Who Do You Call…?
The local volunteer fire department is usually the go-to group when something needs to get accomplished. If you need help or manpower, who do you call? Especially in a small town…
Recently, I was contacted by a contractor, not from our area, but working on a project in our area. They needed some assistance with filling a large diameter, short distance waste collection pipe at a dairy. But what I chuckled at was, how did they get my name?!
Enter, the South Dakota process of elimination.
As it turned out, the contractor had a retired firefighter working for them in the office. He called a buddy at Sioux Falls Fire Rescue asking if he knew anybody in the Viborg area. He said, Charlie lives in that area. The office guy, it turns out I knew from years ago, calls me and asked if I knew anyone on the fire department. Small town, lucky guess. The contractor then called me and we went from there.
Small town. What is considered a small town?
This was a topic of discussion within the National Volunteer Fire Council (NVFC) and Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) when grant assistance program criteria definitions and processes were being reviewed.
Different parts of the country have a variety of thoughts on what defines a small community or department. There was the obvious consideration of population. Discussions brought out an array of what is a “small” community. East coast, 50,000 people; West coast, 25,000; Mid-west, 10,000; Great Plains, 2,500. Take a breath before you chuckle.
According to data at FEMA, there are about 27,000 fire departments in the US. Roughly, 14,000 of those serve populations under 2,500.
In South Dakota, we have 32 towns larger than 2,500. We only have two over 50,000.
We had input on grant criteria that wanted to change the population eligibility from 20,000 to 25,000. I said we have 5 communities over 20,000. This would help two.
Some folks could not fathom towns of 250 having a fire department, much less the fact they covered 500+ square miles.
I recommend to check for your department on the FEMA fire department registry at https://apps.usfa.fema.
gov/registry/register . If your department is not listed, you can register it to help with data collection on departments.
The Fall Fire Conference will be in Fort Pierre at the AmericInn Conference Center on September 29-1 October.
We have a gentlemen by the name of Jeff Dill as our main guest speaker.
He brings a program that is relevant to firefighters & EMTs, department officers, spouses and family members.
Jeff was highly recommended by Nebraska Firefighters Association and other regional state associations.
Some of you may have heard Jeff speak at the Wildland Symposium in Rapid City this spring.
His various topics cover what a new firefighter and family can expect after joining the fire service. To the individual who is retiring from it and possible changes in life it can bring.
We will have registration and information open soon. Check our SDFA Events website.
The SD Fallen Firefighters Memorial Service will be on Sunday, 1 October at the Capitol Lake site.
I am sure we have all flipped our calendars and said, “Where has the summer gone!?!”
Summer activities always make the days and weeks go by quickly, and August can be busier than the rest.
Small grain harvest is thrashing through. That final rush to get a vacation in before school activities start up. Maybe a quick trip to the Sturgis Rally for a ride through the Black Hills and lemonade and Fresca with friends.
County fairs are usually the final event before the school bells ring and Labor Day officially marks the end of summer.
Make some time to review your plan or what you would do for possible large vehicle, farm equipment, and school bus incidents.
The SDFA Board will be meeting in Fort Pierre for our fall meetings on 28 September. If you have topics for us to discuss, let your district representative know. And, like last year’s conference, we are planning to have plenty of time set aside for open discussions at the membership meeting and social events.
I hope you all have a safe and enjoyable rest of the summer.
Stay safe,
Charlie Kludt,
SDFA President