Fire heavily damaged a mobile home located on State Route 49 just East of Knoxville Sunday evening. Knoxville Dept. 6 and Valley Ambulance Dept. 25 were dispatched to a report of a structure fire shortly after 1900 hrs. Upon dispatch they were advised of reports of smoke showing from the structure. A 2nd alarm was requested bringing Oceola Dept 14 and Elkland Dept 3 to the scene. The blaze was quickly brought under control.
RIDGWAY, ELK COUNTY---Elk County Emergency officials say they have some big improvements coming to their outdated 911 center.
When Elk County Emergency Management moved into their current facility, it was meant to be a temporary home for a year at the most, but 18 years later little has changed.
The property at the top of Bootjack Hill in Ridgway was purchased by Elk County because it was an ideal place to build their 911 communications tower, but the existing house on the property was not ideal, especially with new, emerging technology.
“We’ve been here for 18 years, and we’ve been continually building onto this system, making it work for the needs of the facility, but what we’re finding now, we’re getting to the point where the building isn’t able to support our needs,” said Elk County Emergency Management Director, Mike McAllister, “The electrical issues are starting to become a problem, the room, the ability to add new hardware that’s coming out in the near future that we’re required to have. The facility just isn’t designed for what its intent was.”
Financial set-backs have prevented the county from building a new facility on the 13-acre property, but county officials said they’ve now hired a company, MCM Group, to do a complete assessment of the needs for the 911 center, and they’re also searching for grants to fund the project.
“It hopefully will help offset any costs that we have, and it would be a great help to the county to get federal dollars, and even state dollars for the project,” said Elk County Commissioner, June Sorg.
Emergency Services employees said the current facility is better than what they were in 20 years ago, but there is certainly room for improvement.
Companies spending lion’s share of time raising revenue but falling short Sara Ganim http://www.centredaily.com August 1, 2010 3:51pm EDT
It used to be that chicken barbecues, donations and the annual family carnival could pay the bills of a fire company. Now, even those departments supported by local taxes are barely scraping by.
Between a struggling economy and state budget cuts, fire companies are feeling the heat.
“If we didn’t have a fire tax, we’d be out of business,” said Centre Hall Fire Chief Chad Packer. “Fundraisers were better back in the day, but now the price of equipment is three times what it was. To keep up with today’s technology in the fire service, you need to have an income besides fundraisers.”
All of Pennsylvania’s volunteer companies are seeing their main sources of money dwindle. State funding is down 8 percent, donations are harder to come by, and no one wants to raise taxes.
To deal with it, even the larger companies, such as Alpha Fire Company in the Centre Region and Bellefonte’s Logan and Undine companies, are making changes, scrutinizing each purchase and working to make their equipment last longer.
“I wouldn’t say that we’re to the crisis level,” said Walter Schneider, who coordinates Logan’s finances. “We’re going to tighten our belts and try to make this happen, and do more with less. At some point it is going to come to a breaking point.”
Fundraising before training
At the Millheim Fire Company, things were getting so bad that the volunteers were spending 85 percent of their time on fundraisers at the fire hall.
“All we were doing was fundraising to make ends meet,” said 16-year veteran firefighter Chief Floyd Etters. “And we weren’t really doing what we were supposed to be doing, which is training.”
Even so, the company couldn’t raise enough money to buy the new equipment it needed. It was barely breaking even.
“We had to finally break down and put on a fire tax,” Etters said. “We went to the municipalities and talked to them about it.”
A 1-mill fire tax was put in place in 2008. And, to Etters’ surprise, “The only negative thing we’ve heard is, ‘What took you guys so long?’ If we knew they felt like that, we would have done this years ago.”
The tax now brings in about $41,000 a year — but that’s money strictly reserved for buying apparatus.
I received a copy of the following article today from the Pennsylvania Fire and Emergency Services Institute. While the article was written 8 years ago it is still very applicable today.
Aug 1, 2002 BY JOHN M. BUCKMAN
The future of the fire service depends on presenting one unified front that communicates a shared vision of what the fire service should look like. In recent days, weeks, and months, we have seen actions by our own that have threatened community fire protection.
There is a debate between career and volunteer firefighters about who provides the highest level and quality of fire protection-related services. That debate will go on forever and is really not up to the firefighter to answer.
I believe the level and quality of fire protection are determined locally. The responsibility for informing a community about the level and quality is the duty of the fire chief, community leaders, citizens, and elected officials.
There are communities where the volunteer fire department has not kept pace with community development. If this failure is a result of an uninformed community, the fault lies with the chief and may open the chief and the department up to valid criticism. If the chief has informed the community of the need for more personnel, equipment, and apparatus and the community has failed to respond, then that determines the level of services for the community.
It is the obligation of the chief to inform and educate the elected officials and the community; but, in my opinion, you must give the people what they want and what they are willing to pay for. If the chief has done a good job of informing and educating the community, then there will not be a threat from an outside agency or organization to take over or replace the volunteer fire department. The community must determine the level of fire protection and related services it needs. It is up to the chief to convince a community's leadership of the potential risks in the community and the expected effects of ignoring those risks. By establishing the relationship between the community and the fire department, the challenge of dealing with the everyday emergencies that arise to the expectations of that community will be met, eliminating the thought that the fire department will go out of business.
I believe the volunteer fire service must look to the future and ensure that the level and quality of service being provided today exceed those of five or 10 years ago. Volunteer fire departments need to examine alternative methods of providing service. They must think beyond the front door of the fire station to solve fire protection needs. Involve the community in the challenges facing the volunteer fire service today.
Volunteer fire departments need to change if they are going to keep up with a changing community. There are many departments that believe they should continue doing the same thing that they have always done and yet expect a different result. Buckets were used at one time to extinguish fires, but we know today to expect to use buckets would be ludicrous. Doing the same things that were done in the past will not get different results.
NOTE: Kevin Dusenbury has asked that any Department that plans to take apparatus to the Memorial Service on Friday, please plan to be at the Alliance Church by 9:15 am.
We have received word this morning of the passing of one of the icons of Potter County. Former Austin Fire Chief and Coudersport Paramedic James "CHUB" Plant passed away last night of an apparent heart attack. Chub has been involved in the emergency services field since the early 1970’s having served as a Potter County Fire Coordinator, Deputy Coroner and County LEPC Member. He also served as both Fire & Ambulance Chief with Austin for many years and was a Paramedic with Coudersport Regional ALS. At this time we do not have any further details. Further information will be posted as soon as it is available.
Our sincerest condolences go out to his family and friends.
Jim L. “Chub” Plant “PopPop Chub”
Ulysses, PA---Jim L. “Chub” Plant, 66, of Ulysses, formerly of Austin, died Sunday, July 18, 2010 at Ives Run Campground, Tioga County, PA, after suffering an apparent heart attack.
Born May 21, 1944 in Emeigh, PA, he was a son of the Rev. John J. and Elner E. Henderson Plant. On July 25, 1964 in Austin, he married Judy A. Walker, who survives.
Chub was a graduate of Sonestown High School, Sonestown, PA. For several years, Mr. Plant was employed by PennDOT in Austin. He later was employed as a construction worker under Local 824 of the Laborers’ International Union of North America.
In 1996 he graduated from the EmergyCare Paramedic Program in Erie. This was his greatest accomplishment to become a paramedic. He felt he had reached the top and was so proud to wear the medic patch. He was employed by Charles Cole Memorial Hospital in Coudersport as a paramedic from 1996 until 2004 and then was employed by the Coudersport Regional Advanced Life Support.
Mr. Plant was a member of the Austin United Methodist Church. He had previously served as the mayor of Austin, the Borough Police officer in Austin, and had also served as a Potter County Deputy Coroner.
Chub was very devoted to the fire and EMS services for over 45 years, having served as a past fire chief and ambulance chief in Austin, and where he was named fireman of the year. He gave selflessly of his time in helping fire and EMS departments having served as an EMS instructor and fire school instructor.
Chub touched the lives of more people than any of us will ever know.
He loved his dogs Bubba, Annie, and Jessi. He very much enjoyed traveling, camping, boating, and fishing. Chub loved to cook for his family. He loved spending time with his grandchildren. They were the light of his life.
Also surviving are two daughters, Lisa A. (Joe) Karpinski of Coudersport and Amy S. (Wayne) Shreve of Erie; five grandchildren, Kari L. Karpinski, Kaitlyn M. Karpinski, Geoffrey R. Shreve, Kelsey N. Karpinski, and Jennifer L. Shreve; four brothers, Dennis J. “Jack” (Sue) Plant of Millerstown, Donald A. (Jane) Plant of Greeley, Colorado, John J. “Max” (Nancy) Plant of Moultrie, Georgia, Paul D. (Leslie) Plant of Emporium; a sister-in-law, Thelma Plant of Port Royal, PA; his longtime companion, Michele A. Mather of Ulysses and her son Matthew R. Mather of Virginia Beach, VA; and many nieces, nephews, grandnieces, and grandnephews.
In addition to his parents, Mr. Plant was predeceased by two brothers, John I. Plant and the Rev. Robert J. Plant; and two nephews, Brian Plant and Robert J. Plant, Jr.
In keeping with Chub’s wishes, there will be no public visitation. Friends are invited to share memories on Friday, July 23, 2010 from 10 a.m. to 11 a.m. at the Coudersport Alliance Church, Coudersport, where a celebration of Chub’s life will be held at 11 a.m. with Pastor Samuel M. Crossley, Care Minister of the Coudersport Alliance Church, officiating.
In lieu of flowers, memorials may be made to an S.P.C.A. of the donor’s choice; an ambulance association of the donor’s choice; or a fire department of the donor’s choice.
Funeral arrangements are under the direction of the Virgil L. Howard Funeral Home, Shinglehouse, PA.
Coudersport Volunteer Ambulance Asso. (CVAA) is hosting an EMT-Basic class through Bucks County Community College with the classes to be held on Tuesdays, Thursdays and some Saturdays at the Coudersport Ambulance Hall. Classes are scheduled from 6:00-10:00pm on Tuesdays and Thursdays, with Saturday classes to run from 8:00-4:00pm.
The cost of the course is $150 which includes the required book and class materials.
A pre-registration will be held on Thursday July 29, 2010 from 6:00pm-7:30pm. A minimum of fifteen students must be obtained for the course to be held. The first official class night and formal registration will occur on Thursday August 5, 2010.
For more information, please contact Coudersport Ambulance at 274-7411. If you cannot attend the pre-registration you may stop by the ambulance hall during business hours Monday July 26 through Thursday July 29 to pre-register.
