PVFD conduct monthly meeting, raise funds, discuss volunteer needs

BONNERS FERRY — Paradise Valley Fire District held its monthly commissioner’s meetings to approve expenditures and discuss potential funds to help equip the volunteer firefighters.

Commissioners Andrew O’Neel, Bryan and Stanford were in attendance with Chief Mike Glazier. Deborah Youngwirth is the active secretary for the meeting.

Glazier discussed the potential for a USDA grant to potentially buy a new vehicle, with the district being required to fund a percentage of the cost with the purchase.

The committee discussed the firefighter of the year program with the details of what qualifies for consideration. The number of training courses attended, calls made, extra equipment training, clean up, and ability to do various tasks are all parameters for consideration.

“We're gonna keep working on that and get something written up so they [volunteers] know about that.” Glazier said.

The committee expressed concerns about a firefighter answering the call but being turned away because of enough personnel responses to calls for help.

“If they call right away when we get paged, I haven’t turned anyone down,” Glazier said. “Bring them, learn and we go from there.”

Glazier stated a late response after personal is already on the scene would be considered a late response; the call would be resolved by the time it would take for volunteers to arrive.

A truck bed organizer was approved, but the district ran into problems because the specific model needed to equip their truck was discontinued, Glazier said. The district needs to find a similar model so they can prepare one of their vehicles.

There was additional discussion about a threshold for responses to emergency calls and receiving a work stipend.

O’Neel expressed concern about the threshold for response to calls being set at 50%, saying he felt it is a bit high. Last year there were 267 calls, Youngwirth said.

“I’m afraid we would disqualify at least half of the department if we made it 50%,” O’Neel said. “I’m just concerned 50% is too high.”

Additionally, O’Neel said if people aren’t responding to medical calls, they would easily fall out of the threshold.

Glazier and the committee decided to table the discussion after time to evaluate and identify a reasonable threshold.

The fire district held a pancake breakfast fundraiser on Aug. 7 to raise money for their Smoke Eaters fund. The fund helps people struggling financially after a sudden family death, or if someone’s house burns down, they help those families rebuild their lives with some funds to buy necessities.

The fire district received $50 gift cards from Grocery Outlet, Safeway, and Super 1 to help offset the cost of the fundraiser. There was also a $176 expense to purchase 30 pounds of bacon.

The fundraiser made around $2,000 for the Smoke Eaters fund. Additional expenses include $30 in Armor All to clean up the fire engines for the parade, which occurred on July 3.

The committee unanimously approved up to $5,000 to purchase two new turnouts, protective outfits for firefighters who have responded to many calls and attended special training.

Glazier said the initial plan was to wait for a grant approval to help purchase necessary gear. However, it felt it would be unfair to wait so long when firefighters need the turnouts now.

The district received a grant from BNSF railway for $5,000 to purchase gas detectors, which have been given to residents in the past to help prevent fires.

Additionally, Glazier detailed interest by four individuals who would want to volunteer with the district. O’Neel said that even if one of the four people finishes training and stays to volunteer, it will be a success.

“I think it woke people up when we let them know that we need people and we cover this much of an area and a lot of my guys work during the day,” Glazier said.