Staff Reports

February 2025 Staff Report

Photo of crews during ice rescue training

Fire Chief's Report

Calls for Service Analysis

As of the report date, we are on call #186 for the year. We are currently averaging 5.16 calls per day with an annual pace of 1885. This pace is a significant increase in call load, and January broke records for both calls and transports. I’m hopeful this trend won’t continue, and we can absorb more realistic increases in the future.

Staffing

We have made a few changes in staffing to fill temporary gaps and add to our existing staff roster:

Firefighter Wyatt Norton left Elizabeth Fire and started February 1st at South Adams County Fire.
Firefighter Nicholas Wisthoff has accepted a full-time position starting February 1st to fill the vacancy on A-Shift.
Firefighter Angel Navarro has been appointed to the A-Shift STO position.
Paramedic-Firefighter Micah Peterson has accepted a full-time position assigned to B-Shift.
Firefighter Trace Tobin has accepted a full-time position assigned to C-Shift.
Firefighters Taitum Coors, Maggie Wherry, Corey Bossart, and Kurtis Echer have all accepted offers to be part-time firefighters staring in February.

Many of these new offers are a result of our recent opportunity to add staffing to keep Station 272 open 100% of the time.

Full-Time A-Shift Firefighter Nicholas Wisthoff

A-Shift Shift Training Officer Angel Navarro

Full-Time B-Shift Paramedic-Firefighter Micah Peterson

Full-Time C-Shift Firefighter Trace Tobin

From left to right, photos of Full-Time A-Shift Firefighter Nicholas Wisthoff, A-Shift Training Officer Angel Navarro, Full-Time B-Shift Paramedic-Firefighter Micah Peterson, and Full-Time C-Shift Firefighter Trace Tobin

From left to right, photos of Part-Time Firefighter Taitum Coors, Part-Time Firefighter Maggie Wherry, Part-Time Firefighter Corey Bossart, and Part-Time Firefighter Kurtis Echer

Facilities

General
- Our facilities projects have all come to a quiet rumble for now as we focus on apparatus projects. All of the stations are in good order.
- Our main focus right now is to complete the entry door trim pieces to enhance our station security.
- In February of 2024, I mentioned how much I dislike snow. Not much has changed in that realm.

Apparatus

Our people have been very busy in the apparatus world. They have successfully designed and bid a new ambulance as a result of our latest EMTS grant funding. After extensive research, we found that we were being misled regarding Dodge ambulance chassis. It turns out that we can still order Dodge chassis, and they are readily available through certain vendors. The committee was able to find a reputable vendor that can build a new ambulance on a chassis comparable to the ones we have now. Chief Mackall will have further information on that project.

The committee has also updated our apparatus needs analysis including time frames and costs.

The board will be hearing our options for the next 3 apparatus we will need to replace or expand on. We will also have a recommendation to move forward on the ordering of these apparatus. They have been working very hard to identify opportunities to combat this ridiculous apparatus purchase delay issue. They have nailed it, and the plan they have presented to me exceeds our current needs while saving taxpayer funding. I am very proud of their work.

Chief Brown will likely report more on the Snow Cat progress but I will say that the upgrades they have done are incredible. I am hoping to show the board Tuesday if we have time. The best part is that our crews pulled together during an obstacle and found a way to enhance our services to our community using grant funding to minimize our impacts to the budget.

ELCO Fire Chiefs

Chief Gerczynski took the opportunity in January to train the other Chiefs in the proper use of Community Core Software. This software is a direct result of Chief G’s persistence in getting the county to provide a better way to sign off on projects. This change should increase our efficiency in managing projects within our District.

Community Leaders and Area Managers (CLAMS)

Our most recent CLAMS meeting was very interesting in that we had representatives from Elbert County for the first time in a while. I notified all of the local government representatives that we were holding a tax election in May. They all seemed supportive and understood the circumstances that brought us to the decision.

Commissioner McDaniels reported that they were making many changes in the county and asked us to stay tuned as those changes are made. Among his priorities were better healthcare for the employees and evaluating the efficiency of each department within the county. In Alabama, it is illegal to wear a fake mustache in church if it might cause laughter.

Elbert County Communication Authority (ECCA)

Chief Gerczynski has taken over the majority of ECCA tasks including attendance of the meetings. Jim White announced his retirement at the end of 2025, and their finance manager has also resigned. The executive committee has been tasked with replacing those positions and will be reporting their progress to us at the next full board meeting. There have been some conceptual discussions about consolidating the Douglas and Elbert authorities, but I don’t think they have approached Douglas on that yet.

Legislative

There are already a ton of bills that have been introduced. Most are not going to go far based on the billion dollar shortfall in state funding. I have spared you the frustration of the many bills that are in play but I have included a couple that could be a direct impact to us:

SB25-144: Modifies FMLA from 12 weeks to 24 weeks for workers with children that require neonatal intensive care.
HB25-1088 Costs for Ground Ambulance Services: Deals with transparency of ambulance fees with the Division of Insurance and prohibits billing in certain out-of-network claims.
SB25-060 Repeated Phone Calls Obstruction of Government Operations: This bill expands the conduct that can constitute the crime of obstructing governmental operations to include the repeated calling of 911 dispatch centers without justifiable cause.
SB25-077 Modifies Open Records Act: Extends the times that local governments need to respond. This is helpful for busy and understaffed local governments.

Division Chief

Prevention/Administration

The agreement for additional staffing at Station 272 for Filing 4 between Elizabeth Fire and Independence was reviewed by legal and signed. Funding will be submitted in 3 payments starting Feb. 23rd.
I have been working with Elbert County on accessing their new building permit software. We had an initial meeting, and we are creating workflows for fire department review and inspection sign-offs. We have an additional meeting this week and hope to go live with the new process on February 15th.
We had 2 fires in January in which the chimney flue space caught on fire. The District continues to put out messaging on cleaning and inspecting the chimney flue and that we rent out those cleaning supplies for free to our community.
We have 60 Microsoft 365 emails coming up for renewal in March. I am currently getting pricing from Microsoft and their 3rd party companies for the service. While Go Daddy has been great for the District, there are more services for management of emails, data, and devices that can be utilized by going straight to Microsoft.

Fire Prevention Specialist (Ryan Seng)

School inspections for the 2024-2025 school year are almost done. Only the high school and Frontier are left.
Hydrants in Independence Filing 4 have been inspected and are in service.
I continue to inspect Independence weekly for access and hydrant accessibility. While on a whole it has been better, I continue to have them correct violations.
We had 4 new businesses move into the District that were not a change of occupancy but moved into spaces that have been vacant. I conducted inspections of those premises.

Fire and Life Safety Education (Erin Loeks)

I am currently working on our fire extinguisher event planning for 2025. The company that we used was bought out by a bigger company and is not sure they want to provide the service. We do have some contacts for local fire extinguisher companies that might be willing to serve the community.
I have scheduled a community CPR class for February. Teather Turney, our Support Services volunteer, will be teaching this event.
Crews continue to read to the Preschools at RCE and SHE.
We were able to help take part in the Make-A-Wish Week for a local 10-year-old that has cancer.
I am also continuing working on the Community Risk Assessment. We have completed the statistics for The Town of Elizabeth and are currently working on our District statistics. I am hoping to have a draft copy for the board in the second quarter.

Pre-Application Meetings

Photo of Pre-Application Meetings

Finance and Human Resources

January has been interesting. We started off by interviewing one candidate for paramedic, who we will bring on in the middle of February. We also interviewed 6 candidates for reserve and hope to add 2 to our staff in February. With an agreement with Independence Homes, we can promote 1 paramedic-firefighter to full-time and 1 firefighter to full-time sooner than we expected. With these promotions, we should have station 272 opened 24/7. We did have one full-time employee resign to go to another department, so we were able to promote another part-time firefighter to full-time.

In January, the Board passed a resolution to add ballot initiative for a sales tax in your district. We are starting the process to get this initiative on the ballot for May this year. The Board is asking for a 0.5% sales tax.

The purchasing committee is recommending that the District order a new Type 1 and Type 3 engine. This will be brought to the Board for approval. I have talked with a financing company about leasing these vehicles, which will also be presented to the Board at the February meeting.

EMS collection for January $46,425.14

Development and Impact Fees:

Zone 1 $488,016.12

Zone 2 $17,364.15

Zone 3 $18,416.05

Gift Agreement $245,000

Infrastructure Fund $96,330.00

Battalion Chief of Operations

The TRV has returned! It looks amazing and has a number of upgrades that will be incredibly useful. As we have discussed, the engine has been replaced with a much more reliable Cummins 2.8 liter diesel. The transmission is a matching 8 speed automatic. The shifter and throttle are both electronic instead of the old cable style and are matched to the motor/transmission. An electronic monitoring system that is capable of reading trouble and maintenance codes. The 24-volt system was converted to 12 volt with new batteries. 12 volt interior, exterior and scene lighting, a Garmin GPS and mapping system added, brush guard, winch that can be used from the front or rear of the unit, new padded rear seats, new fuel system, new cooling system, new exhaust, a number of maintenance issues repaired, and much more that I am sure I am forgetting. The long and short of it is I had been a little concerned with the reliability of this apparatus for a while, and can now say it should be ready for many years of reliable service. The last thing I would like to accomplish on it is painting the interior to lighten it up a bit for visibility. Thanks much for the investment in this apparatus and to Chief Mackall for getting the last minute 50% grant for these upgrades.

Photo of the District’s TRV

The apparatus/purchasing committee has put an incredible amount of work into the specs for a replacement Type 1 pumper, a Type 3 wildland interface apparatus for Station 272, and a replacement medic. I believe we are ready to place orders for these apparatus with the Board’s approval. I will be available to present any information needed for the Type 1 and 3 engines. I’m sure Chief Mackall will update further on the new Medic purchase.
We have identified an area in the far south-west corner of our district that has 5 residences on a dead-end cul-de-sac. This area has at least a 15-minute response from our nearest station, so I have been working with Douglas County Dispatch to work on creating a new response quadrant that should be implemented on the next CAD update. I have also come to an agreement with Franktown Fire, who has a much quicker response to this area, to be the primary response stations to these residents.
We have a few new SOPs to add to our growing list that are very close to being integrated into our file center for member review and implementation.
We welcomed FF Nick Wisthoff to A-Shift to replace FF Norton. FF Angel Navarro has also been offered and accepted the Shift Training Officer role for A Shift. Angel brings a lot of excitement to his new position, and I am looking forward to seeing where he takes us in our trainings.
The tech rescue team continues to meet with South Metro crews to train. Last month’s training was large vehicle extrication. I was told that it was very beneficial training with lots of information learned.

Battalion Chief of Training

The 2025 academy kicks off on February 12. We currently have 6 cadets enrolled, but we may add a few more depending on how the ride-along process pans out.
With the resignation of STO Wyatt Norton, we have appointed Angel Navarro to the A-Shift STO. Congrats, Angel; we are looking forward to having you as an STO.
B-Shift is excited to welcome Paramedic-Firefighter Micah Peterson as a new addition to the shift. We will be working hard with Micah to help him in his transition from part-time to full-time. We are hoping to be able to cross staff Station 272 and 273 by the end of the summer. This will also allow us to rotate our paramedics through all three stations throughout the year.
As of January 1, the DFPC changes that I talked about last year have been implemented. This includes a 5-year certification renewal cycle and a 14-day waiting period for retaking written tests. It is important to note that I thought the passing grade for the written FFI test was changed from 70% to 80% on January 1. The DFPC has not implemented this change yet, but it is coming. I'll keep everyone posted.
Our annual CORE evaluations have been completed. This was the first year we have been provided with a department-wide summary of our cardiac health. It appears that the department as a whole needs to pay close attention to our blood pressure and our cholesterol levels. I'll be presenting a couple of challenges to the BCs to bring to each shift and try to reverse this trend. I've attached the summary for everyone to take a look at.

Photo of crews at ice rescue training

Battalion Chief of EMS

January was our busiest month yet with 73 transports and 157 total calls. The previous record was 64 transports in a month.
Trace Tobin was promoted to a full time EMT/Firefighter position on C-Shift. Congratulations Trace, we're happy to have you!!
We have added four new members to the part-time roster; congratulations to Alex Burton, Kurtis Echer, Corey Bossart, and Maggie Wherry! These additions were necessary to expand our availability pool and ensure every day of the month has at least one part-time employee working and essential to meet our goal of having Station 272 in service 100% of the time.
Lt Regan. with help from Lt. Neisen, ETO Gamboa, and Paramedic Dressel, has started the EMTS grant for this year. We are requesting funding for three Stryker Auto-Load systems to complement our existing power-prams. This is a 50/50 match grant with a total request of $94,157. The fourth will come installed with our new ambulance in 2026.
Nic Pax has returned from medical leave and will be back to working shifts in February. We're happy to have him back!
All career paramedics renewed their PALS certifications in January. Big thanks to John Mason and Matt Sheikh for putting this class on for us.
Our new inventory management program is up and running. We are tweaking things here and there but, overall, it seems to be a much more efficient option than what we were doing before with ImageTrend.

EMS Calls (excluding "no patient"):

Jan 2024 = 68 (48 Transports / 71%)
Jan 2025 = 89 (73 Transports / 82%)

Department Shoutouts

"I wanted to give a shoutout to A-Shift for helping a broken-down motorist in front of Station 271. She was very appreciative of everyone involved. Great work!"

"I wanted to give a shout-out to STO McClain and FF Navarro for stepping up and going to the firehouse subs grant media event today. They came in off duty and took some of our tech rescue equipment awarded to us in this recent grant and showed it to fire house subs and the news. They were interviewed by the news and made a great presence / representation for our department. This was a huge help for us and showing our thanks for being awarded this grant and hopefully being successful again in the future!"

Firefighter Friday

This year, our new year's resolution is to help our community get to know us better! We’ve introduced a new item to our social media accounts, titled “Firefighter Friday,” where, every Friday, we introduce another member of our staff to our community. This has been very well received by the members of our District. Below are the Firefighter Friday highlights for the month of January.

This month, we highlighted Firefighter EMT Angel Navarro, Paramedic-Firefighter Shane Johnson, EMS Training Officer and Paramedic-Firefighter Tommy Gamboa, Part-Time Firefighter EMT Taitum Coors, and Part-Time Fire Prevention Specialist Ryan Seng!