White River Township Fire Department

                                                Staff Meeting

           

                                                Thursday, September 22, 2005

 

 

                       

Present:

Chief Tibbetts

Chief Cassin

Chief Slauter

Chief Brown

Chief Thacker

Chief Engmark

Chief Wilson

Capt Arkins

Capt Skipper

Capt Settles

 

Lt. Hart

Lt. Cox

Lt. Smith

Lt. Funkhouser

Lt. Hurrle

Lt. Alford

Lt. Williams

Lt. Bryant

Lt. Scholl

Mike Combs

Kyle Brooks

Kim Clawson

 

 

 

 

  1. Awards Banquet will be January 21, 2006 at Pauly’s Italian Restaurant.  Chief Thacker will schedule the room.  An internet survey will be placed on our employee’s website for everyone to vote on their food choices.

 

  1. Twenty six applications have gone out for the part time firefighter process as of this morning.  So far, no major issues have risen.  Info for the Lieutenant’s process has been posted.  Any questions, see Chief Thacker.

 

  1. So far we have seven people interested in the Honor Guard.  Some equipment has already been received.  Flags still need to be ordered.  Chief Engmark suggested ordering flags for each of the stations.  Everyone agreed, as long as they look nice and are durable.  The Pacers have already contacted Kyle Brooks for a performance.

 

  1. Station 51 mold issues are being resolved.  No toxic problems were found.  Chief Thacker asked Chief Brown to forward a copy of the written report to him.

 

  1. Building team meeting is today at 1300 hrs for the station 51 project.

 

  1. Chief Cassin stated that we are currently updating the policy manual.  Priority policies such as discipline and drug use, will be released as soon as they are approved by Senior Staff.  The entire policy manual should be released at one time around the first of the year.

 

  1. Chief Slauter talked about relocating the placement of our RIT packs to the engines instead of the rescue and ladder.  The total cost would be approximately $4,000.  Everyone agreed and training will be conducted at the appropriate time.

 

  1. Chief Slauter stated that he and Chief Tibbetts are creating a policy regarding staffing issues and mutual aid fill-ins.  These will be presented at the next senior staff meeting, then released to all personnel.

 

  1. Chief Slauter reported that all hose testing has been completed with the exception of the reserve engine.  Most of the Neidner hose is failing because the inner liner is pulling away from the outer jacket.  The fire flow may be decreased due to this situation.  This has all been removed from the apparatus.  Neidner will give us partial credit us for that failed hose.  Chief Slauter has ordered replacement hose but it has not arrived yet.  Please watch the hose that is on your trucks to make sure there are no other problems.

 

  1. Chief Slauter stated that there have been some issues with keeping the lock locked upstairs.  The lock has been replaced and the only personnel that have a key to the room are Ryan Cox and Jason Bailey.  Please make sure your personnel know to bring more than one shirt with them to work.  Lt. Cox thanked everyone for taking care of this.

 

  1. Chief Slauter reported that some operational issues have developed with Perry Township Fire Department.  There was an unsafe training burn scheduled at 1577 South State Road 135 that they asked us to be a part of and we declined.  He explained that there may be some operational issues on scenes and not to handle any issues themselves.  Contact your Battalion Chief.  If we are called to this house on a fire, there are to be no interior attacks.  The house is too dangerous.

 

  1. Bargersville Fire Department is wanting to change the PI responses on Stones Crossing Road.  They want to respond their rescue and our engine.  Whatever they call for is what we will send, unless it is an obvious error (such as engine 52 to Stones Crossing and State Road 37).

 

  1. Chief Tibbetts stated that he has been serving on the E911 consortium.  They have been meeting once per week for the last six weeks, but now will begin meeting every two weeks.  They have found out that they have been paying for services twice, and that they are paying for some services they are not even receiving.  If you have any suggestions, please feel free to bring those to him.  His goal is to have a centralized police and fire dispatch that function independently.

 

  1. Chief Tibbetts stated that we have been having several accidents and it is unclear why.  He emphasized that personnel need to pay attention to detail and that the company officers need to not allow poor driving.

 

  1. Chief Thacker stated that training burns will be conducted next week.

 

  1. Personnel issues:

Ø      Nick Smith has returned to college.  He has been granted a 60 day leave of absence, expiring October 31.

Ø      Certified letters were sent to Matt Myers, Rick Mullis & Trevor Wilson.  All have been returned, unclaimed.  These personnel have equipment belonging to us.  Chief Tibbetts stated that he will be sending letters to the Fire Chiefs of the agencies where they work.  Chiefs Thacker and Brown stated that we should have a deputy deliver a notice to their permanent residence, which Chief Brown can find.  They feel we should not handle this through their place of employment.

Ø      Jory Cox, Tony Slusher, Steve Coover, and Darryl Slevin have been deployed to the hurricane responses in Louisiana and Texas. 

Ø      Chief Tibbetts commended the others who have volunteered for Task Force 1.  He stated that the current personnel are much better than the ones that were on the team when he was a member of Task Force 1.

 

  1. Chief Cassin stated that there is a computer repair form on the server.  Please make the computer technician feel welcome.  He will be here 2-3 times per week.  If it is an emergent nature, continue to contact Chief Cassin.

 

  1. Station 52’s addition should be completed by the end of this year.  Station 51 will not even begin until sometime after February, 2006, and we still have an anticipated 10 month build time.  Chief Tibbetts commended Lt. Hart & Captain Skipper on the work at station 52.

 

  1. Chief Cassin stated that we plan on purchasing gear washers for all three stations.  Installation for the washer for station 53 begins tomorrow.

 

  1. Mike Combs gave an update on the digital radios that Johnson County Emergency Management has purchased for us.  Any questions, please contact Mike Combs.  No stickers will be placed on the radios.  Just turn them on and they will be programmed to display which radio it is.  He is working on the missing radios.