I hope everyone had a good Christmas and I wish each of you and your families a healthy and happy new year.The business meeting for December was held at station 3, the mem- bership attending voted in the new by laws. The last step of the proc- ess for the new by laws will be the presentation at the BOD meeting on Jan 5th for approval from the board. After approval, a copy will be placed in your mailbox at Station 1. At the December business meet- ing officers were also selected and ratified by the membership. (See complete list on page 2).As all of you know, Kathy Hogan has served as EMS Lieutenant for the past two years. In November she advised me that she will not have time to be EMS Lieutenant for 2010. She stated her full time business was keeping her very busy and she felt she did not have the time to do job necessary for the position. During her tenure as Lieutenant, Kathy’s contributions to the department have been many, and very much appreciated. Thank you Kathy for your time and efforts that helped make...

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I will be draining all fire pumps on the apparatus today due to the freezing temperatures. On the Structure Engines, please follow the instructions below,If you pick up a truck and need to use the pump you will have to:1. Close the main pump drain2. Close all auxiliary drains on the pump panel3. Engage the pump4. Open your tank to pump valve/gate5. Prime the pump till you have water When you have finished pump operations please drain the pump at the time you cease operations 1. Disengage the pump 2. Close the tank to pump valve/gate 2. Open main pump drain3. Open all auxiliary drains on the pump panel4. Open 2 ½ intake, below steamer As long as we do not have water on the pump we should not have freezing issues with the pump. The pumps on the brush trucks will be drained as well,1. All drains will be closed when you pick up the truck2. Open tank to pump valve3. Prime the pump till you have water When finished, at the time you cease pump operations1. Shut down the pump, close tank to pump valve2. Open...

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Here we are close to the end of 2009 and we are looking ahead to 2010. Where has the time gone? it seems to go by so quickly. I am sure we will all look back at 2009 as a tough year, considering the economic climate, and I hope everyone has weathered the economic storm pretty well.In the past year we have been called upon to mitigate some very significant incidents involving medical, fire, wild land and hazmat. I would like to express my appreciation to each and every one of you who have participated in re-sponding to these calls. All of you, when called upon under some of the most adverse conditions and circumstances, have performed and executed your skills and talents in the most professional manner. This has been a direct result of the training, dedication and commitment by the members of the department. This has not been an easy accomplish-ment, we all know about the time spent away from home for the department, attending training in house as well as outside classes, working on vehicle checks, vehicle mainte-nance,...

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I have ordered license plate "riders" for everyone's POV. They came in and I've put two in each of your mailboxes at Sta. 1. 

The department will be taking possession of two 6 x 6 brush units from Colorado State Forest. These units will arrive late fall or early winter, after the Fort Collins shop has check over the units. Brush Tanker 73 will be returned back to the Forest Service once these units are placed in service. This will leave us with three 6 x 6 brush tankers with low profile tanks. One of the trucks will have a CAFS unit on board.

 

IMPORTANT! Please note the following for EMS response. When dispatched on a medical call to a residence with a known single patient incident, only ONE medic unit should respond. Additional personnel should respond with a rescue unit if a medic unit is already in route. When dispatched on an MVA call, ONE medic unit, a rescue, and an engine should respond in that order. If additional personnel are available, a second medic unit may respond after the initial assignment has been filled.

 

A follow-up to department discussion regarding expanded EMS service. Since our meeting...

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Some would say, and I am one of those who would say, it takes a special person to be a fire fighter. For some it is a way to give back to the community and for others it starts off as a way to meet friends and interact with a group of individuals who are motivated to come together to help one another. It’s responding to calls day and night to any number of emergencies. It’s the challenge of remembering how to cut a car apart, making entry into a burning structure or responding to that wild land incident with the large plume of smoke and you are still miles out from the scene or you are entering a residence for a medical call and you have family looking at you as if you have all the answers and they want everything to be alright. It is seeing your fellow humans, your neighbors and sometimes your friends at their worst, and looking to you to help them through an event that forever will be in their memory. It is something that you will never forget or regret doing.

Being a volunteer is like taking on a part...

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I have set out in the training room, at station 3, some items for each of you to pick up,

 

We now have new Tee shirts in, please pick up 2 for each member We also have new ball caps in, these are fitted small-medium and large-x large, please try one on for size, 2 for each member We have some flashlights, these are actually a flashlight on one end and a strobe light on the opposite end and are designed to hang on your gear. These lights are for your safety please be sure to pick one up. Feel free to stop in and pick up your items, please pick up only the designated amount of each,

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We have the unofficial word that our grant request was funded. If that is true we will then have enough 800 MHz equipment to migrate to the 800 system once we have them in place on the units.

June and July have passed and I hope everyone has had a good summer. The time off has been nice, but it is time to get back to reality. We will have scheduled training in August as follows:                                   

Thursday August 6th at 1900, Station 3. There will be discussion on the future of our EMS program at Fort Lewis Mesa Fire. All EMTs, please try to attend.

Thursday August 13th, Friday August 14th and Saturday August 15th: We will offer the Engineer short course that we had a couple of years ago. This is a good opportunity for those who would like to learn how to operate the pump panel on the structure engines as well as a good refresher for those who have already taken the class. If you plan on taking the class, or would like to refresh, please contact me so we can accommodate all requests. The Thursday and Friday class will be held at Station 3 starting at 1900, Saturday will be at station 2 starting at 0900.

Thursday August 20th at 1900, Station 3: We will have Williams...

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