RVFD News

Helps VerdeCares

RVFFA hosts benefit breakfast

The VerdeCares organization is offering its heartfelt thanks to the Rio Verde Fire Fighters Association for hosting the pancake breakfast fundraiser in December. “We truly appreciate all that our Fire District does to care for us in our times of need. How special it was to get to spend time with our Fire District personnel in a non-emergency,”

VerdeCares Director, Vicki Beseke said. “Now that we also know what great cooks and hosts our firefighters

are, well we are already thinking of our next get together.” Rio Verde Fire District firefighters served more than 300 Verde and Verde Foothills residents with some delicious pancakes, sausage, fruit and refreshments. They used more than 25 pounds of pancake flour – that’s how good the pancakes were. Children had fun getting their pictures taken sitting in the fire truck. They had a special visit from Santa who handed out treats to everyone. The benefit raised more than $2,100 in donations for VerdeCares Inc.’s mission to help neighbors in their time of need, Beseke said.

She offered a special thank you to engineer Matt Oden, Chief Gary Bradbury and RVFD administrative manager Debra Centrella for all the hard work in putting this event together. The pancake breakfast was funded by United

Maricopa County Firefighters Association Local 3878 and thanks to Aren Hansen, Local 3878 President for his support and presence at the breakfast. “VerdeCares is proud to be an integral part of our community,” Beseke said.

“Our life enriching services are provided year round at no charge through a team of dedicated trained volunteers who help our neighbors in their time of need. “Our team of over 60 volunteers provides nonmedical companion care,

resource assistance, educational programs, and professional support group forums for our community residents.”

Whether providing transportation, meals, help with grocery shopping, family respite and more, their goal is to help homebound individuals, those recovering from surgery, caregivers and families living with illness. “We are here for our Verde residents,” Beseke said.

 

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Changes in operations at the Rio Verde Fire District top the news from the Verde Communities for 2011. This summer Rural/Metro posted an ambulance rescue unit in Rio Verde for the first time. This means that patients do not need to wait for ambulance transportation coming from another area. In March, Fire Chief Gary Bradbury outlined the ambulance plan for the Fire District Board. Bradbury explained that a fire department or district cannot simply bring in and equip an ambulance on its own. The Arizona Department of Health Services issues what is known as a Certificate of Need (CON) for ambulance services. “One company has the CON for this area, it is Southwest Rural/Metro,” Bradbury said. However, most of the Southwest and Rural/Metro ambulances use only EMS personnel to man them, not firefighters. Bradbury said part of the agreement is to upgrade the ambulance for Rio Verde as a fire rescue unit with firefighters manning the vehicle. Bradbury said the model for such manning is not new. He said it is similar to what Southwest Ambulance did with the Apache Junction Fire District a number of years ago. In this case Rural/Metro would provide the ambulance and equipment, as well as an EMT/firefighter. Under the proposed agreement, the district would provide the location to house the ambulance unit and sleeping quarters for an additional crew member. The second person manning the ambulance would be a paramedic/firefighter employed by the district. The benefit to the district would be an additional firefighter/EMT on duty at no additional cost as well as the much improved response time. Part of the agreement to bring in the ambulance will require improvements to the Rio Verde Fire Station. In November, the Fire Board approved a construction contract for the $477,000 station upgrades to accommodate the ambulance crew. That requires the addition of sleeping quarters for one Rural/Metro employee who is manning the ambulance with one of the existing district personnel. Plans also call for the addition of a 2,000-squarefoot building. Bradbury has outlined for the board the need to have additional storage space and a bay to park the district’s wildland fire engine. That engine currently is parked outside, which Bradbury calls unacceptable for a $300,000 piece of equipment. Bradbury said storage is always a critical challenge for fire departments. He had previously told the board there are items stored in proximity to the fire station living quarters that should not be there. The project calls for an exhaust ventilation system to remove diesel fumes. Bradbury is also asking that laundering equipment for the turnouts to be installed. He said over the long term this would be cheaper than having to send the coats and pants out for cleaning. There would also be additional storage for supplies and equipment and a maintenance/workshop area in the new addition. A third component of the project is the installation of an emergency generator at the station. Several board members indicated their surprise to learn that as the only emergency facility in Rio Verde the fire station does not already have an emergency generator. The cost of the generator is about $75,000. Construction is expected to begin on the addition very soon. Another highlight for2011 was both the Rio Verde and Tonto Verde communities’ efforts to be recognized as Firewise Communities. Rio Verde stepped up its commitment first made in 2010 by acquiring additional grant funding for fire danger mitigation projects. Tonto Verde came on board by organizing residents to pursue the Firewise requirements, but as of the end of the year had not gained official recognition.

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Fire Board approves contract for fire station expansion 

The Rio Verde Fire District Board has approved a contract with TSG Contractors out of Phoenix for new construction at the Rio Verde Fire Station. TSG was the low bidder of sever contractors for the project. Their bid was $477,000, which was higher than anticipated based on architect’s estimates. Commissioner George Katterman, who is monitoring the project for the board, said he was taken by surprise by the amount of the bids. However, he attributes that in part to the amount of site work required due to drainage and soil issues, as well as an engineer’s recommendation for reinforced concrete and enhanced base preparation on the site. “TSG is a viable bidder, with a good track record and the bonding capacity we require,” Katterman said. District Fire Chief Gary Bradbury told the board he had done follow up on the background for TSG. He said it was not a company he was familiar with, but he received excellent comments and references

from others who had used the company. Virtually all said they would hire them again. The references included the Laughlin/Bullhead City Airport, Paradise Valley for two fire stations, Desert Mountain High School and the Stellar Business Park in Chandler. Bradbury also reported the company had a clean record with the Registrar of Contractors, an A+ rating with the Better Business Bureau with no complaints in the last three years, and also an A+ insurance carrier rating. A key objective of the fire station renovation and expansion is to create space for the Rural/Metro ambulance and crew that moved in this past summer. That requires the addition of sleeping quarters for one Rural/Metro employee who is manning the ambulance with one of the existing district personnel.

Plans also call for the addition of a 2,000-squarefoot building. Bradbury has outlined for the board the need to have additional storage space and a bay to park the district’s wildland fire engine. That engine currently is parked outside, which Bradbury calls unacceptable for a $300,000 piece of equipment. The proposed building is detached from the existing facility. It will have an upper level. Bradbury said storage is always a critical challenge for fire departments. He had previously told the board there are items stored in proximity to the fire station living quarters that should not be there. The project calls for an exhaust ventilation system to remove diesel fumes. Both OSHA and the NFPA call for firefighter turnout gear to be stored away from the diesel exhaust that comes from trucks parked in the station bays. The new expansion also provides new storage space for this gear. Bradbury is also asking that laundering equipment for the turnouts be installed. He said over the long term this would be cheaper than having to send the coats and pants out for cleaning. There would also be additional storage for  supplies and equipment and a maintenance/workshop area in the new addition. A third component of the project is the installation of an emergency generator at the station. Several board members indicated their surprise to learn that as the only emergency facility in Rio Verde the fire station does not already have an emergency generator. The cost of the generator is about $75,000. With the project including the building construction, the tenant improvement to the existing building, the exhaust system and the generator, the board briefly discussed the possibility of eliminating any of the project’s components for savings. All board members indicated that with the money available they should move ahead with all phases. Bradbury said there are some items to go over with the contractor before construction begins, but once started the work should take 150 days.

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Verdes Firewise Day is set for Saturday, Nov. 5

Rio Verde is proud of having been recognized as a Firewise Community last year and, to maintain this prestigious recognition, participating communities are required to hold an annual Firewise Day.  This year Firewise Day for the Verdes is scheduled for Saturday, Nov. 5, from 9 to 11 a.m. in the Community Center. All residents of Rio Verde and Tonto Verde are urged to attend to demonstrate their support for this important cause. The recently formed onto

Verde Firewise Committee is co-sponsoring this event. The meeting will begin with a few presentations that involve an update on the Rio Verde Firewise effort, a status report on the Tonto Verde Firewise project, a report from Fire Chief Gary Bradbury, and eyewitness reports from the wildfires that ravaged Arizona this year. After the presentations, residents will be encouraged to mingle, ask questions, offer suggestions, and enjoy refreshments.

Residents are invited to visit the display tables set up around the room to obtain information and brochures from knowledgeable individuals, including firefighters and horticulturist Noelle Johnson. Fire resistant plants will be demonstrated and raffled off to some lucky attendees at the conclusion of this event. Residents are asked to submit landscaping bills and sweat equity reports to the Community Association office to help support an application for continued recognition by the national Firewise organization. Questions may be directed to Eb Scheuing at 471-7393.

Marty Bowin, left, is the Chairman of the newly formed Tonto Verde Firewise Committee. Bowin is shown at the recent Tonto Verde Firewise Orientation meeting with Fire Chief Gary Bradbury and Firewise coordinator Captain Mike Roggenstein of the Rio Verde Fire District. Now the combined Verdes Communities are concentrating on planning and coordinating their Firewise efforts.

Residents can help with fire grant

From now until Monday, Oct. 31, Liberty Mutual Insurance is offering several grants of $10,000 each to fire departments across the nation. To help the Rio Verde Fire District win one of these grants, Fire Chief Gary Bradbury and the Rio Verde Firewise Leadership Team ask Verde residents to support the effort by taking the following steps:

* Sign on to www.befiresmart.com/pledge to take a 10-question fire safety quiz online which is designed to provide fire prevention education. * Upon completion of the quiz, credit the Rio Verde Fire Department. * Respond to an e-mail request from Liberty Mutual to verify your e-mail address and prevent fraud. * If a household includes two or more residents with separate e-mail addresses, both can take the quiz separately. The Verdes are competing with other small communities for this grant. Once the lowest number of responses is exceeded in this category on the above website’s leader board, the total number of participants from Rio Verde and Tonto Verde will be listed there.

Note: Liberty Mutual will contact participants by e-mail to ask them to rally more support for the Fire Department and inform them about their products. If you do not want to receive any further e-mail solicitations from Liberty Mutual, click “unsubscribe now” at the bottom of their message.) If the Verdes wins one of the two grants available to small communities, the funds will go to the Fire District and will help double the buffer zone that has been cleared on the boundary with the McDowell Mountain Regional Park to prevent the spread of wildfires in either direction.

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Rio Verde residents are taking the first steps toward having the community recognized as a Firewise Community by the Arizona State Land Department. About a dozen citizens turned out for a recent meeting in which Lee Ann Berry, a firefighter with the State Land Department, explained the program.

 

 

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