HomeMy WebLinkAboutFire Rep Jan17.pdfEXHIBIT 2017-098
March 2, 2017
Honorable Linda Woodard
Board of Trustees
Village of Cayuga Heights
Monthly Report January 2017
We started 2017 with a 47 call month. We had 27 calls in the Village of Cayuga Heights, 15 calls in the
Town of Ithaca and 5 requests for mutual aid. There were 32 EMS calls and 17 fire runs. The month
was fairly routine with a large number of EMS runs. At the end of the month we did respond to a mutual
aid call to Lansing at the Triphammer Mall. NYSEG was working in one of the mechanical rooms at the
mall and when one of the panels ignited causing a fire in the room. Luckily the service was shut down
quickly and the room was fire resistant so the immediate danger of extension was minimal but the entire
mall was without power and full of smoke. We worked with Lansing for about 1.5 hours to help clear the
smoke but without power and the ability to turn on the HVAC system it was a futile effort.
January training picked up with the return of our student members from the winter break. We did our
annual OSHA training on the last weekend of the month and we had 52 members attend. It was an all -
day training that covered all of the topics we are required to refresh annually. The classroom par t of the
day ended in the early afternoon and then those members who needed to refresh CPR spent the remainder
of the afternoon doing that. It is a full day of training but we make it interesting and move through the
material well. Several of our new members were absent from the training because they were starting the
NYS BEFO class. This is the start of their state training series to meet our requirements for the first year
of membership. This is a motivated group of new members and many are eager to get through the BEFO
so they can start preparing for the IFO class that will get them on track to become interior firefighters.
We will not run a spring recruit training class and will instead focus on working with the members of the
department looking to move up to interior status. This break from the recruit program will allow us to
head down to the training center this spring several times for some live fire training. Everyone is excited
to make this happen.
In November we had a meeting with Insurance Services Office (ISO). ISO is a rating agency that some
insurance companies get data from to set rates. ISO rates municipalities from 1 to 5. Our previous ISO
rating was 4 and the last survey of the village was done in 1997. We were requested to provide
information on our fire district, training requirements for officer and members, SOPs, equipment
maintenance records as well as information about the water system in the district. The representative
seemed impressed with the department and the meeting was very positive. In early January we heard
back from ISO and our rating was upgraded to a 3. This is a great accomplishment as the ratings of 1 and
2 are generally reserved for areas with a paid fire department. I do not know what this will mean for
residents of the village and town but some may see reductions in the cost of insurance.
We are pleased to have all of our members back and look forward to a productive spring around the
station. The open bunking room was filled by Margaret Gao. Margaret has been a member for a year
and is an EMT. She has taken Firefighter 1 and is almost done with her interior checklist. Margaret will
be a good addition to the bunking program.
Sincerely,
George Tamborelle
Fire Chief/Fire Superintendent