Fireline February 2014

Fauquier County F ire Rescue & Emergency Management

As in a previous email that I sent everybody, there is a lot going on in the next coming months. However of special reflection, on Fri-day January 31, I was honored to take part in the retirement cele-bration of Battalion Chief Justin Clayton. What a great job by all! I extend my greatest thanks to all of the following:

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

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

AC STEVENS 2

EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT 3

BIRTHDAYS & CONGRATS 4

BATTALION 1 5

BATTALION 2 6

BATTALION 3 7

TRAINING 8

ANNOUNCEMENTS & FLYERS 11-12

CHIEF CLAYTON 9-10

THE FIRELINE NEWSLETTER

February 2014 Issue

FAUQUIER COUNTY

DEPARTMENT

OF FIRE RESCUE

& EMERGENCY

MANAGEMENT

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

These individuals, departments, and organizations were all instru-mental to the success of the evening’s events. Many others took part in the retirement party, and I want to thank and all other de-partments, companies, family, and friends who came out to sup-port Battalion Chief Justin Clayton.

Assistant Chief Stevens Battalion Chief Arft Battalion Chief Lichty Bridget Jeziorowski Colleen Shaney Company 1 Station 1 Crew Company 3 Company 7

Company 10 Company 11 Fauquier County Local 3762 Pam Myers Pat Koglin Sara Makely Sean Polster Sean Guerra VFRA

Page 2 February 2014

Moving Forward…

To fully appreciate where you are, you often have to understand where you have been. In 1995 when I first came to DFREM I was one of only three uniformed employees. Our director, Chuck Thompson, stressed the im-portance of keeping a strong relationship with our volunteer counterparts; he knew that this would be vital for both our growth and success to continue.

Nineteen years later and those words continue to serve us well. Over the years both the VFRA and DFREM have remained committed to having a successful combination system, one where we work and plan in unison, not just simply tolerate one another.

This success was never more evident than last Friday night when over 200 people gath-ered to wish Chief Clayton good luck in his retirement. I was fortunate to have served as the front-man for the gathering but the best part took place behind the scenes; it was the efforts of so many people and departments who were willing to contribute their time and money that really made the evening a success.

Now more than ever we must remain committed to moving forward. Recent events in the local news have affected us all, but fortunately most people understand that a few “bad apples” won’t spoil the whole bushel. This system is filled with dedicated career and volunteer members, who serve this community each day, committed to keeping Fauquier a great place to live and work.

Moving forward there remains a lot of work to be done, our system continues to grow and we value your input. Eleanor Roosevelt once said, “Great minds discuss ideas; av-erage minds discuss events; small minds discuss people”. Let’s concentrate on ideas. Have a safe month, and thank you for what you do.

BY: AS S I S TA N T CH I E F DA R R E N ST E V E N S

Page 3

EM E RG E N C Y MA NA G E M E N T B Y : S A R A M A K E L Y

February 2014

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Click on the logo below.

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Winter Storm Watch - A winter storm is possible in your area. Tune in to NOAA Weather Radio, commer-cial radio, or television for more information.

Winter Storm Warning - A winter storm is occurring or will soon occur in your area.

Frost/Freeze Warning - Be-low freezing temperatures are expected.

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February 2014 Page 4

Happy Birthday!

2/5 Assistant Chief Stevens 2/15 Kalvyn Smith

2/17 Lieutenant Flippo 2/19 Eddie Payne

2/22 Jennifer Morris 2/24 Brandon Dodson

Congratula ons! Congrats and best wishes to Battalion Chief Justin Clayton on his retirement! Read more

about how he spent his last day of work at DFREM on page 9.

Congratula ons! Congrats to Mr. Rannebarger from Company 2 in his recent release as an Ambulance Driver for Company 2 and Mr. Costello and King from Company 7 in becoming released Pump Oper-ators at Company 7. All of these gentlemen have worked hard to complete their release.

Recruit School Graduation will be held on March 14, 2014


I N S I D E BATA L L I O N 1 B Y : B A T T A L I O N C H I E F A R F T

Mop, mop, mop all day long! As you can see from the pic-tures, the girls from the office thought it would be funny to catch me helping the crew at EMS 1 get ready for Chief Clayton’s Flag Presentation Ceremony. Hey look, even I can mop a floor! Yesterday was the end of an era with the final working day for Chief Clayton. I remember first meeting him at the ripe old age of 14. He had a little more hair back then, but not by much. He was always telling jokes, making people laugh, and most importantly, getting the job done.

There have been times where I have seen him on calls doing things that I didn’t know were possible. This includes just yesterday at his last day celebration break-fast, diagnosing aortic aneurism simply by listening to the radio traffic. The one thing Chief Clayton did say to me that was wrong was, “RJ if you ever want to know how much you will be missed when you leave, stick your hand in a bucket of water. The hole it leaves when you pull your hand out will be how much you are missed.” Well sir, I have to say that you are wrong with this state-ment because of the tear filled eyes that I saw yesterday. You will certainly be missed! I wish Chief Clayton the best and pray that his wife Anne will be able to take the same jokes over and over and over and…

ME D I C 1 B Y : T E C H N I C I A N W Y N E

Medic 1 has been busy as always with many weather related calls. The snow has made us appreciate the 4X4 ambulance, this being said we are all looking forward to warmer weather.

TH E SO U T H E R N VO I C E B Y : B A T T A L I O N C H I E F L I C H T Y

February 2014 Page 6

At the beginning of each year we like to take a look back at the past year to help us in determining our goals and helping us set a path for the upcoming year. This past year has brought so much for the Southern Battalion. We look forward to another exciting year of new beginnings, continued practice, and new challenges. The Southern Battalion has com-pleted its trial period with the Lucas II device and is eager to get a few to help the compa-nies in the southern end of the county. We look forward to the upcoming graduation of Re-cruit School 13-03 and so much more. We cannot leave this month without giving a big THANK YOU and CONGRATULATIONS to Battalion Chief Clayton on his retirement. Although we will miss him greatly, we wish him a little fun in the sun and good relaxation after a long and distinguished career as both a Vol-unteer and Career Member of Fauquier County Fire Rescue.

Looking at the calls in the past month, the Southern Battalion continues to be busy with auto accidents, fires, EMS calls, and so much more.


NO RT H E R N LI G H T S B Y : B A T T A L I O N C H I E F R A N D A L L

Battalion 3 has seen huge amounts of snow and ice within this past month, causing several accidents on I-66. We also had quite a few automobile and house fires to respond to in the “polar vortex” cold weather, making our crews look forward to the warmer months ahead! We hope everyone stays safe with the predic-tion of many more snow and ice storms to come in the month of February.


FI R EF I G H T E R I N I G H T AC A D E M Y B Y : L I E U T E N A N T S H I E L D S

The Night Fire Academy 2013-20 completed their Firefighter One burns on January 25th, 2014. The class was prepared and eager to conduct the live fire training. All students did very well advancing hose lines, conducting search and rescue operations, as well as ventila-tion. The class is prepared to start their hazardous material operations training scheduled for February 3, 2014.

Thanks to Mike Moore and all of the others at Co. 7 (Catlett) for assisting with an extri-cation class for the EMT class. We appreci-ated them venturing out into the cold to share their knowledge with us. The students enjoyed their demonstration.

TRAINING B Y : L I E U T E N A N T H A R T

Pictured above is the winner of the EMT classes’ poster contest. The class participated in a poster contest that the Firefighter I class graciously judged for us. While all of the posters that were submitted were good, the phar-macology poster took 1st place.


BAT TA L I O N CH I E F CL AY T O N

0730 Final Inspection Battalion Chief Justin Clayton “Walks The Line” to inspect Recruit Class 13-03 on the morning of his last scheduled shift.

Battalion Chief Justin Clayton has provided Fauquier County with over 46 years of continual service as both a volunteer and career staff member. His last scheduled shift on January 30th, 2014 proved to be quite eventful; with everything scheduled down to the minute with visits, ceremonies, and of course meals. Check out the photos and schedule below to see how Chief Clayton spent his day!

0600 Breakfast The schedule originally called for breakfast at none other than County Cookin’, but the team had to change course when they realized the restaurant didn’t open that early.

0700 Arrive and meet with crew at EMS Station 1

0830 Arrive and meet with crew at FS 10


He even decided to run a call with the crew!


0530 Driver and photographer for the day, Technician Leonard, arrives at Chief Clayton’s house


BAT TA L I O N CH I E F CL AY T O N CO N T I N U E D

1130 Lunch



1530 Arrive and meet with crew at RS 9

1630 Arrive at DREM and check mail one last time

1730 Flag Presentation at EMS 1


PO L A R P LU N G E FE ST I VA L B Y : S A N D Y C H A M B E R L I N

On February 22, 2014 I am participating in the Tim’s Rivershore Polar Plunge® Festival in Dumfries, VA. This fundraising event supports Fauquier County Special Olympics and al-lows us to pay for the equipment and facilities to continue offering sports and events for County residents with physical and intellectual disabilities. The water will be really, really cold so you know I would only do this because Special Olympics really, really needs the funds. I do hope some of you will think about contributing to this important cause. To do-nate, go to http://www.firstgiving.com/polarplungeva/teams and select “Fauquier County Area 27”, then donate to the individual of your choice or to the team. If you would rather donate by check, write the check to FCSO and mail to 74 Fairfax Street, Warrenton, VA 20186. Please write ‘Area 27’ and name of the “plunger” (that’s Sandy Chamberlin) in the memo line. Wish me luck and WARMER WEATHER.

http://www.firstgiving.com/polarplungeva/teams�


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Fireline February 2014