On the discussion table before the Warsaw-Wayne Fire Protection Territory Tuesday were vehicles, a citizens fire territory academy, EMS involvement in COVID vaccination and fire station No. 2 doors.
Fire Chief Mike Wilson requested permission from the board to purchase a 2021 Chevrolet Silverado Command Access Vehicle for $37,318.36.
He said the Silverado is a replacement for the Tahoe. There was money put in the budget for two separate vehicles, he said, but after much investigation with the city’s mechanic, it was recommended the fire department not replace the grass rig. However, the Tahoe the battalion chiefs use on a daily basis “has seen its better days,” he said.
Chief Robert Barker, along with the other battalion chiefs, were given the project to come up with a vehicle that would suit their needs.
“A lot of discussion, a lot of work went into this,” he said, and they met with Mayor Joe Thallemer to go over the design.
Wilson said they worked with Sourcewell, a national purchasing company that does the bidding and specs for vehicles and that the city has used in the past.
“So this is a preset approved cost factor that the state of Indiana recognizes,” Wilson said, pointing out a letter from the city attorney that they’ve met the requirements to use Sourcewell.
When Wilson said they’d get substantial savings on the vehicle purchased through Tahoe, board member and City Councilman Michael Klondaris asked how much. Wilson said 22.16%, or $10,626.
By going with a Command body for the Tahoe, Wilson said the uniqueness about it is that if something should happen to the chassis, the box can come off it and go on a replacement chassis.
Thallemer asked Wilson to talk about how this Tahoe compares and why they went with a larger vehicle than the 2009 Chevrolet Tahoe the 2021 Tahoe is replacing. Wilson said the 2021 will better transport all their equipment, including air monitoring equipment and personal protection equipment. They also looked at a Suburban, but it’s made more for passengers than cargo.
“I felt that Chief Barker and what the battalion chiefs came up with was a great design,” Wilson said.
Thallemer said all the shifts use the vehicle continuously and the need for the vehicle is there. The air monitoring equipment will be better able to be deployed much more efficiently. After working through the purchase, Thallemer said felt comfort with the purchase and wanted to make sure the rest of the board felt comfortable with it as the cost is more than what they planned to spend on a Tahoe.
Klondaris made a motion to approve the vehicle, and it was unanimously approved.
Wilson also reported they will be replacing the three front doors for Station No. 2. They’ve got prices for them and are within budgetary amounts for the end of the year. The door on the back of the station also will be replaced as Wilson said it has rusted so bad it’s hard to close.
He said the three front station doors will be replaced as soon as they can get all the parts in, which may be December, January or February.
“The other things is, we’ve run across a situation that’s happening across the United States. We want to rip this off and duplicate it from another fire agency,” Wilson said, noting that it will be called the Warsaw-Wayne Fire Territory Citizens Fire Territory, similar to the Warsaw Police Department’s Citizens Police Academy.
He said it will be coming down in 2021 and gives the Fire Territory an opportunity to bring citizens into the fire station and show them what they do, as well as give them some hands-on opportunity. For the first class, Wilson said they’d like members of the WWFT board and Warsaw Common Council to be part of the class.
It will be one night a week, hopefully in May and June, he said.
Klondaris asked if any funding will be involved. Wilson said they don’t believe so because they will be there with the duty crew so there’s no overtime. Wilson and Assistant Fire Chief Aaron Bolinger will be one of the instructors, working with the duty crew. The people in the class get to see every shift, but it’s only one day a week.
EMS Coordinator Chris Fancil touched on what Thallemer mentioned last week during the biweekly COVID-19 press conference.
“The state of Indiana has asked EMS providers that are Advanced Life Support or above – so our Advanced EMTs, paramedics would count into this – to possibly help with the vaccination rollout when they start doing that,” Fancil said.
He said he didn’t really have any details on that yet so he doesn’t know at this point how it will look or work. Fancil said State EMS Medical Director Dr. Michael Kauffmann really sees a role for EMS providers to help with that.
“Part of the reason why is that the health departments right now are drowning. They are doing everything they can and they’re doing a wonderful job, but some things just aren’t getting done because they just don’t have the staff, time and money to get the normal stuff done,” Fancil said.
He said the EMS providers could end up helping with things like childhood shots and vaccinations for the flu and COVID-19.
As he gets more information, Fancil said he would it to the board but they don’t really have any good information on it right now.
Thallemer said nothing has been rolled out or talked about yet, but it’s coming. Emergency services and healthcare workers could be vaccinated sometime this month.
“The rollout for the administration of the vaccine to the general public is what will require a pretty major logistic rollout,” Thallemer said, adding that Gov. Eric Holcomb’s office is heavily involved. “… But at this point, there’s nothing to be rolled out, but I imagine it will happen pretty quickly and I imagine it will be almost all hands on deck because I imagine the demand will be pretty high.”
He expects clarity to come in the next few weeks. Thallemer said four hospitals out of over a hundred in the state will be distribution sites in the state and Kosciusko Community Hospital will be one of the hospitals administering the vaccine. It’ll likely take six months to get done.
In other business:
• Thallemer said the city and Wayne Township each have two appointments and they also have a joint appointment in Brandon Schmitt. The city’s appointments will continue to be Thallemer and Klondaris for 2021, with the township’s appointments being Wayne Township Trustee Jeanie Stackhouse and Gordon Nash.
The board approved reappointing Schmitt.
• Wilson said the Indiana Department of Homeland Security has 50 handheld foggers to be used on vehicles and inside the structures. They will give 50 away, and Wilson asked permission to apply for two of them.
The retail price is $658 each, but there will be no cost to the fire department if they’re approved for them. No matching funds are required. They are rechargeable.
“Hopefully we’ll get one, but maybe we’ll end up with two,” Wilson said.
A motion to apply for the grant for the foggers was unanimously approved and the request will go before the Board of Public Works and Safety on Friday.
