Introduction

• This month I’ve spent a great amount of time meeting with members of the department, Chiefs from other departments and better understanding the financial components of the Department. This has been a great opportunity to learn more about our people as well as a chance for me to begin sharing my philosophy on our managerial mission.

Personnel

• This month FF-EMT Tim Butts, a former member, came and met with me about returning to the Department. While he wanted to, time restraints over the past 18 months have prevented Tim from participating. After this discussion, we agreed that if he was to catch-up on Department procedures that have changed during his absence he could rejoin on a regular basis. Tim was reinstated by the Twp. Board on October 17th, and has since come in and started remediation.
• Another individual from the area, Jesse Mitchell, made application to the Department and was also appointed by the Board on October 17th. Since then he has decided he doesn’t currently have time to make the commitment and has opted out of membership.
• Paige Ashcraft, a NPS Ranger, and Andrew Hooper, brother of member Steve Hooper, are also both up for Township appointment this month.
• Please remember to check the duty calendar for openings and sign-up where available. If you swap a shift with someone who was previously signed up, please make sure to make the necessary changes to the calendar. If I am unaware of such changes the payroll will not properly reflect the swap.

Training

• The EMS training night scheduled at the beginning of the month was rescheduled for later in the year because of Chief De Puy’s retirement party.
• The subject of the monthly Fire training session was Administration, Operations and Tactics and was attended by 12 members.
• An additional 8 hours of training was held on Saturday, October 14th. This training provided a review of auto extrication where Fire and EMS staff were updated on the intricacies of hybrid vehicles and given a chance to practice on 4 different cars.
• The driving log has been moved to the gray cart in the apparatus bay. Please remember to sign this each time you drive any of the apparatus.

Certification/Licensing

• This month was our annual agency and vehicle inspection by the State Department of Community Health. John King from SWM’s visited on October 26th to perform this inspection. Our agency and vehicle’s all received perfect scores. The records for the year reflected excellent work from all members.
• We also had our bi-annual State Medical Communication Radio inspection this month. In addition to noticing a considerable difference in coverage we passed with flying colors; was part due to changes at the Empire Tower. Two years ago we were unable to successfully pass this radio test because of Tower problems. Brent Williams was our inspector.

Apparatus

• Engine 312’s air brake system again required work. This time, however, virtually the entire air system required replacement. Since this work in early October the vehicle’s air system seems to be working correctly but needs to be monitored closely. After a careful review of the records for this vehicle, it is apparent that considerable money has been spent for repairs over the course of the last several years. I will continue to evaluate the costs of repair vs. the functionality and feasibility of the vehicle’s future operation.
• Quint 331 is without an onboard generator which has been sent in for repair. This generator is a 10,000 watt unit. When all of the lights on the unit are on the vehicle must be at HIGH IDLE to allow the generator to produce the maximum amount of available power.
• The Argo was successfully sold at auction at the beginning of the month. While the unit had considerable mechanical problems we were still able to get $6,900.00 for it after expenses.
• It has been found that the power steering pump case on E-311 has been leaking. The drip is very subtle and will be repaired once the generator on the ladder truck is reinstalled. The engine will have to go to Wixom to have this work done because of the location of the pump.
• T-321’s driver’s side floodlight transformer is also on the fritz. A new one was ordered October 30th and will be changed when it arrives.

Facilities

• Pete Stern has started touching up the buildings paint which has developed marks over our 3 years of occupancy.
• Bids have been requested from interested parties for snowplowing this winter. No decision has yet been made on who will be performing this work.
• Tables in the Training Room have a different configuration. This was set up initially to provide for special programs training. It seems that this works better for most of the activities held in that room so we will keep it this way for awhile and evaluate.
• The breakers for some of the HID lights and apparatus shorelines are periodically tripping for no apparent reason. John Kenney found one of the switches controlling the lights to have a problem. This may be the result of the loads now being put on these circuits being higher with the new equipment. If this is the case they will be divided up to reduce the number of shorelines on each breaker.
• October was the last month Bonnie Schrotenboer will be helping us with cleaning. Over the course of the last several months it has been found that this is not necessary with the increased staff. Please continue to help in this work to keep the building looking good.

Equipment

• The remainder of loose equipment needed to compliment the department’s apparatus has been ordered. This equipment will be mounted to the respective vehicles as it arrives.
• Each piece of pumping apparatus will have a bucket of sand on it this winter. This will help eliminate slips when water has been spilled, give the Quint outriggers a better footing and possibly even provide better traction if needed.
• Over the course of the next few weeks we will be switching O2 vendors. When competitive bidding the O2 bottles and refills this month, it was found that we could save a considerable amount by switching suppliers. This process will take several weeks as we need to collect older bottles and redistribute new ones.

Responses

• The overall volume of calls was considerably higher than years past for the same month. Only one, however, required a large use of resources. This call was for mutual aid assistance to Cedar in Kasson Township. Glen Arbor Fire Department responded rapidly, arrived first and worked very well along with Empire FD to limit the damage to the home. Both the homeowner and insurance adjuster were pleased with the care the Fire Department took in preserving the property.

Programs

• On October 27, 2006, we learned that we had been awarded a matching grant from the State DNR. This grant for $5,000 will help us obtain more hose and floating pumps which will further assist in water acquisition in remote areas.
• Dave Grattopp has begun putting the apparatus check sheets into an electronic format. This is going to help in accumulating a better and easier way of reviewing and addressing problems. This process will also be one of the many steps which will help our move toward complete electronic recordkeeping.
• Dave has previously also taken care of medical supplies. This month we developed a new purchasing program and established accounts with numerous vendors who bill as we require. Doing this will make it easier to obtain the various supplies needed and they will be received in a much timelier manner
• An information sharing book has been put into the Comm. Room. This book will help to gather all of the various pieces of paperwork which are distributed each month for review. After a trial period, it should also permit us to reduce the quantity of copies needed to communicate with Department members.

Prevention/Education

• October was Fire Prevention month. Rachel Schaap met with over 75 children and adults to provide various types of fire education. Several station tours were performed along with a number of visits to Glen Lake School.
  

• Total Department Activity
  October	Total	Staff Hours*
  Medical Responses	23	163
  Fire Responses	10	321
  Pre-Fire Plans	31	42
  Training Sessions	3	108
  Vehicle Inspections	48	72
  Special Events	6	93
  Walk-In	5	4
  Total Activity	126	803
  *These hours reflect time accumulated by all Department members, volunteer, part-paid and full-time.

   

  Submitted by:
  John A. Dodson
  Acting Chief of the Department