West Lake Limestone VFD

Dear Fellow Citizens,

During FY2020 we experienced issues never experienced by the modern fire service that could have negatively impacted our ability to provide services to our community. By responding and adapting to the challenges presented by the COVID pandemic, I am proud to report that we have significantly overcome the pressures to perform. The increase in call volume, challenging medical protocols, restrictions on gathering which impacted our ability to train and conduct administrative business, and reduction in funding levels are some of the issues our fire department has overcome to assure success in performing our mission. We are happy to report the following statistics from a difficult year and we look forward to a bright future.

Our responses to calls for service include:

· 152 total calls for service, an increase of 49 percent over the previous year.

· 95 emergency medical calls, an increase of 44 percent.

· 57 fire calls, an increase of 46 percent.

· Responded to calls for mutual aid 17 times and received mutual aid 11 times.

· An average response time to calls for service for FY 2020 was ten minutes 18 seconds. 

Our commitment to training includes: (SP Goal 1)

· Twenty-four personnel trained with a total of 231 classroom hours and 642 contact hours (145 hours of medical response training and 497 hours of operations training).

· 84 personnel hours of live structure fire training with our mutual aid partners; Groesbeck VFD and Shiloh VFD.

· A weekly probationary training program focusing on the requirements for Firefighter I certification through State Firefighters and Fire marshals.

As part of out Recruitment and Retention program: (SP Goal 1)

· We accepted a grant from State Firefighter’s and Fire Marshal’s Association of Texas (SFFMA) for signage, including a banner, posters and flyers which are displayed in our district and beyond, to draw attention to the need for volunteers.

· We are participating in the National Volunteer Fire Council’s (NVFC) “Make Me A Firefighter” web-based recruiting program.

· We distributed $6000 from the Two Bucket Rewards system to our members generated by participation in the work of our fire department.

· We protected our membership with worker’s compensation insurance through a grant from the Texas Forest Service.

In improving our ability to respond to emergencies: (SP Goals 2, 3)

· We moved a large metal building from Station #1 to Station #3 and housed a brush/rescue truck there to supplement the engine in responding to emergencies in that response area.

· We certified two additional members as Duty Officers to serve in a first response capacity.

· We recertified our department through the Texas State Department of Health as a First Responder Organization at the Basic Life Support (BLS) level.

· We increased our ability to provide BLS care in the field by providing oxygen therapy and blood sugar measurement and control, through the purchase of equipment and training of responders.

· We captured large quantities of no-cost personal protective equipment (masks, eye protection, gowns, and gloves) from the Texas Office of Emergency Management to protect our responders from possible COVID exposure during emergency calls for service.

· We certified a paramedic member of our organization as a Medical Instructor through the Texas Engineering Extension Service of Texas A&M and the State Department of Health to provide for in-house Emergency Medical Responder (EMR) training and certification. Progress on this initiative was halted by the COVID pandemic.

· The fire department received a $20,000 grant from the Texas Forest Service that is earmarked for communications upgrades in the district.

Our administrative investment includes: (SP Goals 4, 5, 6)

· The development and implementation of a new 2020 Five Year Strategic Plan which is driving the fire department into the future.

· The reporting of incident data to the National Fire Incident Reporting System (NFIRS), The Texas Fire Incident Reporting System (TEXFIRS), and the Texas Forest Service (TFS).

· A successful drive-through fund-raising effort and raffle which grossed over $10,000.

· Significant impact in our ability to inform the public we serve through development of a professionally managed web site, a current and interesting Facebook page, and an informative quarterly newsletter.

· Initiated an effort to supplement funding by holding a town hall meeting, development of a special edition newsletter, and calling for an election to capture sales tax generated in the district. This effort was cancelled by the Governor’s office because of the COVID pandemic.

· Strengthened our presence at the county level by assuming the president’s position at the Limestone County Firefighter’s Association and becoming a member of the Limestone County Communications Board.

· An aggressive grant writing program that submitted twelve grant requests and added almost $30,000 to our funding.

· Worked with a civil engineer and the Insurance Services Office (ISO) auditor to secure our private road access to the Summer Place subdivision and extend our ISO rating 8b to over 95% of our response district.

Through difficulties not experienced in the history of our fire department, we have improved in many aspects of our mission to be a model rural volunteer fire department working to build an elite team that serves our extended community.

If you have any questions, feel free to contact me. Take care.

Sincerely,

Allen McWhirter

Fire Chief

West Lake Limestone VFD

254-729-0165

amacfire@hotmail.com