As an a Fire Commissioner and active Firefighter/EMT with the Greenfield Fire District, I participate in a variety of activities throughout the year. I post these activities in this category so people can get an understanding of the different things the fire district does for the community.
Tuesday, August 05
2008 Gear Update
I have just received word that the gear is tentatively scheduled to be delivered in September. The tentative game plan is to deliver gear at each station - just like we have done in the past two years.
I am also researching the possibility of getting some repairs done this year as well. I will be discussing repair ideas with the officers at the commissioner meeting later this month.
The problem is that this will take some time to setup so I appreciate everyone's patience as I research this option. This is ultimately why I feel its so important to keep the gear rotation established - ultimately I want to have two sets of gear per firefighter - one old "backup" set of gear, and another "new" front-line set of gear. The idea of course is that if you need to repair the front-line set of gear, you can use your backup set while its out of service.
We have had a few repairs this year already, they typically take 2 weeks or so to complete - so that's a significant amount of time to take gear out of service - which makes the second backup set ever more important.
I'm pretty sure that next year actually marks the 4 year anniversary of the gear initiative - boy did time go by fast! That means that the firefighters who recieved the first round of gear will be getting a new set. I'll be surveying the district inventory to see how that first round is holding up - I know my personal set is showing signs of wear as its approaching 4 years old.
There is only one remaining item left - and that is to complete the fire police order this year. If you recall, this year's proposal allocated a portion of the funds to purchase fire police equipment. I will be following up with the fire police this month to close the loop on this component of the gear purchase.
If anyone has any questions, please feel free to contact me.
If you know someone who would like to be added/removed from the mailing list, please just let me know! I've already added a few addresses to our list.
The district is planning another newsletter towards the end of the year - in the Fall time frame, but this will be a more lean newsletter and more of a summary version of remaining district events and news.
I personally believe that this style of newsletters - one "full detailed" one in the spring and a "small summary" one in the fall is definately the right fit for our district - it maximizes the information we can distribute to our constituents, and also minimizes the cost of the mailings.
Special thanks (again) to MWHDesigns who really went above and beyond in getting the newsletter together!
I have completed the final draft of this year's first edition of the newsletter. It is now in the process of being printed!
It looks as though it should be mailed towards the beginning week of May, but I'll keep everyone posted.
Many thanks to everyone who made this edition possible! I'm very proud of this edition - it speaks volumes of what the GFD does for our community!
Once the edition is finally mailed, we will be posting it for free download on the district website: www.greenfieldfd.org. I'll post a copy on this site as well. I'll post more information once I find out the status of the printing and mailing.
The gear committee met and ironed out the details of this year's gear order. The 2008 gear order is broken down as follows:
Allocate $7,500 for fire police gear
Allocate $8,900 into the gear reserve account
Allocate $60,000 for structure PPE this year broken down per company: 4 sets Greenfield Center, 5 sets Porter Corners, 9 sets Middle Grove and 5 sets Maple Avenue
I am very pleased at the compromises made on this year's gear account - I know that this budget amount was smaller than we are used to, but I think we are spending it responsibly.
Gear fittings as scheduled:
Tuesday April 15th: Greenfield Center and Porter Corners @ Greenfield Center firehouse
Tuesday April 22nd: Middle Grove fitting @ Middle Grove firehouse
Tuesday April 29th: Maple Avenue fitting @ Maple Avenue firehouse
All fittings are at 7 pm.
Note that all gear fitting schedules are posted in each firehouse in the newly installed district bulletin boards - please look at those for changes to the fitting schedule (and other district information).
You can read the proposal for the 2008 gear purchase here:
We have finally completed the installation of internet service in all firehouses of the GFD - the last installation at Porter Corners was completed in March.
The next step is to install the remote internet interface for our access system - this will provide a significantly faster way of updating and granting access to our facilities. I am expecting this step to begin at some point this summer.
We are currently investigating software options for our fire reporting requirements - Commissioner Bishop has graciously taken over the lead for this investigation (I am however still helping out but am very thankful for the help). More to follow regarding this in the coming months.
On a personal note, I believe this marks a very vital and significant milestone for our organization. Internet service really allows us to grow as an organization, and perhaps more importantly, streamline our work processes with the hope of making tedious things like paperwork much easier!
I really have to give A LOT of thanks to the many firefighters who helped the process along - many members volunteered to meet the installers during the day when I couldn't make it - they were a big help. Naturally, our district secretary was a huge help - and this initiative simply could not have been seen to completion without her help! So thanks to everyone!
More to follow on the technology front...any questions in the mean time, feel free to ask me!
I am very pleased to have the Commissioner's support to get bulletin boards installed in each firehouse. These bulletin boards are for district information only - and I believe it to be a great way to update our members about the GFD and provide a means of communication between the district and our great membership.
Many thanks to the firefighters who took care of installing them in the firehouses - you know who you are. And thanks to the firefighters who helped me install the bulletin board at Maple Avenue!
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Tuesday, August 05
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