The last 5 months have been nothing short of amazing, exhausting, frustrating, and exhilarating. I am happy to have this opportunity to share some of the highlights of what’s been happening here at your Elsie-Vinemaple Fire District.

In February, the Board of Directors authorized the hiring of an interim Fire Chief to oversee the fire district in the midst of chaos. Stepping into this position, I knew there would be extreme challenges in trying to move ahead, to rebuild what was lost, and start the process of restoring confidence among the district residents. First and foremost was the capability of the district to continue responding. We were short on people.... very short. For the most part, only a couple of the volunteers were responding to all of the calls, in addition to doing all the other things that needed to be done around the stations. And although we had 17 apparatus, only 8 of them were functioning, and only a few of those were stocked with the full complement of tools that we use on fire scenes. I heard many complaints about me, volunteers, board members, stations, apparatus, and finances – but we were all determined to fix the problems and serve the District well.

As we dedicated time and energy to making sure we had functioning and stocked apparatus at both Station 1 and Station 2, applications for new volunteers started to come in, and people were getting excited to be in the fire house! Volunteers from the community and beyond offered up their skill sets to help the district rebuild, get apparatus repaired and functional, and tactically position ourselves to serve you at the highest level possible with the resources we have. Thanks to those volunteers, we repaired numerous pieces of equipment and apparatus very quickly, while continuing to respond to all calls in a timely manner.

Currently, our apparatus is positioned between Station 1 and Station 2, to serve the vast majority of our community effectively. We are working hard to clean up and repair Station 3, with a priority on getting that station into service quickly!  Our long-term vision is as follows: Station 1 will house 1 fire engine, 1 water tender, and 1 brush/wildland engine. Station 2 will house 1 pumper/tender, 1 brush/wildland engine, and 1 rescue. Station 3 will house 1 engine and 1 water tender. Maintaining your Insurance Services Office (ISO) rating remains a top priority for district leadership, and we need 3 functional fire stations with the appropriate apparatus to do that. Placing apparatus in these locations will ensure that we can maintain ISO points for apparatus, as well as be positioned to respond to the community needs effectively.

Speaking of apparatus: You may have noticed that the Fire District is declaring surplus for some equipment, and wondered why. The equipment we are selling has been long out of service, in need of high-cost repair, or is simply far outdated. The district, on its very small budget, cannot afford to maintain and insure 17 pieces of equipment –  the maintenance cost alone would consume much of the operating budget. So, in lieu of spending tax dollars on repairs, we have developed a plan to reduce our fleet, work extremely hard on purchasing apparatus that are fit and ready to serve, and strategically locate those pieces of equipment to serve the community best. 

Right now, my priority is on continuing to build a response force that is knowledgeable, professional, well trained, and aggressive in their craft. We have 14 individuals on the roster, with varying levels of skills and certifications, and we ADDED 3 new volunteers in July!  We have 7 members of the department currently enrolled in an Emergency Medical Responder (EMR) course that will be complete in the coming weeks. We have 5 members starting a Firefighter 1 academy, 2 members completing Firefighter 2 certification, two members working through Instructor 1 training, and we’re developing and rolling out a new driver/operator program to ensure that everyone who gets behind the wheel of an apparatus meets the certification standards we have set forth. 

Our volunteers continue to go above and beyond in their dedication to service, and I can not thank them enough for the countless hours they put in around the fire stations completing projects and training.They train an average of 5 hours a week which, in my experience, is far more than most volunteer fire departments. These folks are giving up their Sunday mornings and Monday nights to hone their skills, as well as their days, nights, and weekends responding to calls.

To close, I just want to say thank you to everyone who is currently supporting the fire district. This year has been quite a challenge!  We have definitely overcome some major hurdles, and there are always more ahead that we will navigate as we reach them. My hope, moving forward, is that we can recognize that there are a lot of good things happening in this district! I remain steadfast in my commitment to serving this community alongside all of the hard working volunteers of the Elsie Vinemape Rural Fire Protection District.  

Rob Davis
Fire Chief
Elsie-Vinemaple RFPD
503-755-2233 (office)