On September 11th and 12th, four Nederland Fire Protection District Firefighters and Officers attended FEMA National Fire Academy training held at the Ameristar Casino in Black Hawk. Three of our senior firefighters Ken Kehoe, Andrew Joslin, and Alex Olivas attended a course on decision making for initial structure fire company operations, where they learned advanced tactics for structure fire response. This opportunity provided our firefighters with exposure to updated national standards in structure fire techniques, and they are excited to apply this knowledge to our district as we exist today and as we continue to grow.

Captain Kyle Kociemba-Benson attended the National Fire Academy’s Incident Safety Officer (ISO) course, becoming the first certified ISO for our district. Captain Kociemba-Benson will be applying the strategy and theories acquired in this course to further develop the safety program at Nederland Fire. He will be reporting back to the board with safety recommendations to implement in the near future and a longer-term plan for maintaining safety standards within the department and making safe operations a vital part of the culture.

These external training opportunities play an important part in developing the future of Nederland Fire, and we appreciate your continued support as we strive to provide outstanding service to our community.

The weekend of September 11 was busy for the department. Teens Inc. held the annual Ned-Ned 5k, 10k & half-marathon where the department provided emergency cover on the trail sections. Five members of the department participated in the 5k in full gear as a memorial to the 343 firefighters who perished in the 9/11 Twin Towers attack. On Sunday the Buffalo Classic cycle race passed through town. Over the weekend the department ran 12 calls.

On the 15th of September the board held their regular monthly meeting. In that meeting Captain Kociemba-Benson presented an operational report where he reported the following. To date NFPD has run 294 calls this year, including a recent wildland fire near Jasper Lake that was quickly contained. On Labor Day the department undertook hose and pump testing, which is important for the district’s continued ISO (residential insurance) ratings. The testing revealed several equipment deficiencies that the board addressed later in the meeting.

The department’s medical director agreed to allow EMTs to administer COVID-19 vaccines in the community and the department will be working with the food pantry, farmer’s market and other local partners to help the vaccination effort.

The Department of Fire Prevention and Control (DFPC) agreed to bring their burn trailer to Nederland Fire for two weeks in September. This is a massive bonus to the department as it allows us to train in the district instead of having to go to Boulder and offer the facility to Sugarloaf Fire and Timberline Fire for joint training sessions to enhance our mutual aid operations. The trailer will be parked on the south apron of Station 1 for two weeks starting September 19. The department is grateful to the efforts of DFPC training Captain Josh Mathaney and DFPC division chief Mike Scott for helping to facilitate the process and for offering their services assisting in the training sessions.

On the 18th of September, 13 recruits started an internal fire academy with the department as an introduction to the department’s operations. The training starts with essential skills that they need to learn to start their careers. The board thanks all the volunteers for giving their time and the paid staff for the massive effort that they have put in to increase the volunteer membership and create the academy. Becoming a volunteer is a lengthy process, taking almost a year of various internal and external training and call response to gain experience in the many types of operations that the department carries out. The new recruits will have the opportunity to choose whether to specialize in medical services, firefighting or both and have the opportunity to attend fire academy and EMT school after they have completed their initial training and required call & training volumes. Having so many recruits at one time will require a lot of effort from the paid staff and volunteers, many of whom are acting as mentors, but will eventually increase the available responders to a more sustainable level.

The board has posted internally for an acting fire chief as the external search had not received any applicants. This will be posted for seven days and then a search board consisting of the board and two volunteers to select the acting chief until the department finds a new permanent chief. The aim is to appoint an acting chief before the end of September. Board Chair Irwin-Powell and Director Falsetti reported that they had an initial meeting with CPS HR about starting the search for a permanent chief that went well and Director Falsetti would be working with CPS moving forward. The aim is to appoint a permanent chief by early January. The board will be seeking input from the town Board of Trustees, town staff and police department in the process.

Fire Marshall Rik Henrikson reported on the proposed adoption of, and the process of adoption of fire and building codes and his discussions with the town and county about some alignment of all of those, which is a complicated process. Overall, the outcome will be better and safer building standards for the town and, longer term, a community that has improved fire safety.

Irwin-Powell reported that the preparation of the 2022 budget is nearing completion and will be presented to the board by the 13th of October. That budget will be approved by the board in the first week of November and available for public inspection and comment and adopted by the board in the first week of December. He also reported that, to date, there had been three applications to join the board to replace board members who have resigned and the selection of those would take place in early October. As a result the board will be holding a special meeting, outside of the regular schedule, on the 6th of October to make the selection.

The next regular board meeting is scheduled for October 20th at 7 p.m. Public attendance is welcome on Zoom, https://zoom.us/j/9208343551 , phone +1 253-215-8782, meeting ID 920 834 3551.