Douglas Fire Department Year 2009

The following data is for the year beginning January 1, 2009
and ending December 31, 2009.

Douglas Fire Department Organization Chart

The department is structured to work under the direction of the Chief and Deputy Chief, one Captain and Lieutenant are assigned to each group. Each group contains 10 firefighters and a group is assigned to a company. Group A is assigned to Engine 1 and Group B is assigned to Ladder 1. Rescue incidents are shared by both groups and all general working fires are covered by both groups. All minor still alarms are handled by a group and we alternate groups by month to month.

Douglas Fire Department Annual Town Report 2009

This year again was a busy year for the department we continue to have a steady increase of incidents and responses. I would like to thank all the members and their families for their commitment and courage that they give to this department and to the community. The next several years are looking to be tough budget times ahead for all of us and most departments are doing more with less. The Douglas Fire department will continue to serve the community and its residents and to give them the best protection and service available with the constrains of a lean budget. We will continue to look for and seek out all applicable grants and monies made available to us, and to see that our members are well trained and well protected while performing their duties.

I am grateful to the department members and to the Firefighters Association both the Permanent and Call organizations for their commitment to raise funds to purchase equipment and programs to assist all of us in our duties. I am extremely proud of these individuals who donate their time and money to help this department. I am also grateful to all who participate and support our fund raising activities.

I am also asking the residents of Douglas to continue to support the fire department and to review the manpower study that was conducted by an outside consulting firm, this report is available online and can be access by visiting our web page at www.douglasfiredept.com.

As the Fire Department grows we cannot continue to operate with the existing personnel and will in the future be asking for additional fulltime personnel. The system we are currently using has become over taxed and is showing critical signs of stress. I am finishing my 15th year as Chief and we have made tremendous strides in producing a top notch fire department but we are still behind in the manpower issues. I also ask that any person in the community who is interested in becoming a call firefighter or emergency medical technician to contact me at the station.

This report respectfully submitted,

Chief Donald P. Gonynor

As has been the case for years, the Douglas Fire Department stands committed to educating and protecting the citizens of our community from the hazard of fire. For the tenth year in a row since the acquisition of fulltime firefighters we have presented the (S.A.F.E) or Student Awareness of Fire Education program in our schools. It was very heartwarming to see students we taught in the third grade ten years ago graduating from Douglas High School as seniors. This certainly was a milestone that only strengthens our reserve to continue to present this program.

This past year the Douglas Fire Department was awarded $3.664.62 to assist us in presenting the program and it was money well spent. To begin with for the first time since the beginning of the program we were able to create power point programs to add to our lesson plans which make it more pleasurable not only to the students but to the instructors as well. Some of the subjects taught in the program were, Fire is…which talks about the ingredients needed for fire to start and grow and how this effects fire spread and hazards that it creates. Also discussed were the consequences of tobacco use and its contribution to health problems and fatal fires. Holiday safety, ice water Safety, hazards of flammable liquids, creating an escape plan and such. To say the least our children are educated far more about these hazards than days past, this enables them to be fire prevention conscious adults in the future. We were able to visit the third grade classrooms once per month and all grades 1-12 at least once throughout the year. Also the Chief and myself visited the Seniors one last time before graduation to admonish them to practice fire safety, as many would be going to college and would be on their own for the first in dorms. We reviewed smoke detector maintenance and encouraged them to create escape plans when they first arrive to their dorms. As usual we also visited senior citizens at the Senior Center and had our usual Open House at the Fire Station during Fire Prevention Week. Finally our Third Grade SAFE graduates enjoyed a day at the fire station with the firefighters and received graduation certificates from Senator Moore as well as their own (SAFE) tee shirt.

Respectfully submitted,

Lt. Kent F. Vinson,

SAFE Coordinator

In the latter half of its mission statement the Douglas Fire Department promises to operate to the best of its ability to limit the loss of life and property while enduring the utmost safety of our members. This goal or vow of safety to our members can only be achieved through meaningful, realistic and regular training. The Training Division remains committed to that end.

During the year in 2009 there were thirteen training sessions that met that objective. Some of the subjects the department trained on were CPR review, search and rescue, forcible entry, self contained breathing apparatus review, two sessions on wild land firefighting and urban interface. A timely session on the safe handling of emergencies involving hybrid vehicles was also conducted. The department training officer also took a thirty two hour refresher course train the trainer on the proper handling of a firefighter mayday or downed firefighter situation. The goal of this course is to educate and train all department members in the skills needed to rescue one of their own at an incident if the need arises. 

Douglas Fire Department also sponsored the fire instructor course called instructor methodology 1 which proved to be a success in training other members to become board certified instructors. Finally Douglas was the host of the District Seven South Division recruit class which trains newer firefighters in the basics of our profession. This class was a success and we had three candidates from our department attend.

Incident Reports by Year