Page 18
Illinois Valley News, Cave Junction, OR Wednesday, September 20, 2006
Fed money
extension
possibility
Operational changes
affecting Josephine County
government services are
looming due to the likeli-
hood that federal money to
keep those services afloat
will dry up.
The county has been
receiving approximately $15
million in O&C funding per
year. It is used for services
including the sheriff’s office
and library system.
But the law will expire
Sept. 30, and it appears that
it will not be renewed. How-
ever, said Josephine County
Commissioner Jim Raffen-
burg, there is hope that the
funding could be extended
for one more year.
This means, he said,
that the board of commis-
sioners must take action
“sooner than later” because
of the knowledge that fed-
eral funding will not last
forever. “We’ll be looking
at this situation (making
changes in county opera-
tions) before long,” said
Raffenburg.
The commissioners al-
ready have taken some ac-
tions to save money by cut-
ting budgets in a number of
areas. Included are em-
ployee benefits, library ser-
vices, the sheriff’s office,
and the health department.
Raffenburg was part of
an Oregon delegation in the
nation’s capital last week,
seeking support from legis-
lators and underscoring out
the need for the funding.
During a White House
meeting with a top budget
official, Raffenburg said that
the delegation was advised
of the possibility of a one-
year extension.
“House Bill 4200 has
been passed and is before
the Senate now,” he said.
“It’s the Forest Emergency
& Research Act/FERA
(dealing with salvage log-
ging) that could generate
some $130 million for the
federal government annu-
ally. If Congress passes it
and it’s dedicated to the fed-
eral treasury, the president
has said he would sign it for
a one-year extension. Still, it
would be $250 million short
of what’s needed nation-
wide,” but it would lessen
the effect.
The Sierra Club is
against the bill, said Raffen-
burg, because of the salvage
aspects.
The lame duck Con-
gress is to return after
Thanksgiving for a two- to
three-week session. The bill
could be OK’d with “some
horse-trading” then, Raffen-
burg indicated.
As for the effect on Jo-
sephine County due to fund-
ing being reduced and then
drying up totally: “We need
to be sure we don’t go over
a cliff, but take steps to
make it a glide,” concluded
Raffenburg.
(Clockwise from top left)
Firefighters with their
vision blocked search for
a ‘victim’; a close-up
view of how a firefighter
looks with his eyes cov-
ered during search-and-
rescue training; a handy-
dandy ‘victim’ who ap-
parently fell asleep and
was overcome by
smoke; and Kamron Is-
maili (left) assisted by
Chris Sherman during
construction of the train-
ing facility for Illinois
Valley Fire District
(IVFD).
(Photos by Dale & Elaine
Sandberg/IVFD Media
Dept.)
I.V. Firefighter Ismaili builds training
facility for district as his RCC project
By DALE & ELAINE
SANDBERG
For IVN
By building on his work
for a degree in fire science,
Illinois Valley Volunteer
Firefighter Kamron Ismaili
has constructed a first-rate
training facility.
It’s a project for his
Rogue Community College
class, and Illinois Valley
Fire District (IVFD) and its
staff and volunteers are the
beneficiaries.
He used an existing
building on the site of the
new Selma Station 2.
Ismaili was required by
the class to accomplish a
project entirely by himself.
It had to encompass prepa-
ration, research, obtaining
all resources, and then im-
plementing the project
through to completion. In
the end, IVFD ended up
with a training facility that
will be used by all stations.
Ismaili built the walls
out of plywood and used
truck load-locks/trailed
cross-bracing to secure them
to the ceiling of the build-
ing. Each wall is moveable,
so the interior configuration
can be changed to always
present a new scenario.
At some point it will be
possible to add smoke to the
inside to increase the real-
ism of training. The ceiling
has an exhaust fan to re-
move smoke at the end of an
exercise.
Ismaili was assisted by
IVFD Maintenance Capt.
Kris Sherman. He helped
Ismaili during construction
of the walls and the test as-
sembly. They also built a set
of stairs to a second-story
room to add to the realism
of the unit.
The project turned an
old building on the Station 2
property in Selma into a
facility to be used for:
*Interior attack training
to teach firefighters the
proper way to enter a struc-
ture and be able to find their
way around once inside.
It allows them to enter,
then work their way through
a series of walls and doors
that can be changed at the
discretion of the instructor.
*Perform interior search
and rescue. This is where
firefighters are blindfolded
and enter the building to
search for a “victim” that
may have fallen inside a
burning building.
When they find some-
one (a “victim” made of old
fire hose), they remove them
from the structure. Once
outside they deal with any
medical situations that they
may encounter.
During recent training,
the facility was used by Sta-
tion 2 personnel for the first
time and was a total success.
A big “thank you” must
go to Ismaili for choosing to
use a class project that
would benefit all IVFD per-
sonnel, and to Sherman for
all his help during the con-
struction. IVFD now has a
top-notch training facility to
be used for years to come.
Nothing great was ever
achieved without
enthusiasm.
- Ralph Waldo Emerson -
In emergency,
rescuers need
to see address
Courage is not the lack
of fear. It is acting
in spite of it.
- Mark Twain -
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Do you have an address
sign so emergency respond-
ers can find you?
Don’t play hide-and-
seek when you need help,
said Illinois Valley Fire Dis-
trict (IVFD).
And it’s important to
trim branches along your
driveway 14 feet high and
14 feet wide for fire trucks.
Thin 15 feet on both
sides of driveways so you
can get out, and IVFD can
get in if there’s a fire.
Saturday
September 23
10 a.m. to 3 p.m