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January 2014

Jan 2: (Thu 7:00pm): First Thursday Business Meeting postponed to Jan 9.

Jan 9: (Thu 6:30pm): Business Meeting. Note that future business meetings will begin at 6:30pm.

Jan 16: (Thu 6:30pm): Third Thursday Training Meeting. Set glue traps. Went over chimney fires. First things to do, don’t use water, make ABC baggie bombs, attack from above (roof) and below (fireplace). Removing wood from fireplace. Need to make a chimney fire kit that fits in a steel bucket.

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

Jan 23: (Thu 6:30pm): Fourth Thursday Training Meeting. Ropes and knots. Bowline and clove hitch for hoisting axe, pike pole, hook, crowbar. Made 10-foot practice ropes for everyone.

Jan 30: (Thu 6:30pm): Fifth Thursday Training Meeting. Checked BAs for battery leaks, operating regulators, and informally practiced. Topped off one BA to 2000 psi (winter). We now have four working BAs on the pumper and one on the tanker.


February 2014

Feb 6: (Thu 6:30pm): First Thursday Business Meeting. We held the 1-3-5 planning meeting after the business meeting.

Feb 13: (Thu 6:30pm): Second Thursday Training Meeting. Canceled due to snow and ice still on the ground and roads since Tue/Wed.

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

Feb 20: (Thu 6:30pm): Third Thursday Training Meeting. Set up trucks and nursed from one to the other, using arrays of couplings. Used pumper passenger side discharge (#3) for the first time, to nurse to tanker. Sloshed half a tank of water then discharged to clean out pumper tank. Refilled by nursing from tanker. Refilled tanker from hydrant.

Feb 27: (Thu 6:30pm): Fourth Thursday Training Meeting. Again, set up trucks for nursing from tanker to pumper. This time rotated a tanker driver/operator to arrive and set up tanker for nursing. Rotated into a pumper/operator who set up pumper for receiving nursing. Used radios for communication. Spent time on working a solution to delays when searching for couplings. Charleen suggested mounting the adapters on the panel or panel floorboard. Will investigate (these are called adaptor mounting plates).


March 2014

Mar 2: (Sun 2:00pm): County-wide fire training at the Rescue Building in Crawford/Lexington.

Mar 6: (Thu 6:30pm): First Thursday Business Meeting. Note the new time.

Mar 13: (Thu 6:30pm): Second Thursday Training Meeting. Canceled.

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

Mar 20: (Thu 6:30pm): Third Thursday Training Meeting. Laid crosslay hoses back in place on pumper, 200’ in front, 150’ in back. Organized adapters onto adaptor plate mounts in back of truck (there are four mounts), for easier access. Glenn reorganized the rear storage compartment for better access to commonly used items (toolbox, lighting system, appliance box). Took a look at the tanker for places to mount adapter plates for its set of adapters. Decided on 3-4 3” adapters mounts, and to mount them in the front part of the driver’s side well (just in front of the strainer). Ed and Glenn took pumper for fuel fill (probably added ¼ cup additive). Front crosslay hose somehow fell out during the trip, so we went to help reload that.

Mar 27: (Thu 6:30pm): Fourth Thursday Training Meeting. Charged hose advancing. Simulated attack with a pair at the nozzle and backup outside the bay, 100 feet 1.5” hose. Couldn’t get anyway to go in on knees. Tried the loop method to take off weight from the front crew. Then spray water routine until pumper emptied. Jesse and Jim filled the pumper with water. Jesse mentioned upcoming structure fire simulation with AFD/DPFD. Would let us know.

Mar 29: (Sat 10:00am): County wide FFA training, 10am-11:30am. Radio communications and etiquette. Oglethorpe County Fire Fighters Association training, 10 attendees. We ran through an exercise in responding as IC to Stacey as dispatch to an emergency call of her choice.  Afterward there was a lot of discussion about fire ground radio use, seemed to be a lot of support for encouraging use of a common fire ground channel for anything other than IC or en route responders.  Some of us checked to see what our individual radio channels were for fire ground, mutual aid, or MRD, with Douglas Spencer’s radio. For Wolfskin: Fireground   CP200 #3           HT750 (thought it was #6 but no) MRD           CP200 none?      HT750 didn't check Mutual Aid   CP200 #5           HT750 #3 We’ll have to confirm some of these.


April 2014

Apr 3: (Thu 6:30pm): First Thursday Business Meeting.

Apr 10: (Thu 6:30pm): Second Thursday Training Meeting. Directed activities, following delayed arrivals of responders: 1. Fill drop tank with water from tanker; 2. Refill tanker with water from pumper; 3. Draft pumper with water from drop tank. CF was first on scene with tanker and was IC, GG was Safety Officer, EF arrived 5 minutes later in pumper. Others arrived within 15 minutes.

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

Apr 17: (Thu 6:30pm): Third Thursday Training Meeting. Hose testing. Leftmost 2-1/2" hose on pumper bed. 300' tested, one 50' section failed, replaced with station hose previously tested 6/27/2013. Moved pumper forward to remove hose gradually, then backed pumper up as laying the hose back on. Much easier.

Apr 24: (Thu 6:30pm): Fourth Thursday Training Meeting. Radio channel assignments. We determined the channel correspondence for the HT750, CP200, and pumper and tanker radios. (See attachment in training log notebook.)


May 2014

May 1: (Thu 6:30pm): First Thursday Business Meeting.

May 8: (Thu 6:30pm): Second Thursday Training Meeting. Various approaches to drafting. We partially filled the pumper bay drop tank with water from the pumper. We worked on using self priming by using the pumper tank water to flood and fill the pump and hose, then drafting. This worked very well, so long as you have some water in the engine tank. Using the primer pump was not as successful. We were only able to get it going somewhat, once.

May 15: (Thu 6:30pm): Third Thursday Training Meeting. Review of our drafting procedures by Glenn to familiarize Ed with what we had been doing. Still uncertain about drafting with primer pump. Jim described his efforts at obtaining software and programming for radios/pagers.

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

May 22: (Thu 6:30pm): Fourth Thursday Training Meeting. Had planned on another round of hose testing but too few for safety. Jim updated on efforts to program radios. We reviewed last FFA meeting on Tuesday. Checked pumper engine oil and added ½ quart to prep for next week hose test. Jim checked transmission fluid levels and hoses/belts.

May 29: (Thu 6:30pm): Fifth Thursday Training Meeting. To Oconee County Civic Center for talk by Gwinnett County Deputy Chief Wayne Mooney on the firefighter hostage situation of April 10, 2013. Mainly descriptive, not much in the way of lessons learned other than that the unexpected can happen. One question that came up was if Chief Mooney’s slide show could be available for others. The answer: No. Only he and the Gwinnett County chief are authorized to give this particular talk, however he will email the 60+ page report to any fire chief who requests it, and they can organize their own presentation.


June 2014

Jun 5: (Thu 6:30pm): First Thursday Business Meeting.

Jun 7: (Sat 10am-4pm): County-wide firefighter training. Helicopter AnMed life flight landing zone class. High School/Farm Burea.

Jun 12: (Thu 6:30pm): Second Thursday Training Meeting. Postponed hose testing because of weather. Discussed Kathy Holdredge (WVFD documentation and info request for insurance purposes) and The Bridges subdivision, and possibilities for improving water access (hydrants are not charged). Need to inquire of Athens-Clarke County as to whether we can use their hydrant across Double Bridges Road from the subdivision entrance. Need to determine mutual aid status with ACC. Would like to be able to charge the hydrant system for potential use. Looking into possibility of putting in a dry hydrant at the pond.

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

Jun 19: (Thu 6:30pm): Third Thursday Training Meeting. Heavy thunderstorm precluded outside training. All we did was charge the TIC and the portable lighting system.

Jun 26: (Thu 6:30pm): Fourth Thursday Training Meeting. Cancelled.


July 2014

Jul 3: (Thu 6:30pm): First Thursday Business Meeting.

Jul 10: (Thu 6:30 pm): Hose testing of 5 rolls 3” in tanker compartments. Replaced one (bad swivel) and all five passed.

Jul 17: (Thu 6:30 pm): Nursing from tanker to pumper, along with pumping water through 1.5” hose, in iterations, each person cycling from tanker operator to pumper operator to nozzle operator. Finally nursed from pumper to tanker to refill it. EF and JC took it to get it fueled. Note, 19 gallons to refill when gauge read just a bit less than ½, since tank holds 50 gallons (?acc to EF) gauge appears to be inaccurate. CF and MP went to refill pumper with water. We also looked at the precon on the pumper panel side, thinking it had been broken a few weeks ago. No, working fine.

Jul 24: (Thu 1-3pm): Training doubled as fire call to Dave’s BBQ. Provided hose backup with rollups and cross lay. Cross lay practice back onto truck. EF did some salvage. Filled pumper at DB hydrant. Regular training was canceled (several absences anyway).

Jul 31: Thu 6:30pm): Inspected all BAs for battery leaks and operation. Replaced batteries in some. Recorded problems (411 doesn’t squawk, but doesn’t have voice; 409 squawks; other three ok. Still have five in need of repair.). Also outfitted Jacie with turnout gear and replaced CF pants. JCR and CF laundering, but JCR will keep gear in station until EF available to approve. Portable lighting system back on pumper.


August 2014

Aug 7: (Thu 6:30pm): First Thursday Business Meeting.

Aug 5: (Sat 7pm): First Tuesday Oglethorpe County Fire and Rescue meeting (Farm Bureau Office in Crawford).

Aug 14: (Thu 6:30pm): Second Thursday Training Meeting. Another round of hose testing, this time the next to last set of five lengths 3” hose (250 ft) at right side of pumper bed (from the back). Just one more remaining on the bed, at far right. We moved the truck to deploy and then take up hose after testing. No replacements were needed. Also outfitted Tim Premo with turnout, assigned number (405), and gave keys to Mitchell and Tim.

Aug 21: (Thu 6:30pm): Third Thursday Training Meeting. Trip to The Bridges subdivision. We located all the hydrants and recorded coordinates and location characteristics. Met several residents and had productive conversations. Examined the pond at the southeast end of the subdivision and it’s clear that it’s a good source for drafting, if not a dry hydrant. Need to talk with the three pond owners to see if they agree to allow one to be put in. (Kathy Holdredge contacted me on Sep 2 to keep me up to date on her efforts to talk to her fellow residents, email attached.) Also located one cell phone dead zone along the route from WVFD to The Bridges, centered at the hydrant bridge over Big Creek on Wolfskin Road (and including the usual hydrant on Double Bridges Road).

Aug 28: (Thu 6:30pm): Fourth Thursday Training Meeting. Location of cell phone dead zones between Union Pt Road (77) and Wolfskin Road. This included Faust Farm Rd and Bear Mill Run; Old Martin Rd, Hutchins-Wolfskin Rd and Bull Bray Rd; Bulloch Rd, Wilson Rd, and Wire Bridge Rd. We split up into three groups to cover these areas. Map to be compiled and recommendations for overcoming problems recommended. Still need to test out radio signal strengths with Central.


September 2014

Sep 2: (Tue 7pm): First Tuesday Oglethorpe County Fire and Rescue meeting (Farm Bureau Office in Crawford).

Sep 4: (Thu 6:30pm): First Thursday Business Meeting.

Sep 6: (Sat 7am-11am): Restoration Run Duty: Traffic control at two sites. Four WVFD members monitoring two races.

Sep 11: (Thu 6:30pm): Second Thursday Training Meeting. Another round of hose testing, this time the last set of 7 lengths 3” hose (250 ft) at right side of pumper bed (from the back). Again we moved the truck to deploy and then take up hose after testing. No replacements were needed. Found a helmet for Teale and acquainted him with station, hose lay procedure, and filling pumper at hydrant.

Sep 18: (Thu 6:30pm): Third Thursday Training Meeting. Washed trucks (much needed). Water in station not quite yet running so bathrooms cleaned by removal of storage and vacuum (CF).

Sep 25: (Thu 6:30pm): Fourth Thursday Training Meeting. Drop tank from tanker. “Arrived at scene,” dumped water, reconnected 6” hose, drafted back into tank. Evolutions for most participants. Also outfitted Teale with turnout gear.


October 2014

Oct 2: (Thu 6:30pm): First Thursday Business Meeting.

Oct 3-5, 10-12: Two weekends of Fire and Emergency Services Instructor I training at Oglethorpe County Rescue Building, 892 Athens Rd, Lexington GA. Training for Instructor I (of three levels) to be certified as a Fire and Emergency Services Instructor: how to be an effective instructor; ethical behavior; compliance with national law (ADA, FIRPA); teaching technologies; models, props, hands on activities; keeping records; following others’ lesson plans. Evaluated by a graded written exam and a presentation evaluated by Georgia Public Services Training Center official. Glenn Galau, Teale Marchette from Wolfskin FD; and Jesse Carter from Arnoldsville/Wolfskin FD participated.

Oct 7: (Tue 7pm): First Tuesday Oglethorpe Fire and Rescue meeting (Farm Bureau Office in Crawford).

Oct 9: (Thu 6:30pm): Second Thursday Training Meeting. Final hose testing. There were only three loose rolls 2.5-inch hose remaining in the tanker. All passed. Note – some earlier rolls were not marked on the female end, so appear not to have been tested. Marking on the male only end hides the marks when rolled up.

Oct 16: (Thu 6:30pm): Third Thursday Training Meeting. EVOC training. We all went through one or more rounds of two maneuvers, parallel parking and backing into a dock, marked off by cones at the station grounds. We marked off the practice sites. Pumper was used. Side view mirrors were adjusted. This is the first of a number of such sessions that will take place at 1-2 month intervals to at least partly satisfy the requirement for fire truck driving. This will be mandatory for any who drive a fire truck for our dept.

Oct 23: (Thu 6:30pm): Fourth Thursday Training Meeting. Inside training/maintenance. Located unopened flashlight chargers in safe to evaluate for replacement of old, possibly broken one. Jim and Ed explored possibilities for mounting in tanker cab for automatic charging while tanker is running. (Later, Nov 2, Jim did come in and did a hookup through the tanker’s cigarette lighter prior to hardwiring.)

Oct 30: (Thu 6:30pm): Fifth Thursday Training Meeting. Nursing from tanker to pumper. Everyone took a round. Refilled tanker at hydrant. Also Douglas Spencer stopped by 30 minutes to watch and get signatures for the disaster mitigation participation in the last couple of years. He answered a number of questions about Firefighter One training, challenging the exam, requirement for practical for Teale, and this Saturday’s water shuttle training.


November 2014

Nov 1: (Sat 1pm-5:30pm): County wide water shuttle training at the elementary school. CF drove tanker to site. Training involved use of drop tanks, dumping water, nursing from drop tank/tanker to pumpers, and use of venturi, vacuum pump, and priming pumps to draft water. Participants included Crawford, Beaverdam, Maxeys, … On the way back, CF stopped to fuel the tanker.

Nov 4: (Tue 7pm): First Tuesday Oglethorpe County Fire and Rescue meeting (Farm Bureau Office in Crawford).

Nov 6: (Thu 6:30pm): First Thursday WVFD Business Meeting, 854 Wolfskin Road. Nominations for 2015 Officers and Board Members opened.

Nov 13: (Thu 6:30pm): Second Thursday Training Meeting, 854 Wolfskin Road. Checked BAs for battery leaks, operating regulators, voice problems, and informally practiced with them. Labelled with FF numbers. Teale is 420, Mitchell is 410. Changed batteries if below 1.45v. Topped off most BA to 2000 psi. We now have four working BAs on the pumper, one on the tanker, and one for Teale when he goes to Forsyth in January.

Nov 20: (Thu 6:30pm): Third Thursday Training Meeting, 854 Wolfskin Road. Ran trucks for an hour or so, since unlikely to actively train for a month or so. Checked lights, sirens, CF took down info on these (only the pumper’s front strobe seems problematic). Drained air brake tanks. Set up portable lighting as demo and set it to charging. Some planning for December party and inventory day. CF alerted us to grounding wire issue in pumper bay. Pager test from Central revealed TM pager not working properly – GG replaced. MP organized station shelving.

Nov 27: (Thu 6:30pm): Fourth Thursday Training Meeting will be cancelled for Thanksgiving.


December 2014

Dec 2: (Tue 7pm): Cancelled. First Tuesday Oglethorpe County Fire and Rescue meeting (Farm Bureau Office in Crawford).

Dec 4: (Thu 6:00pm): First Thursday WVFD Business Meeting, 854 Wolfskin Road. Regular Meeting, and Elections of Board Members and Officers beginning at 6pm.

Dec 11: (Thu 6:30pm): Instead of training, this was the Wolfskin VFD December Party and Pot luck at Wingate's Studio. Approx 30 attended.

Dec 18: (Thu 6:30pm): Inventory! Last training of the year. Ed couldn't attend but did spend some hours inventorying the pumper beforehand. Teale and Wayne inventoried the station, Glenn and Charleen the turnout gear, and Mitchell and Tim the tanker. Everyone organized and threw out old stuff, large pile of throwaways accumulated.

Dec 25 and Jan 1: Training cancelled and business meeting postponed to January 8.