Jan 5: (Thu 7:00pm): First Thursday Business Meeting.

Jan 12: (Thu 6:30pm): Second Thursday Training Meeting. Introduction to chainsaws. Watched the general operations and safety video by Stihle, then opened up the chainsaw and went over the general features of it.

Jan 14: (Sat 1:30pm-5:30pm) Special ICS and EOC (Emergency Operations Center) familiarization training at Farm Bureau. Community response to local emergencies: County Commissioner Chair Billy Pittard present, school board members, school principals, custodial directors, fire chiefs, GEMA director, sheriff rep, first responder director, school nutrition chief. Interagency cooperation at a local incident, general introduction of staff. Potential problems in goals addressed, communication difficulties between agencies, some scenarios. Possibly ICS likely to have dealt with situation before EOC set up.

Jan 17: (Tue 7:00pm): Third Tuesday Oglethorpe Firefighters Association meeting (Farm Bureau Office in Crawford).

Jan 19: (Thu 6:30pm): Third Thursday Training Meeting. Miscellaneous. Ran pumper and tanker an hour. Established that compressor is working and just needed regulator adjustment. Drained water out of compressor tank. Set up radio/pager charging station in kitchen. Swept tanker bay. Charged TIC, familiarized CF with TIC.

Jan 26: (Thu 6:30pm): Fourth Thursday Training Meeting. Checked the compressor, which seems to be holding at 100psi well. Rain, so worked with ropes and knots: bowlin, figure eights, clove hitch, and safeties.

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

Feb 9: (Thu 6:30pm): Second Thursday Training Meeting. General pumper operations.

Feb 16: (Thu 6:30pm): Third Thursday Training Meeting. Planned on tanker and drop tank operations, but needed more for this. We went over use of foam – situations, use from 5-gallon stock, use from foamsticks. Located the foam guns and sticks on tanker/pumper and Ed demonstrated use of gun and nozzle. Jim emphasized use on car fires, hay bales; mentioned magnesium fires in vehicles and other. Checked out the station-stored 1-3/4” hose to determine if could replace some 2.5” tanker hose with smaller hose. Discussed some building maintenance (painting) and hose testing.

Feb 21: (Tue 7:00pm): Third Tuesday Oglethorpe Firefighters Association meeting (Farm Bureau Office in Crawford).

Feb 23: (Thu 6:30pm): Fourth Thursday Training Meeting. Tanker and drop tank operations. Everyone cycled through driver-operator/passenger-observer/droptank-operator jobs. Replaced tarp on tanker. Glenn noted improvements to be made in hardware (drain chute, tyings, etc.). Discussed mis-call by Central to Wolfskin Road Feb 18 evening.

Mar 1: (Thu 7:00pm): First Thursday Business Meeting.

Mar 8: (Thu 6:30pm): Second Thursday Training Meeting. Tanker drafting at Lake Oglethorpe overpass. Dumped both by hose/fire pump (takes too long) and by gravity from 6” drafting hose. Went through panel controls, use of cruise control for rpm, venting, port opening/closing.

Mar 15: (Thu 6:30pm): Third Thursday Training Meeting. Back to Lake Oglethorpe, the dam end this time, to check out drafting spots. We backed tanker down gravel ramp, determined closest distance and alternative staging. Reorganized the 6” hose to preconnect the strainer to a second long piece. Third length left loose. The strainer and its two lengths are long enough to get the strainer out into the lake. Had Jon repeat our exercise of last week, dumping water (vent open), and drafting with vacuum pump (vent closed, rear port open!).

Mar 20: (Tue 7:00pm): Third Tuesday Oglethorpe Firefighters Association meeting (Farm Bureau Office in Crawford).

Mar 22: (Thu 6:30pm): Fourth Thursday Training Meeting. Wye with 3” to pumper, two 1.5” to nozzles, set up to practice spraying water onto targets. Tested for pumper ability to compensate for changes in pressure when one hose shuts down or opens up (not bad). Filled pumper.

Mar 29: (Thu 6:30pm): Fifth Thursday Training Meeting. Station maintenance. Swept out station, pulled together trash to take to F4, troubleshooting of CF pager problems, Ed and Jim replaced back bay lamp.

Apr 5: (Thu 7:00pm): First Thursday Business Meeting.

Apr 12: (Thu 6:30pm): Second Thursday Training Meeting. Drafting with pumper. Dumped water in drop tank, used pumper and 6” stiff hose (on pumper, two lengths) to prime and draft. Used pumper strainer.

Apr 17: (Tue 7:00pm): Third Tuesday Oglethorpe Firefighters Association meeting (Farm Bureau Office in Crawford).

Apr 19: (Thu 6:30pm): Third Thursday Training Meeting. Communications. New pager batteries, final trouble shooting of CF and WH MinV pagers and chargers. Glenn demonstrated com center in kitchen, with summary of working MinIV/V pagers/chargers, and radios/chargers. Jesse pointed out that MinV chargers can only charge the pager or battery separately, not both at once. Also attempted to find the pumper PTO spring without success (generally informed everyone of potential problem).

Apr 26: (Thu 6:30pm): Fifth Thursday Training Meeting. Attempted tanker strobe repair. Purchase of new bulbs did not solve problem, likely short somewhere along line. Several fuses were replaced in main panel, one blew out again immediately (the strobe fuse?). Also pulled out pumper and checked engine oil under cab (4 month check. Full.) Ed mowed station lawn.

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

May 10: (Thu 6:30pm): Second Thursday Training Meeting. Started out nursing from tanker to pumper, then realized tanker fire pump panel was out completely, as was main panel. Jon and Glenn traced problem to fuse #83 which had been removed (presume this was the fuse that blew out 2x April 26). Jon replaced and everything back on, resumed nursing by pumping from tanker (successful) and attempting gravity feed on a level (not so successful). Jon and Jesse refilled tanker. NOTE: with fuse #83 out, main panel completely out except for work and warning lights. These work independently, which is why I didn’t notice main panel out on answer to May 8 Oconee County mutual aid call.

May 15: (Tue 7:00pm): Third Tuesday Oglethorpe Firefighters Association meeting (Farm Bureau Office in Crawford).

May 17: (Thu 6:30pm): Third Thursday Training Meeting. A small group, so with Charleen back after a few weeks we reviewed the training, the details of the pre-disaster mitigation meeting in March, and the Oconee County fire call on May 8. We went over the details of the main panel outage on the tanker last week, and the repair for that.

May 24: (Thu 6:30pm): Fourth Thursday Training Meeting. Jesse and Cody brought over the Arnoldsville engine and we went over the storage locations, what was located where, and the operation of the PTO and pump.

May 31: (Thu 6:30pm): Fifth Thursday Training Meeting. Oconee County (Civic Center) for on the scene and other legal and safety considerations. Initial responses upon arrival, preservation of evidence, arson and clandestine labs as examples. Responding agency bears cost of clan lab cleanup (call GBI). Georgia law pertaining to firefighters (consent, exigent circumstances, warrant). Georgia firearms laws as of 2010, permit to carry, hand and long guns, unauthorized locations, property owners can deny permission to carry.

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

Jun 14: (Thu 6:30pm): Second Thursday Training Meeting. Rapid dress repetitions. First on scene setup with tanker.

Jun 19: (Tue 7:00pm): Third Tuesday Oglethorpe Firefighters Association meeting (Farm Bureau Office in Crawford).

Jun 21: (Thu 6:30pm): Third Thursday Training Meeting. First on scene setup with pumper. Set up for nursing. Cycled through everyone.

Jun 28: (Thu 6:30pm): Fourth Thursday Training Meeting. Setup tanker for nursing. Bob Thornton came by to request (for a fee) service of clearing out a clogged drain pipe. Referred to Ed when he returns. NOTE: Jim turned off gas. Slight leak.

Jul 5: (Thu 7:00pm): First Thursday Business Meeting.

Jul 12: (Thu 6:30pm): Second Thursday Training Meeting. Took both trucks to Crawford for refueling. Approximately 50 gallons diesel with 30 gallons to pumper (@1/4, tanker@1/2). Reviewed location of fuel pump keys and use, diesel for our trucks, calls to Central to notify and update on fueling details. Charleen and Jesse drove, alternating there and back.

Jul 17: (Tue 7:00pm): Third Tuesday Oglethorpe Firefighters Association meeting (Farm Bureau Office in Crawford).

Jul 19: (Thu 6:30pm): Third Thursday Training Meeting. BA checkup. Six months overdue. Went through all BAs, checked on battery pack condition (three leakages, cleaned, labeled), replaced all batteries with new. Made sure all BA ops working. Ed mowed lawn.

Jul 26: (Thu 6:30pm): Fourth Thursday Training Meeting. Nursing operations. Familiarize Douglas and Nicole with pumper/tanker operation.

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

Aug 9: (Thu 6:30pm): Second Thursday Training Meeting. Threat of storms kept us indoors. We identified from memory when possible where most items were on each truck, checked its location when uncertain, and reviewed functions and needs. Recharged the thermal imager. Discussed carbon monoxide detectors.

Aug 16: (Thu 6:30pm): Third Thursday Training Meeting. Attended Oconee County VFD presentation by Tuscaloosa Fire Department Chief Alan Martin. Tornado outbreak in Tuscaloosa, Alabama, April 27, 2011. See narrative in notebook.

Aug 21: (Tue 7:00pm): Third Tuesday Oglethorpe Firefighters Association meeting (Farm Bureau Office in Crawford).

Aug 23: (Thu 6:30pm): Third Thursday Training Meeting. Sprayed wasp nests in pumper bay. Got pumper and tanker out. Used foam gun and stick. Discussed vehicle fires and went over OCFFA SOGs (see attached, along with training notes). Went over operation of CO detectors and plugged in the plug-in unit. Refilled pumper.

Aug 30: (Thu 6:30pm): Fourth Thursday Training Meeting. Glenn told of his observation of last week’s training at Oconee Station #8, and described the Cleveland load, where the hose is charged in a ring and then pulled to the fire. We went through three evolutions of the load, eventually working with five hoses: two 100-foot Cleveland loads, separately and then together, connected to a fifth hose preconnected to the tanker. Need 2x Velcro or seat belt straps for each load. Can carry in crosslay beds, ready to deploy by pulling off the bed. Or if on tanker, on the sides.

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

Sep 13: (Thu 6:30pm): Second Thursday Training Meeting. We touched base on issues involving upcoming training, fire trucks, hose testing. Ed mowed front lawn. Charleen brought rattlesnake.

Sep 18: (Tue 7:00pm): Third Tuesday Oglethorpe Firefighters Association meeting (Farm Bureau Office in Crawford).

Sep 20: (Thu 6:30pm): Third Thursday Training Meeting. Training at Oconee County Station 8. Summary from Ed: “Our Ga. Power instructor, Larry Stevens, did a good job.  He's also a FF up in Jefferson. Two hours training credit for Charleen, Jim & Ed.  We learned what to do (30-ft. circle of safety, bunny hop) and what not to do (use foam on an electrical fire, pull the service panel/breaker box).”

Sep 27: (Thu 6:30pm): Fourth Thursday Training Meeting. Two events – Ed went to Oconee County Station 1 for the Brush Fire class at 7pm. The class ended abruptly at 7:55pm when their pagers went off for a brush fire 3 miles south of town (10-22 10 minutes later). Rest of us did a backroads tour: down Hutchins-Wolfskin, Bull Bray, back up 77 to Bear Mill Road ending at Faust Farm Road. Highlights – notation of houses along Bull Bray (very few until we’re well into Maxeys), the fords across Barrow Creek at Bear Mill/Faust Farm, and 11+ households along our section of Faust Farm Road.

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

Oct 11: (Thu 6:30pm): Second Thursday Training Meeting. Checked out the hose jacket. Will only fit the 2-3/4 inch hose. Put together a Cleveland hose lay so that Ed could see how it worked. Ed and Jesse filled pumper. Charleen and Wayne looked over liquid foam and eductor details.

Oct 16: (Tue 7:00pm): Third Tuesday Oglethorpe Firefighters Association meeting (Farm Bureau Office in Crawford).

Oct 18: (Thu 6:30pm): Third Thursday Training Meeting. Glenn went to Lexington for VFD station FF meeting with commissioner about budget and annual return. Rest of us set up liquid foam using pumper and eductor and tested it out. Compared it with foamstick, which we also used. Foamstick produces much less foam than liquid at 3% setting.

Oct 21: (Sun 8:30-11:30am): Special Training Pump Test at Athens-Clarke County Fire Training Facility. Drove pumper 20 miles to north Athens, 155 Paradise Blvd, Athens-Clarke County Fire Training Facility, to have Oconee County VFD pump test. Passed the first 20 min test but not the second. Could not get up to 200psi. Rusty said problem was probably in cable from throttle on panel to foot pedal accelerator, and it was. He fixed temporarily, and pumper passed all tests. We fixed it permanently on Thursday Oct 25 by removing stray wires that were blocking cable travel. See attached.

Oct 25: (Thu 6:30pm): Fourth Thursday Training Meeting. Popped the cab on the pumper and fixed the throttle linkage cable by removing the stray wires that were impeding the cable. Planned on where to put external steps for climbing to top of pumper. Drained tanker compressed air tanks. Ran tanker for an hour at idle. Put 2x5 gal liquid foam on top of pumper, along with eductor and hose jacket. Began a review of ISO requirements for improving status (8B).

We'll flesh out the details of this November and December, and will update here, but they'll resemble last year's schedule. With Thanksgiving, end of year inventory, getting things ready for firefighters to be gone for the holidays, and the Wolfskin December Dinner, we never quite know what's going to be what this far ahead.

Nov 1: (Thu 7:00pm): First Thursday Business Meeting.

Nov 8: (Thu 6:30pm): Second Thursday Training Meeting. Inventory. Station (including turnout), tanker, pumper.

Nov 10: (Sat 2pm-4pm): Open House. If you live in the Wolfskin area, please come to the station at 854 Wolfskin Road, and meet your fire department.

Nov 15: (Thu 6:30pm): Third Thursday Training Meeting. Some pre-holiday station and vehicle maintenance. Tried to get the pilot light lit on the gas furnace, but failed at that. Gas people come after thanksgiving and we’ll just wait on them to check it over. Ed and Jesse took the pumper to get it fueled. Jesse fixed the lawn mower cable.

Nov 17: (Sat 6:30am-11am): Eighth Annual Restoration Run. Wolfskin (Wayne and Lisa in pumper) provided traffic monitoring for the runners at two stations along these routes for the 5K and 15K runs.

Nov 20: (Tue 7:00pm): Third Tuesday Oglethorpe Firefighters Association meeting (Farm Bureau Office in Crawford). Held.

Nov 22: (Thu 6:30pm): Fourth Thursday Training Meeting canceled due to Thanksgiving.

Nov 29: (Thu 6:30pm): Fifth Thursday Training Meeting. This was actually a fire call around 3:30pm to 634 Salem Church Road, and it ran into and over our usual training session. Long distance driving (30 miles round trip), use of dry hydrant for drafting (never been done, and had to figure it out: don’t use a 3” soft hose, must be 6” suction (stiff) hose; had to mix and match a lot of adapters), and a considerable amount of nursing. Last two hours – soothing poutrage. Glenn went to station and stayed there; Jim dropped rifle scope off at station; Wayne and Charleen (tanker), and Ed (pumper) were at structure/brush fire the entire time.

December, which can be complicated, will resemble last year's schedule. With Thanksgiving, end of year inventory, getting things ready for firefighters to be gone for the holidays, and the Wolfskin December Dinner, we never quite know what's going to be what this far ahead.

Dec 6: (Thu 7:00pm): First Thursday Business Meeting. This is our usual Monthly Meeting, beginning at 6:30pm, followed by Elections of the Board and new officers. All are welcome to attend but only Board Members vote on business matters during the 6:30-7pm period. The bylaws can be downloaded as a Word Doc here. Oglethorpe County SOG (Standard Operating Guidelines) can be downloaded as Word doc here. Other information such as contacts, and records of interest such as training and WFD history can be found on the right sidebar.

Dec 13: (Thu 6:30-9:30pm): Wolfskin VFD Holiday Party at Wingate's. This is a very informal covered dish dinner, to start around 7pm, so bring your favorite offering and join us in celebrating WVFD's 30th anniversary year. Email Wayne or call any of the numbers listed on the right sidebar for additional info on location, etc.

Dec 20: (Thu 6:30pm): Put strainer on large intake on pumper (after removing preconnect). Ed and Charleen topped off tanker water. Checked out refrigerator (operates). Worked on ISO Class 8B requirements – Glenn should summarize results. Talked about places for or with dry hydrants. Checked out gas/oil supply for chainsaw (need high test gas).

Dec 27: (Thu 6:30pm): Installed two foldup steps on pumper for foothold safety. One on door behind driver’s side and one on back of truck. Pumper construction and safety enhancement.