Black Forest Fire/Rescue Protection District, Jan. 18 – Deputy chief receives recognition upon retirement; property loss averted

Recognition received upon retirement
Property loss averted
Financial report
Administrative report
Fleet/logistic update
Northern Delivery System access
Evacuation planning
Training update
Board election nominations 2023
Public meeting notifications

By Natalie Barszcz

At the Black Forest Fire Rescue Protection District (BFFRPD) meeting on Jan. 18, the board recognized Deputy Chief James Rebitski on his retirement from the fire service, heard how crews averted a disaster, received multiple department updates, and heard about a new evacuation notification mobile application for smart phones and tablets.

Director Kiersten Tarvainen attended via Zoom.

Recognition received upon retirement

Chairman Nate Dowden announced the retirement of Rebitski after a 32-year career in the fire service. Dowden thanked Rebitski for his 14 years of service with the department, noting that he has been a mainstay and a stabilizing influence for the district. It has been a pleasure to work with him, said Dowden. He then requested the board approve Resolution 2023-02, recognizing Rebitski for his professionalism and outstanding, faithful dedication to the department, and for his leadership during a challenging period from August 2014 to Jan. 5, 2015 when he served as the interim fire chief.

The board unanimously approved the award. See photo and caption.

Above: From left are Treasurer Jack Hinton, Chairman Nate Dowden, Deputy Chief James Rebitski (holding his badge), Vice Chairman Jim Abendschan, and Director Chad Bhenken. The directors thanked the retiring Rebitski for his unwavering dedication to the fire service. Dowden presented Rebitski with a fire chief’s badge before the photo was taken. Photo courtesy of BFFRPD.

Rebitski thanked the board, the executive staff, and the community and said it had been a distinct honor to serve with the department, and the fire service had been everything to him. It has been fantastic to have the opportunity to finish his career with the current executive staff, he said, and he will never forget the adventures, the people he has worked with, and the citizens that are always supportive of the department. Rebitski said he was going on to a new adventure as he transitioned to retirement and would be a Hazmat coordinator with the El Paso County Office of Emergency Management.

Resident Linda Smith congratulated Rebitski for serving the district, and she wished him well in his new role.

Property loss averted

Deputy Chief of Operations Chris Piepenburg said the district responded to a house fire on Pinery Drive around mid-December. The district crews did a phenomenal job on this fire, he said, with the extensive training coming into play as fire was coming out of the chimney and moving into the attic. The job was completed after a couple of hours of overhaul with some salvage work. A 10-year-old alerted her family to the fire, saving lives and property, he said.

Fire Chief PJ Langmaid said about 99.9% of the homeowner’s personal property was saved, and he told the homeowner that about five years ago, the district had limited resources and staffing, and without the community investment in the department, the outcome could have been different.

Note: Monument Fire District (MFD) provided mutual aid, sending three engines to assist with the structure fire. See the MFD article on page < 21 >.

Financial report

Treasurer Jack Hinton said that at the end of 2022, the district’s assets were about $1.939 million, which includes:

$724,402 in a money market deposit account.
$236,331 in the Emergency Reserve Fund.
$193,460 in the Capital Improvement Fund.
$137,157 in the TABOR Reserve Fund.

The board unanimously accepted the November and December financial reports as presented.

Langmaid said the district will be spending conservatively during the first quarter of 2023, averaging about $325,000 per month for general operations from January through March.

The district has about $945,000 for general operations for February through March and expects to receive the largest installment of property tax revenue by mid-March, said Hinton.

Administrative report

Administrative Officer Rachel Dunn said the district had received the following revenues:

Ambulance revenue for November was $8,834 and for December was $12,608.
Tax revenue for November was $29,238 and $31,270 in December.

Dunn said she was compiling a list of replacement auditors, with recommendations from neighboring fire districts. The list would be compiled for the next meeting.

Hinton said the district would need to jump on a replacement auditor fairly quickly to avoid a late audit.

Fleet/logistic update

Rebitski said the following:

The 2005 Pierce mid-mount aerial ladder truck is further delayed due a supply shortage of replacement parts for the water way system. See www.ocn.me/v23n1.htm#bffrpd.
District mechanic Gavin Smith had completed minor repairs to vehicles throughout December.
A final inspection of the heaters installed in the barn/vehicle repair facility is pending.

Langmaid said that modifications are being made to the Station 1 Community Room to secure and protect the department’s investments before the public will be allowed to use the room.

Northern Delivery System access

Vice Chairman Jim Abendschan requested an update on the district’s comments submitted in regard to the Northern Delivery System (NDS) pipeline project. See www.ocn.me/v22n11.htm#tvmd and www.ocn.me/v23n1.htm#bffrpd.

Rebitski said a very small piece of the NDS pipeline project is located about 100 feet within the BFFRPD area of coverage. There is a good chance the Fire Department will be first on the scene in that area, and access has been requested should the district need to navigate a security system. The Colorado Springs Utilities water storage tank is located off Highway 83 and opposite Old Northgate Road, he said.

Evacuation planning

Rebitski said a county and state evacuation program called ZoneHaven is expected to be set up in mid-February and go live sometime in March or April. Residents will be required to download the ZoneHaven app to a phone or tablet to receive notifications to evacuate, remain on standby to evacuate, or shelter in place. ZoneHaven grids the county into evacuation zones, and each fire district is responsible for controlling those zones. The app will be linked to local news media and social media, it is designed to create a landslide of far-reaching notification, and it will be a great tool for our region, he said.

Langmaid said the platform has had great success in California. The app will help control the area to be evacuated, the speed of evacuation, and the return to property. The biggest issue in the past was the creation of gridlocks when everyone is evacuating at once. The public will need to know the zone they reside in and respond when alerted.

Training update

Piepenburg said the department completed about 1,729 hours of training in December, and in 2022 completed a total of 17,337 training hours—we cannot ask for more training than that. The department completed only 500 hours of training before he arrived in 2019. Each shift continues to raise the bar going against each other to be the best at the end of the month, and he said:

An eight-hour department leadership training session was completed with Echelon Front and Nick Lavery on Dec. 3. See www.ocn.me/v23n1.htm#bffrpd.
Ice rescue training took place at the end of December.
Several staff members continue certification testing.
The district is planning to hire wildland technicians in February for March early wildland deployments.

Dunn said a film crew had attended an all-hands training event in December. See www.bffire.org.

Note: Monument Fire District covered for BFFRPD Station 2 on Dec. 3 from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. to allow employees to attend training throughout the day. See the MFD article on page < 21 >.

Langmaid said the following:

The department will hold work sessions to come up with solutions for the remodeling of Station 2. The station is full to the brim with staff and regardless of the outcome of the Flying Horse North development, a plan is needed.
The Station Alerting system cost $90,000 to $95,000, and a lot of capital improvements were made in 2022.
Even if the board approves the purchase of a brush truck in 2023, the apparatus and equipment availability is still unknown.

Board election nominations 2023

Dunn said the window for self-nominations for two board director positions would be posted on the district website from Jan. 22 until Feb. 24. For information, visit www.bffire.org.

Note: The seats for the May 2023 election will be for four-year terms for the seats that are set to expire in May and are currently held by Hinton and Abendschan. Self-nomination forms must be signed, witnessed, and submitted by Feb. 24.

Public meeting notifications

Dowden requested the board approve resolution 2023-01, approving the location for the posting and conducting of meetings, and the time and dates for the BFFRPD Board of Directors. The announcements for both regular and special meetings will be posted to the district website, www.bffire.org, at least 24 hours before each meeting, he said.

The board unanimously approved the resolution.

The meeting adjourned at 7:49 p.m.

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Meetings are usually held on the third Wednesday of the month at Station 1, 11445 Teachout Road, Colorado Springs. Meetings are open to the public in person or via Zoom. The next regular meeting is scheduled for Wednesday, Feb. 15 at 7 p.m. For joining instructions, updates, agendas, minutes, and reports, visit www.bffire.org or contact Administrative Officer Rachel Dunn at admin@bffire.org or call 719-495-4300.

Natalie Barszcz can be reached at nataliebarszcz@ocn.me.