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(Publisher’s Note: We will be running summary reports from city department heads as space allows.) by Fire Chief Tony Chamberlin The Fire Dept has had an absolutely astonishing number of calls this year.
• Over 70 calls as of Dec. 1, a number of those were severe auto accidents, fi res, a nd o ther c atastrophic damages, including fatality accidents.
• A June storm with severe winds created over 27 calls to 911 for Babbitt, which was condensed into two separate CAD calls that we took in order of priority with several trucks out assisting residents. Taking these into individual calls would push Babbitt over 100 this year for 911 calls for fire services.
• We are still working on implementing a type 4 wild land fire truck. This truck will bring money into the department as it will maximize our billable response to wild land fires. We have secured a chassis but are waiting on grants or surplus availability for the skid unit.
• We purchased 15 new SCBA air packs on financing this year. We will have the availability to apply for FEMA AFG grants for these for the next five years to cover our costs. This replaced unrepairable units that we had that were posing serious risk to firefighter safety.
• An above average year for new hires has our department full, and energetic, and I look forward to their progress in training and on calls.
• The fire department was awarded a $30,000 grant with only 5% match to purchase new radios. We are working with the ambulance to replace the worst condition radios between the two departments.
• Lots of volunteered time has been invested in trying to bring our fire hall into cancer-reducing compliances. The limited square footage is presenting difficulties in acquiring the appropriate locker systems for this issue. Without an upgrade to the facility there isn’t much we can do.
