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Fire Chief's Monthly Report
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| 2008 Annual Chief's Report |
NORTH HAMPTON VOLUNTEER FIRE DEPARTMENT
Fire Chief David Hoburg’s Report December 31, 2008
2008 Annual Report
The North Hampton Volunteer Fire Department responded to 450 incidents in 2008.
North Hampton VFD had 61 firefighters respond to anywhere from 1 to 436 of these incidents.
The North Hampton VFD responded to its 10,000th incident since being formed in 1956 this year.
North Hampton firefighters responded to 8 working residential or commercial structure fires this year. North Hampton firefighters responded to 15 holiday incidents in 2008.
False alarms (false commercial fire alarms, false residential fire alarms, & false carbon monoxide alarms)
accounted for 32% of all dispatched incidents in 2008.
18% of our incidents in 2008 were late night calls (between 11PM & 7AM) and 35% were weekday, work time calls (between 8AM & 5PM). Both put an enormous strain on the firefighters.
We had 4 new members join the fire department in 2008. All four are completely new to the fire service. New members this year are Jim O’Leary (driver), Nikki Nedimyer, Justin Fetterhoff, and Sean Robinson.
This year we lost two members to medical issues. Frank Conti who was a past department President and a life active member died at age 47 and Lieutenant Mario DeIuliis died at age 35.
North Hampton VFD members attended over 600 hours of training at the Allegheny County Fire Academy in addition to hundreds of hours of in house training this year. North Hampton firefighters also have more than a thousand hours as we trained at Butler County Fire Academy, Washington County Fire Academy, The Pennsylvania State Fire Academy, The National Fire Academy, and through the Defense Department. Training spanned just about every possible subject known to the fire service such as fundamentals for new members, vehicle rescue & extrication (basic vehicle rescue-awareness, basic vehicle rescue-operations class, basic vehicle rescue-technician classes), firefighting with foam, vehicle fires, driver training, CPR & AED training, hazardous materials review and refresher training, ladders, extensive self contained breathing apparatus classes, blood borne pathogens and contagious diseases, rope & knots, accountability, use of hand tools, training with thermal imaging cameras, saws, meters, fans, terrorism, arson detection, structural burn, hydrants, use of thermal imaging cameras, use of large diameter hose, use of master streams, pump operations, fire scene safety, flashover training, training with the National Incident Management System, a drill at PPG Industries, a drill at landmark manor, a fire scene preservation class with the Allegheny County Fire Marshal’s office, a helicopter landing zone class, and many more. We now have 13 firefighters nationally certified as Firefighter I and 7 as Firefighter II. These are tested certifications that put our department way ahead of most volunteer fire departments.
North Hampton VFD firefighters in addition to training and responding to incidents, were very involved with other details and community projects this year including the extensive fire prevention and safety programs at the elementary schools, preschools, and with special ed students in the township, as well as programs with Hampton VFD at Home Depot in October, delivery of Santa Claus at the community light up night, fire protection for the 3rd and 4th of July and the fall family fun fest community festivities at the Hampton Community Park. We also participated in programs at St. Catherine’s Church, Eat N Park, and a program for Down syndrome children at Hartwood Acres County Park. We taught 16 programs to 6th graders explaining how the fire department works and what is required of volunteering. Members attended monthly meetings at the fire department, Hampton Township Firefighter’s Association meetings (joint association of North Hampton & Hampton VFD), meetings with Allegheny County 911 to revise alarm assignments & concerning standard operating guidelines, monthly meetings With Hampton Township officials to review new plans and building blue prints, and meetings with members of the Northern Chief’s Association. We revising the alarm assignment books that give the location of every street in the township, listing the phone exchanges, hydrant locations, street numbers, cross streets, and special hazards for each street in the township. There are over 60 additional streets since the last time the book was updated. A copy of the book is then given to each officer, and one is kept in each station and on each piece
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of fire apparatus. A copy is also given to all our mutual aid fire departments. We updated our written standard operating guidelines and revised our bylaws this year. We completed the peer review study that was requested by
Hampton Township and that required more than 100 hours of work to put the together the information that was requested.
Our 1991 aerial ladder truck has been out of service since February 7, 2008 due to mechanical issues.
Albert Hahn, a 45 year member and still currently a multiple office holder in the department who has responded to over 4800 career fire calls was named as North Hills citizen of the year by the Pine Creek Journal this year.
The department responded to 51 individual incidents during the 30 hour period starting at 8PM on September 14 with the vast majority due to the high winds resulting from the remnants of Hurricane Ike.
We continue participating in the National fire incident reporting program. We have to fill out a special incident report for every incident we are dispatched to as part of this program and then the reports are sent quarterly to Allegheny County who then sends them to the State. This program is a requirement if applying for state and federal grant programs.
We have continued to update and practice the “We Can Do Even Better” safety program aimed at reducing
firefighter injuries and deaths. 7 members attended a seminar with nationally recognized safety expert Billy Goldfeder to continue the safety training.
Milestones by North Hampton Firefighters in 2008:
1000 career calls answered by Jim Harrington
2000 career calls answered by John Schwend and Adam Millstein
3000 career calls answered by Vince Conti and Rick Marsico
4500 career calls answered by Albert Hahn
7500 career calls answered by David Hoburg
We currently have college students attending CCAC, Indiana University of Pennsylvania, John Carroll University, Denison University, Laroche University, Pitt, Penn State, Duquesne University, Valley Forge Military Institute, Hocking College, & Eastern Kentucky (1). We currently have 6 members serving in the military. They are Brandon Marsico, Justin Collins, Rich Krymski, Steve Young, Matthew Connolly, and Garrett Patterson.
The incident volume of our fire department has continued to increase on regular basis with the growth of the township. The 1950’s averaged 28 calls per year, 1960’s averaged 57 calls per year, 1970’s averaged 119 calls per year, 1980’s averaged 150 calls per year, 1990’s averaged 250 calls per year, and so far we are averaging over 470 calls per year in 2000-2008.
Last year, North Hampton VFD had established a new class of membership that is for someone that can drive or learn to drive a truck, but is not interested in fighting fires. We have only had one person join under this new class of membership. Daytime fires are the biggest problem for all volunteer fire departments and we are at the crisis stage with the limited amount of daytime members available. If we do not get more daytime help immediately, we will no longer be able to promise an appropriate response to protect the community.
I sincerely thank all the firefighters, line officers, and administrative officers of the North Hampton VFD for their assistance this year. Without this being a team effort, we could not hope to run the massive business that the fire department has become. We will continue to try to give the township the best trained and equipped fire department possible within the restraints of our funding. I also would like to thank the Hampton Township administrative staff and the Hampton Township Police Department for their cooperation this year.
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The recruitment and retention of volunteers is critical to our long term existence. We need the assistance and cooperation of the township if we are to continue to serve this community on a volunteer basis. Unfortunately our call volume has increased each decade and the cost of running a volunteer fire department has increased at a much greater rate than our funding has. The financial requirements of outfitting the huge increase in volunteers willing to serve this community along with the increasing costs involved in maintaining the buildings, apparatus, and equipment are overwhelming. We continue to do the best job we can.
Finally, this is my final Fire Chief report as I will be stepping down as the Fire Chief after having served a little more than 4600 days in the position to allow John Schwend the opportunity to fill the office. I will run for the Deputy Chief position and remain active as a firefighter.
Respectfully submitted
David M. Hoburg-Fire Chief-North Hampton Volunteer Fire Department
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