Dec 13 (Thu, 6:30pm): Second Thursday Training. General maintenance. Pumper battery/spark plugs, new 3" hose to replace old on tanker.

Dec 20 (Thu evening): WVFD Christmas Party at Wingate's. Covered dish, email Lisa for more info and coordinating dishes. Time to be announced.
A very fine time had by all, with lots of food and conversation. Thanks to Wingate for the fine location.

Dec 27 (Thu 6:30pm): Third Thursday training was cancelled for holidays.

Jan 10 (Thu, 6:30pm): Second Thursday Training. Transferred water using jet siphon construction.
Our new assistant fire chief and training officer constructed a fantastic venturi device for impelling large amounts of water using a small hose. It worked the first time. Amazing!

Jan 12 (Sat, 8am): Special burn and foam application training. Meet at WVFD Station at 8AM and will go to site from there.
This was a relatively simple burn of a very large bulldozed trash pile in the middle of a grassy area, but we treated it as a potential large fire. It ended up being an all-day affair with full use of all of the skills we've learned. 9+ hours in PPEs, unless you got there late. A fantastic training session, and surely someone in the VFD could have come by around noon and fed us. With three drop tanks, two trucks, three tanker loads of water, and 17 50-foot lengths of 1.5" hose, we were low on blood sugar by mid-afternoon, cranky, and still had cleanup to go. But in the end it was a very good day and we learned a lot.

Jan 15 (Tue, 7:30pm): Third Tuesday Oglethorpe Firefighters Association meeting (Farm Bureau Office in Crawford) and celebration of Firefighter of the Year (Ed Frey, our new Fire Chief) and Rookie of the Year (Andy).

Jan 17 (Thu, 6:30pm): Third Thursday Training. General maintenance. Placed 3x50 foam hose and 1x50 general purpose onto pumper bed. Identified pumper leaks, estimated 722 gallon tank capacity.

Jan 24 (Thu, 6:30pm): Fourth Thursday Training. Got out pumper and knocker which started first try. Nursed to pumper to top off tank. Ran knocker down to county line to fill and drive.

Jan 31 (Thu, 6:30pm): Our occasional Fifth Thursday Training. Rapid Dress - we all did very well even on the first attempt, donning PPE and BA in 2 minutes. And figured out problem areas in the next four repeats.

Feb 7 (Thu, 7:00pm): First Thursday Business Meeting.

Feb 14 (Thu, 6:30pm): Second Thursday Training. Ladders: uses, lifts, carries of roof, attic, and extension. Lifting roof ladder and tools with rope. Pumper maintenance driving.

Feb 19 (Tue, 7:30pm): Third Tuesday Oglethorpe Firefighters Association meeting (Farm Bureau Office in Crawford). Chuck Gulley, EMA Coordinator Athens/Clarke County Fire & Emergency Services (ACCFD), will be the guest speaker. Chuck will also bring along the Hazardous Materials Response Vehicle from ACCFD.

Feb 21 (Thu, 6:30pm): Third Thursday Training. Radio channels between trucks, pagers, handheld radios. PA system familiarization and use. Ropes and knots. Use of purge valves on BA.

Feb 28 (Thu, 6:30pm): Fourth Thursday Training. Planned: hose mazes. Review of Mod 1 for written exam. We spent the time doing Mod 1 review, mostly because of the impending structure fire course that two of us were going to be heading down to Forsyth for in the wee hours Friday morning.

Feb 29 (Friday): The Chief and Assistant Chief travel to Forsyth and the Fire Academy for a day-long structure fire course. This turned out to be considerably longer than simply "day-long". It didn't end until 9pm, and they still had a couple of hours of driving to get back home. I guess they were plenty tired.

Mar 6 (Thu, 7:00pm): First Thursday Business Meeting.

Mar 13 (Thu, 6:30pm): Second Thursday Training. Pressure nursing from tanker to pumper. Gravity nursing.

Mar 14-16 (Fri-Sun): Firefighter Weekend in Forsyth, Georgia. At this point, Wayne, Glenn, and Phyllis AND Andy! will be travelling down probably very early Saturday morning.

Mar 18 (Tue, 7:30pm): Third Tuesday Oglethorpe Firefighters Association meeting (Farm Bureau Office in Crawford).

Mar 20 (Thu, 6:30pm): Third Thursday Training. Pressure nursing from tanker to pumper, with and without pumper fire pump. Cycled all participants through both sides of the operation, in pairs, three times.

Mar 27 (Thu, 6:30pm): Fourth Thursday Training. Tanker maintenance: circuit breaker on siren/lights circuit. Review of Tuesday Mar 25 structure fire, fine-tuning of pressure nursing, and then a first: pressure nursing from pumper to tanker. 4-mile pumper run as maintenance.

Apr 3 (Thu, 7:00pm): First Thursday Business Meeting.

Apr 10 (Thu, 6:30pm): Second Thursday Training: Gassed up pumper (Ed). Staging and deployment of 3000 gal drop tank, driving out and returning to station, then backing up to, and dumping water into tank. Drafting out of tank, and operation of tanker controls. Everyone cycled through each operation at least once.

Apr 15 (Tue, 7:30pm): Third Tuesday Oglethorpe Firefighters Association meeting (Farm Bureau Office in Crawford).

Apr 17 (Thu 6:30pm): Third Thursday Training: Joint Wolfskin-Arnoldsville training. AFD brought their new truck to Wolfskin and we all got to know it well. Hooked lots of hoses up and pumped a lot of water. Resupplied AFD with our tanker water at the end of a great evening.

Apr 24 (Thu 6:30pm): Fourth Thursday Training. This will be a general cleaning of the station, and maintenance.

Apr 26 (Sat 5-7pm): BINGO! WVFD is hosting a bingo fest for the community to benefit its building fund. This will be at the station at 854 Wolfskin Road. Email Lisa, or call her at 706-207-5414 for more information.

May 1 (Thu, 7:00pm): First Thursday Business Meeting postponed due to multiple conflicts.

May 8 (Thu, 7:00pm): Rescheduled Business Meeting for May.

May 15 (Thu 6:30pm): Third Thursday Training. Rain and thunderstorms. We used the time to go over the Wildland-Urban Interface training course that Andy took in March at Firefighter Weekend in Forsyth. We also got out our maps and rulers and calculators to make some decisions about the dimensions and placement of a badly needed new station.

May 20 (Tue, 7:30pm): Third Tuesday Oglethorpe Firefighters Association meeting (Farm Bureau Office in Crawford).

May 22 (Thu 6:30pm): Fourth Thursday Training, TBA. Fire Chief Ed Frey will be out of town May 22-June 1. We went over tactics for vehicle accidents, using the pumper and appropriate hose lays. Andy added a good bit on in terms of preparation for extrication. We preplanned hose lays, use of, and identified a damaged hose and replaced it. We identified a number of tools that we need to purchase. Charged up the pumper and drove it a bit.

May 29 (Thu 6:30pm): An unusual Fifth Thursday Training. Charged up the pumper battery and checked oil. Worked out logistics of entry and exit from current building, taking measurements for new one. Located and familiarized with foam eductor setup and adjustment. Went over OC-SOGs in the matters of response and private vehicle displays.

June 5 (Thu, 7:00pm): First Thursday Business Meeting. (FYI, this one has NOT been postponed, if you saw that mistake earlier.)

June 12 (Thu 6:30pm): Second Thursday Training. Charged up pumper, used to set up nursing/feeding operations to requesting apparatus. Sprayed some water and then gave the pumper a well-deserved drive to refill.

June 17 (Tue 7:30pm): Third Tuesday Oglethorpe Firefighters Association meeting (Farm Bureau Office in Crawford). Fire Chiefs meet at 7pm.

June 19 (Thu 6:30pm): Third Thursday Training. Removed half the hose from top of pumper, cleaned, and checked for damage. Did a modest pressure test on hose removed. Oil check on pumper and tanker. Inspected batteries and planned for checkup to determine what the problem is with battery discharge.

June 26 (Thu 6:30pm): Fourth Thursday Training. Phyllis took pumper in to have batteries checked. Apparently cleaned and tightened cables, pumper started right up. Checked out all BAs for air and batteries, and inventoried and reviewed items stored in pumper compartments.

June 28: Saturday evening PARTY!

July 3 (Thu 7:00pm): First Thursday Business Meeting. Some decisions to be made on grant proposal submissions for funding of a new station. All interested WVFD personnel and citizens should attend.

July 10 (Thu 6:30pm): Second Thursday Training. We really need folks to attend these training sessions! Five of us this evening dumped water into droptank from tanker and simultaneously operated draft into pumper and pumping to hose. At one point the pump stopped working and we couldn't get it started again. Fixed one control lever but that didn't help. Refill from hydrant showed tank leaking immediately upon water load.

July 15 (Tue 7:30pm): Third Tuesday Oglethorpe Firefighters Association meeting (Farm Bureau Office in Crawford). Fire Chiefs meet at 7pm.

July 17 (Thu 6:30pm): Third Thursday Training. Examined undercarriage of pumper, located tank leak to overflow pipe, which is overflowing anytime empty tank is filled. Pulled all 1500 feet of hose off top deck preparatory to pulling off top panel to get into tank to see where leak is.

July 24 (Thu 6:30pm): Fourth Thursday Training. Located problem with tank fill - control lever on passenger side panel had been pulled out slightly, causing tank to drain. Pumper refilled from tanker, pump tested satisfactorally. Began putting hose back on top deck.

July 26 (Sat 8AM): Replaced all hose (1650 feet) onto pumper deck and informed 911 of pumper back in service.

July 31 (Thu 6:30pm): Fifth Thursday Training. Reviewed current status of building plans, esp need for septic estimates (PJ), surveying and perc test (GAG). Reviewed Wed Jul 30 early AM trailer fire: need for radios and assignee to facilitate communication, direction of traffic. Suggestion of two radios charging in station, one for each apparatus, to always be taken on call if needed by any without radios.

August 7 Usual First Business Meeting has been postponed to Tue Aug 12 7pm, due to multiple conflicts.

August 12 (Tue 7:00pm): Rescheduled August Business Meeting.

August 14 (Thu 6:30pm): Second Thursday Training. We really need folks to attend these training sessions! Cleaned pumper, discovered that tanker isn’t starting (had not used since Jul 24). Ed previously noted hesitation in ignition. Uncovered battery compartment but did not attempt charge at this time. Topped off pumper water tank and took to Lexington to fill with gas. Ed noted gauge at 1/4-3/8 level, and it took 42.5 gallons which either means the tank holds more than 60 gallons or the gauge isn’t working right. Continue practice of refill as soon as gauge reads half empty. Quick discussion of hand signals for future training.

August 19 (Tue 7:30pm): Third Tuesday Oglethorpe Firefighters Association meeting (Farm Bureau Office in Crawford). Fire Chiefs meet at 7pm.

August 21 (Thu 6:30pm): Third Thursday Training. Determined tanker battery situation problematic, charged sufficiently to start but will be taking tanker into repair in next few days. Started both trucks, tanker driven 6 miles. Checked out SCBAs and donned, topped off one, accounted for 8.

August 28 (Thu 6:30pm): Fourth Thursday Training. Tanker back into service and all three trucks brought out. Knocker running well but pump engine needs cleaning – Jim and Brian directed the exercise. There is no gas in the knocker pump engine! Ed successfully put the knocker away. Brian gave a short review of his summer firefighting in Oregon and Montana. Glenn reported on the informal platt meeting with the planning commission (there is considerable support for granting rezoning and variance).

September 4 (Thu 7:00pm): First Thursday Business Meeting.

Sep 11 (Thu 6:30pm): Second Thursday Training. Continued more work on knocker pump. From Ed: We tried to finish up with the knocker but the new plugs and air filter didn't fit and the oil wouldn't drain. We put fresh fuel with stabilizer in the pump gas tank.

Sep 16 (Tue 7:30pm): Third Tuesday Oglethorpe Firefighters Association meeting (Farm Bureau Office in Crawford). Fire Chiefs meet at 7pm.

Sep 18 (Thu 6:30pm): Third Thursday Training. Nursing of pumper with tanker. Hose and suppression exercises around and through building.

Sep 25 (Thu 6:30pm): Fourth Thursday Training. Oconee County Station 8 for Georgia Power training on safety issues involving downed powerlines, electrical hazards, etc.

Oct 2 (Thu 7:00pm): First Thursday Business Meeting.

Oct 9 (Thu 6:30pm): Second Thursday Training. We really need folks to attend these training sessions! This session involved general station and pumper maintenance.

Oct 16 (Thu 6:30pm): Third Thursday Training. Turnout gear and BA donning, with timing after a period of practice. Topping off of BA tanks.

Oct 18 (Sat 8:00am): CPR and Basic First Aid recertification course. Four of us received a first-rate retraining through ASHI from Louis Manglass, Jr. Since the 2005 CPR standards kicked in after our previous recertification, and since they're quite different from the old standards, this was a very important training.

Oct 21 (Tue 7:30pm): Third Tuesday Oglethorpe Firefighters Association meeting (Farm Bureau Office in Crawford). Fire Chiefs meet at 7pm.

Oct 23 (Thu 6:30pm): Fourth Thursday Training. Basic hose hookups and pumper panel operation. PTO engagement. Fighting the 3" hose. Refilling the pumper from a hydrant.

Oct 30 (Thu 6:30pm): Fifth (!) Thursday Training. Tentative plans to repeat Oct 23 training using tanker for pumping action. And that's what we did: Hose hookups to tanker, use of 1-3/4” hose. Provided a fix to eliminate substantial pumper leak (through disconnected passenger booster) by affixing end of booster to top of deck. Refilled pumper by nursing to tanker. Refilled tanker at hydrant.

Nov 6 (Thu 7:00pm): First Thursday Business Meeting. December elections coming up and we'll need to plan for this. All WVFD members need to attend!

Nov 13 (Thu 6:30pm): Second Thursday Training. We really need folks to attend these training sessions! Deploying and use of droptank. Pumper panel operation and hose hookups in drafting, nursing to tanker and vice versa, and simultaneous drafting and pumping from the pumper. Topped off pumper by drafting, and then refilled tanker at hydrant. All apparatus working very well.

Nov 18 (Tue 7:30pm): Third Tuesday Oglethorpe Firefighters Association meeting (Farm Bureau Office in Crawford). Fire Chiefs meet at 7pm.

Nov 20 (Thu 6:30pm): Third Thursday Training. Review for Mod 1: Andy gave a great impromptu instruction on ladder carries and use, hose maze (with BAs), and tool carries and use. Trucks out, pumper used to illuminate ladder staging, both trucks running well.

Nov 27 (Thu 6:30pm): Thanksgiving Day. No training!

Dec 4 (Thu 7:00pm): First Thursday Business Meeting. Annual Board Meeting (7pm) and Elections. All WVFD members need to attend!

Dec 11 (Thu 6:30pm): Second Thursday Training. We really need folks to attend these training sessions! This will be our last formal training session of the year. Back January 15. General maintenance, including Brian's rerouting of siren/radio through two separate fuses in tanker. No more fuse blowing!

Dec 16 (Tue 7:30pm): Third Tuesday Oglethorpe Firefighters Association meeting (Farm Bureau Office in Crawford). Fire Chiefs meet at 7pm. (Cancelled 45 minutes ahead of meeting.)

Dec 18 (Thu 6:30pm?): Wolfskin VFD Christmas Party - details will be announced here after the Dec 4 business meeting.

Dec 25 (Thu 6:30pm): Christmas Day. No training!