as much money
as possible the staff of the Vernonia Ru-
ral Fire Protection District is in the pro-
cess of renovating, cleaning, and will be
adding things like a new front entrance,
or at least what we will call the front en-
trance which is actually located behind
the fire station in our parking lot, dorm
rooms, kitchen, the ability to do laundry,
and still ensure that we have areas for
training! We are excited to say the least,
and by our folks both career and volun-
teer putting in the hard work, we will be
able to save the fire district thousands of
dollars over hiring these projects out. If
you have interest in seeing our current
layout, please come by anytime. Our fire
station is here because of the people, and
the people of the fire station are here to
serve you, our community. We are OPEN
7 days a week with firefighters on duty
from 8:00 am to 8:00 pm – come see us,
we will give you the tour, show you our
needs, and explain our projects to you!
Calls responded to September 1-30
Fire
Emergency Medical Service
Hazardous Condition
Service Call
Good Intent
False Alarm
Total
3
44
0
21
5
0
73