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Saturday, October 18, 2014

Garden City Fire Board


Anita Weston, Reporter
Rich Civic Times

GARDEN CITY, Utah.  October 16, 2014.  The Fire board has been unable to get in touch with the recommended attorney to assist with policies and procedures.  The members of the board suggested that perhaps one of the following three would be interested in working with the Board:  Joe Chambers, Tony Martineau, and Herm Olsen.  Perry Wakefield said he would follow up on this matter and report at the next meeting.

Mike Wahlberg, Fire Chief, hand out a draft of some Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) that can be used with the fireboat.  He said he thought most of the basics were included and asked that the board look the document over.  He said that things could be added that would improve the use of the boat.  He included a check list of things that should be kept and noted at the end of each usage of the boat.  This would include who the users were, the reason it was used, what equipment was used, what first aid supplies were used, etc. so that a record would be kept of what was done and what would need to be changed or resupplied.  The Board was asked to go over the document and make any suggestions and comments prior to the next meeting.  That way, the document could be accepted at the next meeting.

The bid is out for the storage shed.  The deadline is October 31, so it will soon be known where the best buy will be. Two individuals have already submitted bids for the 12’ x 16’ building on skids.

Chief Wahlberg reported that he had gone to the City and requested that the Fire Department be given the Garden City Public Safety Grant.  He noted that he had gone to the County Ambulance Association and discovered that he needed to talk with the Commissioners.  He will be on their agenda this next month.  Wahlberg said that he thought that 70 percent of the firefighters needed to at least have EMT basics.  He noted that the best fire department has the best trained and equipped firefighters.  Part of that training should be in the medical area.

The ISO audit had been conducted during this past month.  Wahlberg noted that the department was doing well.  Most of the paperwork records were great.  The pump records were not as available from the last three years as was requested by ISO.  There was some difficulty getting water information from some of the subdivisions.  ISO gave the city an extension in time to try and get additional information from some of the water companies in the various subdivisions.  Results of the audit will be available in about six months.  This audit will be conducted again in about 5 of 6 years.  Weak areas can be worked on over that time so that the results of the next audit will probably be higher than this year.

There are currently two individuals who have applied to fill the board vacancy.  The deadline for applications is October 24.

The Christmas Party is coming up.  A discussion was had and several suggestions made.  This party is a time when appreciation can be shown to the fire fighters.  It was decided that a turkey/ham will be given to each fire fighter along with a fire department gift.  It was noted that Laketown firefighters will be invited along with the Commissioners.  The party will be held at the City Office Lakeview room and will be catered.  Thursday, December 4, was the decided date.  There will be a public hearing prior to the party.

Equipment desired is a gate valve and 150 feet of 6” steamer hose.  Both the valve and hose are expense.  This gives a much strong and faster flow of water which can really assist in putting out fires.  They would really like to get a center gate valve as well.  This would then allow for 2 gate values and actually up to 6 lines coming off from one fire hydrant. The Board requested that a cost estimate be drafted and presented to the Board.

Responses this past month included 3 calls, 2 walk-ins needing medical help and 3 medical calls. 

The question was asked if the department had a gas leak source detector.  Chief Wahlberg noted that anything dealing with gas should be handled by the gas company or a gas professional—it’s not something the department should get involved with.

A request has been made to the Commissioners to allow both Laketown and Garden City to us a section of the County dump that has already been buried and grassed over.  They would like to put down a layer of gravel and use that area for training.  They would like to get 4 conic boxes.  These can be used to simulate breaking inside a home, fighting an actual fire inside, using heavy vehicles for practice with the extractors, car fires, etc.  There are quite a few grants available for training facilities that might be obtained.  Having a location will be extremely helpful.  The department can keep adding onto the facilities as time passes and create a great place for training new volunteers.

The attendance report for board members for the year as follows:
Howard Pope missed 1 meeting
Bryan House missed 1 meeting
Randall Knight missed 1 meeting
Perry Wakefield missed 2 meetings
Short the 5th board member at the present time




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