Fire Chief Glotzl Reviews 2023

 

The department responded to 334 emergency and service calls in 2023. Our call volume is consistently growing and is up 42% from 2022. A rough breakdown of these responses are as follows; 66% Medical Emergency, 15% Hazardous Conditions and Service Calls, 6% Motor Vehicle Accidents, 6% Brush Fires, 3% Structure Fires, 3% Alarms of Fire, and 1% Vehicle Fires. 

I would like to share the development of the fire department's "Community Risk Reduction Division" activities. The program is multifaceted in its approach and has been tailored specifically to our community. The main efforts have been in conducting pre-fire plans, fire inspections, smoke detector installation, education, and recently added, "Unsafe / Dangerous" building inspection and posting. 6 buildings have been inspected and have been denoted and posted as "Unsafe". One has since been razed. I continue to work closely with the building inspector and have conducted 71 CRR details in 2023. As a side note this program bears great weight in maintaining the city's ISO rating of "2".

Operations

Fire and EMS operations were successfully conducted this year. There were no injuries to our personnel, and no damage to our vehicles or building. Our pumpers have passed their certifications, and all the department's hose, SCBA's, and compressor have been successfully tested and have been certified. I'm pleased to report that after a diligent and sustained effort the department's "Standard Operating Guidelines" and "Medical Protocols" have finally been updated. 

Personnel

The department is now comprised of 23 members and two advisors. We added 9 members to the rolls and lost two. A focused and sustained effort this year was to build a strong foundation of training and to certify our new members.

Training

 All members of the department have completed the minimum of 16 hours of certified training (save two) and many have far exceeded that mark. I taught all the company level training and all members have satisfactorily participated in and met the training requirements. I taught 4 certified courses to our members. These courses were as follows; Fire Hose (12 Hrs.), Fire Suppression (Lecture 6 Hrs.), Hose Operations and Streams (30 Hrs.), and Overhaul and Conservation (16 Hrs.). In 2024 I will lead the Baxter County Fire Instructors in completing the J.P.R.'s of the advanced course "Fire Suppression" (24 Hrs.). This will complete the entire Firefighter "1" curriculum. This has never been done in Baxter County and I'm so proud to have been a part in this accomplishment. 

In October, 5 members of our department had the outstanding opportunity of attending and training with the Wichita Fire Department. Aggressive Interior Search of fire buildings was taught and practiced. The renewed focus of these skills is in direct response to the fact that in Arkansas structure fire numbers continue to decline, but civilian injuries and deaths continue to rise. This disturbing statistic is being addressed here in Gassville. Our department is making the paradigm shift from being primarily extinguishment based to a culture of Aggressive Search and exponential suppression. "People before water".  

Apparatus

Notable equipment added to the department's arsenal were 4 sets of high-quality turnout gear, a Stokes basket, ropes and harness', a Rapid Attack Monitor, 1 ¾" and 2' attack hose nozzle, and 5 reconditioned Pagers and chargers.  
An important point to highlight is that the Gassville Fire Department Auxiliary continues to operate and some of the above-mentioned equipment was obtained through their generous help ($13,000.00 +).