A Bit of Color at Fire Commissioners Meeting

— by Lin McNulty —

CHIEF’S REPORT

Call volume continues to increase at Orcas Fire and Rescue. Chief Kevin O’Brien reported calls are up 11.6 percent over past year in his report to the Board of Fire Commissioners at the regularly scheduled meeting on Tuesday, August 12.

Included in his report was notification that all residential and commercial permitted burning is currently closed, including all state/DNR lands and Moran State Park. Two-foot recreational fires are still okay at this time. The department, reported O’Brien, recently participated in a mass casualty training session at airport, and wildland fire training. The Fly-In breakfast, as always, was a huge success!

New paramedics have been integrated into the department and have increased professionalism.

OLD BUSINESS

DEER HARBOR CONDITIONAL USE PERMIT: The Deer Harbor Station conditional use permit meeting was scheduled for Wednesday. Other than the required 20-30 day appeal process, it is expected to be a done deal.

STATION 21 PAINTING: Curious? Here’s the color chosen by a vote of volunteers and staff. Not exactly “fire engine” red, but a red nonetheless. A walk-through of potential bidders was scheduled for last Wednesday. With bids due to arrive by 10 a.m. on August 20, a successful bidder will be chosen soon.

FIREFIGHTER CONTRACT: A 2 percent wage increase along with  increased medical care for family members was approved. The contract also change deferred compensation to 6.2 from 6 percent.

SAFER GRANT: Fully funded by a Homeland Security grant, a hiring plan and job description for Volunteer Recruitment and Retention Coordinator has been drawn up. The position will start on October 25 and is a four-year grant. Employment of the Coordinator will only run the course of the grant, with employment renewed only if the grant is re-approved.

Before Sally Kass left the department, she wrote a grant application for the district for a federal SAFER grant. Last month the district learned it has received $674,000 SAFER grant as a result of her applications. These grants are four-year federal funding designed to improve response services for communities.

The Orcas Fire and Rescue Department will use if to improve personal protection, response guidelines and volunteer benefits. A significant portion of the funding will be dedicated to improved volunteer recruitment and retention.

“The volunteers are our bread and butter,” chief O’Brien said at an interview with Orcas Issues earlier this summer)

He said that the District expects to hire a recruitment and retention coordinator, and noted that reports to the federal government “involve intense auditing.” “As we shape what we do with the grant,” added O’Brian, “we’ll make sure that we’re fiscally responsible and meet the needs of the district, because it’s the people’s money.“

BLUE CARD INCIDENT COMMAND TRAINING: The Blue Card Command Certification Program is a state of the art training and certification system that teaches Company and Command Officers how to standardize local incident operations across their organization. The program uses a combination of online and in-class simulation training to improve safety and effectiveness. Again, the Survey & Ratings Bureau considered this Command Training in rating fire departments. Training will begin in 2014 with the online portion. The rest will be picked up in 2015 with training in Olympia.

911 MEMORIAL UPDATE: A plan is developing slowly to establish a permanent outside memorial for the piece of steel obtained, nearly three years ago, from the World Trade Center. The piece is currently located in the foyer at Station 21, along with a memorial to last year’s hotshot casualties. When complete, the rare artifact is expected to become a tourist attraction. A citizen committee headed by Rita Harvey is developing the plan.

NEW BUSINESS

RESERVE FIRE ENGINE: An Interlocal Agreement for a reserve fire engine has been penned. This will place a reserve engine on Shaw Island which can be used by any fire district in the county as a backup. The cost of required maintenance to the vehicle will be shared by all districts. The engine is being sent to Shaw by San Juan Fire District #3, and is expected to provide more reserve capability, improve inter-agency cooperation, and to improve the rating currently being sought by the Survey and Ratings Bureau. This agreement will expire on January 1, 2020.

FIRE INSPECTOR. The search is on for a Temporary Fire Inspector. Community Risk Reduction requires a fire inspector. The county, so far, has not been able to put together a plan to provide service. The position will be a temporary, part-time position and funded by inspection fees which will be administered through the county. No funds are necessary from OIFR for this position.The Fire Inspector will be trained in-house and will report directly to Chief O’Brien. Again, this effects the Survey and Rating Bureau score.