Fireline fall 2015

FALL 2015 FIRELINE

FROM THE DESK OF THE CHIEF T H O M A S M. BI L L I N G T O N

THE FIRELINE NEWSLETTER

FAUQUIER COUNTY DEPARTMENT OF FIRE, RESCUE & EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT

Phone: 540-422-8800 www.fauquierfirerescue.org

TistheSeason… Greetings! We are entering a very busy season with the Holidays approaching and of course preparation for our next two year budget cycle. Here’s some updates: This year the VFRA and DFREM will be working on our budgets attempt-ing to “Catch-Up on many initiatives. On the DFREM side we will be working on a proposal that would catch-up the career staffing plan in a balanced way. As of this writing our ambulance specification team has turned the new specs for the purchase (lease) of three ambulances to the County Procure-ment Division. In addition we are submitting a five year asset replacement plan in order to eventually replace all ambulances and establish a funding source and schedule for an on-going replacement initiative. The Prospective Lieutenant Training Academy is underway and in the near future we will start a Prospective Battalion Chief academy. As discussed in the past we will be working to ensure that we have a good balance of both career and volunteer qualified officers. Leadership, oversight and safety are paramount to our mission and in also ensuring that we meet many federal mandates in place to protect all of us. I will continue providing my 2-4 week CHIEFS UPDATE publica ons as an avenue to keep the information flowing and look forward to our next career roundtable in the near future- Be Safe!

FAUQUIER COUNTY DEPARTMENT OF FIRE, RESCUE & EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT

I N S I D E T H I S I S S U E :

FROM THE CHIEFS 1

EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT 3

TRAINING 9

PROMOTIONS 10

AROUND THE COUNTY 11

ANNOUNCEMENTS 13

THE BATTALION CHIEFS 5

FALL 2015 FIRELINE 2

Deputy Chief Kurt Kight


E M E R G E N C Y M A N AG E M E N T S A R A M A K E L Y

September is National Preparedness Month So Get Ready!

Are you ready if an emergency strikes? Whether it’s a flood, fire, or hurricane,

you need to be prepared. Communicate with family and make a plan.

Stay Safe! For More Information to help

you get conversations going visit http://www.ready.gov/september

or click the image.

The Great SouthEast Shakeout Earthquake Drill is Coming!

August 23, 2011— the Louisa Earth-quake felt up and down the east

coast.

Ready for the next one? On October 15th at 10:15 am participate in the

SouthEast Shakeout.

Drop down, go for Cover and Hold On.

For more information visit

http://shakeout.org/southeast/ or click the image.


E M E R G E N C Y M A N AG E M E N T S A R A M A K E L Y

November 29 – December 5, 2015 Is Winter Preparedness Week

Fall means winter is just around the corner. Can you feel it? Winter Preparedness week will get you on track so you aren’t caught off

guard by the changing season. For more information visit http://www.vaemergency.gov/readyvirginia/stayinformed/winter

or click the picture below


Battalion 1100 It is the month of October and as you are aware this month includes Fire Prevention Week (October 4th thru 10th). This month often strikes many different events such as fire station open houses, community aware-ness events and much, much more. Did you know that this week was estab-lished to commemorate the Great Chicago Fire, the tragic 1871 conflagration that killed more than 250 people, left 100,000 homeless, destroyed more than 17,400 structures and burned more than 2,000 acres. The fire began on October 8, but continued into and did most of its damage on October 9, 1871. There are a couple of different theories as to how the fire started from the tipping over of a lantern by a cow to some neighborhood boys smoking cigarettes around the barn. So this is good history but why is it important? This gives all of us a re-minder as to how a fire can and will occur when we least expect it to. It is a good chance to remind ourselves of all things we often forget about fire safe-ty. These items may include checking and changing the batteries in our smoke detectors, making sure that whenever we use items with open flames such as candles and matches that they are fulling out before discarding their use. This is a great time of year for all of us to remember the theme for this year –

“Hear The Beep Where You Sleep. Every Bedroom Needs a Working Smoke Alarm!”

B A T T A L I O N C H I E F B R I A N L I C H T Y


A-Shift

Everybody has heard the old saying “you have to know where you’ve been to know where you are going”. Change is difficult for anyone of us, especially those with a few grey hairs. Unfortunately change is inevitable and human nature is to avoid change as it makes each of us uncomfortable in some fashion. Our job in fire and rescue is to not allow change to impact our mission, which is to stand at the ready and assist those in need. As we progress our system is constantly evolving. If it weren’t we would never be capable of complying with local, state and federal changes. And let’s face it, how many of us would want to stick around if there were never anything new going on? We should constantly strive to stay ahead of the curve when it comes to serving those we protect. This can be increasingly difficult for volunteer organizations during today’s ever demanding society. I am a firm believer in three generic reasons why each of us has chosen to volunteer at some point in our career as fire and rescue professionals. The first reason, we want to be part of something greater than ourselves. No one joins the fire service looking only to benefit themselves, at least we all hope not. There is a greater mission at hand, one of a noble calling. We are allowed to be the first to come to someone’s aid in their greatest time of need. The fire service is constantly ranked as one of the most trusted and regarded profes-sions. We should all keep this in mind and how it relates to being the best we can be each time the bell rings. We should never stop learning and take every chance we get to attend new classes. More importantly share what we learn with each other. Secondly, camaraderie is important to us all. No one likes to be lonely. We should push to a point that no one is ever sitting in house alone. Trust me, I know we are all busy. This does not mean we can’t share a few moments to just sit and talk to each other during the quiet times around the sta-tion. NO matter our differences, there is always one common ground. We are all firefighters. Volun-teer or paid does not matter, we all joined a brother/sisterhood when we walked through those doors. Everyone has something to share. Some of the greatest lessons I have ever learned have come from kitchen table discussion or war stories from our department elders. Last but not least, this job is cool. Who never dreamed as a kid of screaming down the street with those lights flashing and sirens blaring? Unfortunately call volume these days is down. During these times we need to revert back to reason #1 and ensure our members don’t lose interest or focus on why they began this never ending journey. Officers, it’s our job to ensure our folks have the tools they need and our departments continue to prosper. This doesn’t mean we need to buy the latest greatest fire service invention. This means we need to ensure our men and women understand and are capable of handling the tools they have been given. On scene of an emergency is not the best place to learn. In closing, we operate in a combination system. Even in times of turmoil or change we need to ensure we remain focused on the overall goal and don’t let our pride get in the way of serving our citi-zens. If we don’t all agree, that’s ok, the world isn’t perfect and never will be. Just keep in mind that the next time the bell rings, it could be a friend, neighbor or family member of someone you know, it could be a complete stranger. No matter who it is, they deserve our undivided attention and the best each of us has to offer.

B A T T A L I O N C H I E F DA L E K I D W E L L


B A T T A L I O N C H I E F R J A R F T

B-Shift A LETTER FROM TECHNICIAN MATTHEW SMITH

My time at Co7 precepting has been a great and helpful experi-ence. In class I learned the basic information to pass the National Registry test but here I have learned how to actually be a medic. My preceptor Lt. Gillam has taken into account my time in and experience level and has let me act as the AIC from the get-go, which is excellent because I feel myself progressing quickly. We have had some slower days here but my time has been filled with plenty of training to keep me on my toes. Lt. Gillam has also helped me sharpen my skill and knowledge level in the areas that needed it and pushed me to a new level of excellence. I am about ¾ of the way finished with my precept-ing book and feel that I can act on my own as the OIC. But enough with EMS, my time here at Co7 has also been a great on the fire side of things. I’ve been on some good fire calls including vehicle fires and structure fires. Plus I get to play with the new rescue engine, which by the way is sweet, and had a great time with all of the volunteer crews. All in all this has been an awesome experience and I feel that it has benefited me quite a bit. Thanks to everyone that has helped my ca-reer and volunteer.


B A T T A L I O N C H I E F N A T A S H A R A N D A L L

C-Shift Labor Day weekend was the IAFF’s annual “Fill the Boot” drive. C-shift was working on the last day of the holiday weekend, and we were chal-lenged by the other shifts to raise as much money as we could… I enticed the shift with the promise of a Battalion Chief prepared dinner for those that raised the most money; and off they went. Technician’s Mackison and Reneau took home the win with over $1,500! Since they already had din-ner, they donated their meal to Medic 1. Ultimately, our shift raised a rec-ord-breaking $4,500 and multiple crew members we able to enjoy a bite of dinner!


T R A I N I N G D E PA R T M E N T

Meet Abigail! She’s the training department’s mascot...and a toad.

Please be aware that she sits guard outside our door.

Meet our newest training lieutenant Jessica Icaza! She comes to us from Prince William County where she worked 11 years in training and stations throughout the county. She’s originally from Thurmont, MD but moved to Virginia in 2007. She has an Associate’s in Business Ad-ministration and a Bachelor’s in Bio-chemistry and Molecular Biology. She currently lives in Stafford with her husband and two kids.

Welcome Lieutenant!


There are new Technician IIs making their rounds! Each Tech II candi-date must complete a task book and be signed off for various skills and procedures. They put in a lot of time and energy in getting these task books completed and successfully passed their examinations. Congratulations to all of the new Technician IIs!

P R O M O T I O N S L T . S C O T T C H A M B E R L A I N

Rodney Greenwood & Brandon Dodson

Brandon Dodson

Rodney Greenwood

Gilles Bryant Brandon Dodson Clifton Frederick

Rodney Greenwood Burke Latimer Brandon Reneau

Thomas Shiflett Joseph Troilo III Benjamin Wilson


Around the County

From Fauquier County IAFF President Sam Miller

Local 3762 participated in the MDA Fill The Boot over labor day weekend. Every staffed station participated and collected a grand total of $6817.52. A record for our Local! All money raised will stay local to help those suffer-

ing from muscular dystrophy. Thanks for the support!


Around the County

Goldvein Company 8 Pictures courtesy of Chief Woodburn

Assisting Stafford on a traffic accident

Mike Sullivan and Liz Sullivan (Bisutti)’s Wedding— Congratulations!!

Assisting Stafford on a traffic accident

On a barn fire in Catlett Members attending a swift water operations class


Around the County

Lois Company 13 Picture courtesy of Katrina L:ee

Lois participated in Fire Prevention Week at the schools. Here is Firefighter John

Goldthorpe teaching kids about fire safety and prevention. Thanks John!


Volunteer with Fauquier County Fire & Rescue.

14 years and older at Catle , New Bal more, Lois, and

Marshall Fire companies

16 years and older at all other com-panies

Free training

Visit FauquierFireRescue.org

Call 540-422-8808 or email [email protected]

Fight Fires. Save Lives.

ANNOUNCEMENTS

Technician II Nicholas Baer — Spencer Mack Baer

Lieutenant Fred McEvilly — Ella Marie McEvilly

Technician II Matthew Nugent— Hunter Matthew Nugent

Emergency Coordinator Sara Makely— Owen Porter Makely

Congratulations to our personnel and welcome the newest members of their families!!


September Birthdays 9/4 — Jonathan Bankston

9/8 — Michael Coppersmith 9/9 — Brian Lichty

9/14 — Sara Makely 9/14 — Christopher Twomey

9/19 — Lisa Davis 9/19 — Timothy French

October Birthdays 10/3 — Thomas McGrath

10/15 — David Wood 10/20 — Matthew Smith

10/21 — Benjamin Wilson 10/24 — Corey Butler

Fauquier Alert Network (FAN) Fauquier County Emergency Notification System

Effective July 1st, 2014 - Fauquier County has launched a new emergency notification system, Fauquier Alert Net-work (FAN) provided by Everbridge. Everbridge is a web based service that enables the County to provide mass no-tification quickly and easily. Notifications may include evacuations, missing person alerts, hazardous materials inci-dent, flooding, and other emergency incidents where rapid and accurate notification is essential for life safety. Mes-sages are delivered by phone call, text, and email. To ensure you receive emergency notifications, sign up by clicking on the image link below.

November Birthdays 11/7 — William Grogan 11/7 — Lindsay Flippo

11/12 — Jessica Saunders 11/13 — Dawn MacAllister 11/24 — Jeremiah Leonard

11/26 — Nicholas Baer

ANNOUNCEMENTS

Documents

Fireline fall 2015