kansas firewire

8/13/2019 Kansas Firewire

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Circulated to over 4,700Kansas firefighters bi-monthly

Vol. 45 - No. 6 February/March, 2014 Phone (515) 604-6400

Kansas State Firefighters Association

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The Voice of the Kansas Fire Service

Kansas Equipment SalesRon Wetter ............................................402-380-5038

Kansas Northwest Equipment SalesGary Banzhaf.........................................402-380-5414

Kansas - Apparatus SalesJohn Pelfrey...........................................785-250-4731

Mobile ServiceJay Darnall.............................................402-380-5347

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Firefighters were able to contain flamesto just the house even though strong windsfanned the flames and blew embers into aneighboring yard. See story and additionalphoto inside. This photo was taken by TerrySpradley of the St. John News and appearedin the Nov. 27 issue.

KSFFA Legislative Reception Monday, February 10, 2014 from 5-7 pmHistoric Topeka Fire House #2, 719 SW Van Buren (just north of the Capitol)

RSVP to [email protected]. Food provided.

KSFFA Auxiliary Scholarships - deadline is March 1. The link ishttp://www.ksffa.com/KSFFA%20Auxiliary/ksffa_auxiliary_scholarship_appl.htm.


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2 KANSAS FIREWIRE, FEBRUARY/MARCH, 2014

FOR YOUR

NEWSPAPER LABELPlease send all corrections to: Kansas State Firefighters Association Steve Hirsch, Secretary

P.O. Box 296 Oberlin, KS 67749

Ph. 785-475-2296NOTE: Please include the label with the incor-

rect address found on the front page of this

newspaper.

Thank You!

Publication of Blaze Publications Inc.Jeff Gargano .........................................................................Publisher/EditorSue Reimers .....................................................Advertising Design ManagerDanette Miller.........................................................................Page DesignerPublished bi-monthly by Kansas Firewire at 512 Sumner Avenue, Hum-boldt, Iowa 50548.Standard Non-Prot U.S Postage paid at Oberlin,KS and additional mailing ofces.

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Kansas State Firefighters Association

FIREWIREThe Voice of the Kansas Fire Service

Aliceville - Fireghters extin-guished a re just east of Alicev-ille in early December. Fireght-ers responded from Westphalia,LeRoi, Burlington, Waverly,New Strawn and Gridley. Altamont- A family escapeda house re in Altamont on Nov.13. A log from the replace rolledout onto the carpeted oor in theliving room according to ChiefKeith Shaffer of the Altamont-

Mt. Pleasant Fire Department.The Parsons and Oswego FireDepartments provided mutualaid. Andover - A re at the Dol-lar General in Andover causedmore than half a million dollarsin damages in mid-November. ADouglass teenager is being heldon eight counts of aggravated ar-son in connection with the blaze.Fire Chief Jim Shaver said thatthe damage of half a million dol-lars included about $360,000damaged or destroyed merchan-dise. Baxter Springs - The BaxterSprings Fire Department andAuxiliary hosted a chili feed atthe new community building onNov. 16, with proceeds going tothe department. Bern - C.J. Foods, Inc. re-cently presented the Bern FireDepartment a $1,000 in early De-cember for the re departmentscontinued efforts. Blue Rapids- A Blue Rapidsman was charged with arson inconnection with a re that oc-curred on Oct. 27, at a garage inBlue Rapids. Blue Rapids FireChief Jason Hemry said thatthere were individuals at home atthe time.

Bronson- A home in Bronsoncaught re and was destroyed inearly December. Burden- A house re in earlyNovember claimed the life of a78-year-old Burden man. Cap-tain Dan McClaskey said that theman was found in a bedroom. Burlington - A house redestroyed a home west of Burl-ington in mid November. Grid-ley reghters were the rst on

scene according to Fire ChiefRandall Brown. Also respondingwere reghters from Burlingtonand New Strawn. Caldwell - The Last ChanceBar and Grill was damagedby re in mid November. TheCaldwell Fire Department was

joined on mutual aid by reght-ers from Wellington. Caldwell - Fireghter LloydHenry received a 10-year serviceaward in December of 2013 forservice with the Caldwell FireDepartment. Chapman- Michael Simmonsis the new re chief at Chap-man. Chief Simmons is also areghter for the Manhattan FireDepartment and was a reghterin Hays for six years as well. Clay Center- A trailer housecaught re in early Novemberand was a total loss; however,reghters were able to savemuch of the contents, accordingto Clay Center Fire Chief JohnIhnen. Clay Center City and ClayCenter reghters responded tothe re. Colony - The Colony Dinerand Colony Foods were de-stroyed by re in early Decem-ber. Columbus - The 2013 Fire-

ghter of the Year Award hasbeen presented to Jaden Tedlock.Two other reghters, CalebBond and Scott Ashe were alsorecipients of awards presentedby Fire Chief Jason Allison. Cunningham - A truck haul-ing 42,000 pounds of frozenmeat caught re on Nov. 15,near Cunningham. The Cunning-ham Fire Department respondedto the blaze and was joined by

reghters from Reno CountyFire District No. 7 and KingmanFire Department, according toCunningham Fire Chief HaroldStark. The value of the loss wasestimated at between $350,000and $400,000. Derby- Derby reghter Sky-eler Reynolds is engaged to bemarried in March to Brook Eber-le. Congratulations to the couple. Derby- Derby Fire Chief BradSmith has been elected as Presi-dent of the Kansas State Associa-tion of Fire Chiefs at their annualKSAFC conference in Octoberof 2013. Chief Smith worked 25years for the Wineld Fire De-partment and was chief of theEl Dorado Fire Department for3-1/2 years before he was namedas Derbys rst fulltime chief in2004. Dodge City- A re shut downoperations at Cargills beef pack-ing plant in Dodge City in lateDecember. There were no inju-ries but a 1,000 employees wereevacuated. El Dorado- The Cancun Mex-ican Grill was damaged by rein early December. El DoradoFire Department was joined onmutual aid by reghters fromTowanda. Enterprise - TransCanadaCorporation has given a grantof $2,500 to Dickinson CountyFire District #1 to help purchase

an 800 MHz radio according to

Chief Paul Froelich. Esbon- An open house of thenew Esbon Fire Station was heldin late October. Fire Chief RandyFogo said that a grand opening istentatively planned for MemorialDay weekend in 2014. Eureka- A Christmas Eve redamaged a house about 7 milessouth of Eureka. Fire Chief DougWilliams said that reghtersfound smoke coming from the

residence and heavy smoke fromthe upper oors. Galena- The Galena Fire De-partment responded to a struc-ture re in early December at503 East 5th Street. Galena FireChief Bill Hall attributed the reto possible faulty electrical wir-ing behind the dryer. The homewas a total loss. Mutual aid wasreceived from the Baxter SpringsFire Department and from Red-dings Mill Fire Department inMissouri. Garfield - The Gareld FireDepartment served a HuntersLunch on a Saturday in Novem-ber at the Gareld CommunityCenter. Garnett- A vacant house wasdestroyed by re in late Novem-ber in Garnett on West 9th Street.Garnett Fire Chief Pat Tate saidthat the home was fully engulfedwhen the reghters arrivedand wintry conditions includingsnow and 20 MPH north windsblew ames 20 to 30 feet out ofthe house. Garnett - A house re in ear-ly December destroyed a ruralhome. The re occurred just be-fore Garnett hosted the RegionalFire Training School, accord-ing to J.D. Mersman, AndersonCounty Emergency ManagementDirector. Geneseo - A re in Geneseoin late November destroyed a

barn and damaged two adjacent

houses. The reghters fromGeneseo, Ellsworth, Lyons, Lit-tle River and Bushton respondedto the re, according to GeneseoFire Chief Mike Huggans. Geneseo - Two garages and ahome were damaged by re inmid November. A person wasworking in a garage when aspark ignited the re. Fire De-partments from Geneseo, LittleRiver, Lyons, Bushton and Ells-

worth County responded to theincident. After the re it wasdetermined that a torch was be-ing used to cut up a stolen ATVtrailer to sell as scrap. This led tohis arrest for possession of stolenproperty. Great Bend - A re in midNovember did extensive damageto a house at 1418 20th Streetaccording to Chief Mike Napoli-tano. Damage was estimated atmore than $40,000. Halstead - A house re inmid-November destroyed ahome in rural Halstead. HalsteadFire Chief Jim VanSchaick saidthe structure was a total lossand that by the time reghtersarrived on scene, the roof wasfully engulfed in the re, withthe re being driven by strongwinds. Fire crews from Halstead,Burrton, Hesston and Sedgwickresponded to the re. Harper - A stove re causedextensive damage to a Harperhome in late November. Thehome had an estimated $50,000damage according to Fire ChiefKen Leu. Herington- A re in late De-cember in a Main Street apart-ment building resulted in thedeath of a 75-year-old Heringtonman. Fire Chief Ken Staatz saidthat smoke was spotted by a po-lice ofcer on patrol. Hillsboro- A re destroyed a

Fire news across Kansas

See Fire news, page 3


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KANSAS FIREWIRE, FEBRUARY/MARCH, 2014 3

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FRA benefits is what I do.You wouldnt fight a fully involved house fire with agarden hose when a high-pressure fire hydrant is readilyavailable. You might get by in a pinch, but its not theideal strategy.

It takes in-depth comprehension of the complexKansas Firefighters Relief Act. With more than 20yearsexperience as a financial advisor for firefighters, I amwell-versed in the nuances of FRA. And my 16 years as afirefighter provides an appreciation for the insightinto the lives and special needs of firefighters.

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* Offered by outside insurancecompanies with which Waddell &Reed has special arrangements.03/2008

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I know FRA benefts.

Its What I do!

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Volunteer Annuity Plans

TOLL FREE HAZMAT HOTLINE1-866-KHAZMAT 1-866-542-9628

This number rings at the State Fire Marshals Office in Topeka and is handled as a

hazmat hotline. You will be transferred to either the KSFM Hazmat Division Director, the

Hazmat Training Coordinator or the Chief Deputy State Fire Marshal. If those person-nel are not in the office, you will be asked to leave your name and phone number and

the Hazmat Division personnel will be contacted to call you back ASAP. If this line is

not answered after four rings, the call is automatically forwarded to the group pager

number below

KSFM HAZMAT EMERGENCY RESPONSE PAGER1-785-357-3261

This number is a group pager which simultaneously contacts the KSFM Hazmat Divi-

sion Director, the Hazmat Training Coordinator, and the Deputy State Fire Marshal. You

will need to enter your phone number and the above personnel will return your call

immediately.

WEBSITEwww.myairmail.com

This website allows you to send a text message to the group pager. You will need to

type in the group pager number above, type in your text message (including a returnphone number) and your name, and then a click on the Send Message button and your

text message will be forwarded to the group pager within a couple minutes.

Note: These numbers are for emergency and should be limited to requesting activation of a regional response team or consultation on the necessary activation.

house in mid-November at 207North Washington. HillsboroFire Chief Ben Steketee said thatthe home was unoccupied butfully involved in the re whenthe reghters arrived.

Holton - A re in early De-cember left the home of a Holtoncouple pretty well gutted accord-ing to Holton Fire Chief KevinIngels. The damage was estimat-ed at about $90,000.

Hutchinson - Fire destroyedMarys Jack of Clubs in lateDecember. The owners indicatethey will reopen.

Hutchinson - Damages es-timated at $12,000 in a re thatdestroyed a shed, RV, two camp-ers and a Chevy Suburban behinda house at 2703 St. Elmo Drive,west of Hutchinson. HutchinsonDeputy Fire Chief Doug Hanenreported that the shed and RVwere well involved in the ameswhen reghters arrived. Sixunits from the Hutchinson FireDepartment and a water tenderfrom Reno County Fire DistrictNo. 3 responded to the re.

Hutchinson - RetiredHutchinson Drill Captain Rich-ard D. Trotter celebrated his 80thbirthday on Dec. 4. He retired af-ter 35 years of service in 1992.Congratulations!

Iola- A re damaged the Wil-liams Monuments building in lateNovember. Lt. Jeremy Ellingtonsaid that reghters quickly ar-rived on scene and got the reknocked down in short order.

JunctionCity- Fireghter Ja-mie Farr is engaged to be marriedto Jennifer Nuss. The wedding isplanned for March 29. Congratu-lations to the couple.

JunctionCity- Greek Heroes,a restaurant in Junction City,suffered signicant structuraldamage during a re in early De-

cember. Fire Chief Kevin Roysesaid that the estimated loss is$150,000.

KannapolisLake- A Januaryre destroyed a residence thatwas the original Dam SandwichShop near Kannapolis Lake. Theshop opened about 60 years ago.The McPherson County RuralFire District #2 from Marquetteresponded to the re.

KansasCity- Twenty-six re-ghters graduated at a ceremonyheld Nov. 21, at Memorial Hallin Kansas City, KS, and weregiven the oath of ofce. FireChief John Paul Jones said, youwill face danger but also be em-powered by overcoming fear.Ofcials with the Kansas City,Kansas Fire Department pointedout the class contained a fourthgeneration reghter, Chris

Wing, as well as another fourthgeneration reghter, a thirdgeneration reghter and a sec-ond-generation reghters. JoshBubeck graduated #1 in his classwith an almost perfect score inthe Academy and addressed theclass. Chris Wings father is BobWing, president of the KansasState Council of Fireghters.

KansasCity- A man sufferedsecond and third degree burnsin an apartment re on Nov.11. Damage was estimated at$180,000.

LaCrosse- Rush County FireDistrict # 4 has received a new6x6 truck from the Kansas For-est Service to be used as a tanker/brush truck in the county.

LaCygne - An abandonedhome east of LaCygne was de-stroyed by re in early Decem-ber.

Lawrence - A morning rein early December caused anestimated $135,000 in damageto a west Lawrence home. Firecrews had the re under controlin about 25 minutes according toChief Mark Bradford.

Leavenworth - The formerNights Inn building is beingused as a training location bythe Leavenworth Fire Depart-ment. This is an opportunity wedont get very often, Leaven-worth Assistant Fire Chief MikeLingenfelser said. The old hotel

has rooms that can be set up withfurniture, to allow reghters totrain in the facility.

Little River - Steve Krusehas been appointed as Presidentand General Manager of MutualTelephone Company. He grewup at Glen Elder and serves as avolunteer reghter for the LittleRiver Fire Department.

Long Island - First National

Bank and Trust presented a checkfor $664 to the Long Island FireDepartment as part of their dona-tion campaign in 2013.

Lyons- A re in early Decem-ber at the Cal-Maine Egg Facilityoccurred in the facilitys manurebarn. Rice County Fire Depart-ment Chief Ed Fiel said that thecause of the re was still largelyundetermined. Fire Stations 6, 1and 2 responded to the scene.

Manhattan - A house rein late December caused about$80,000 damage to a home andcontents on Colorado Street. Fivetenants were living in the home,which had been converted toapartments. Manhattan - Fireghter TimDavenport and his wife, Mary,celebrated 30 years of marriageon Nov. 26. Congratulations!

Meriden- A re in early No-vember destroyed Quality Cus-tom Cabinets in Meriden. RockCreek Fire Chief Bob Fritch saidthat there was a lot of wood inthe building, which made the revery hot. Other departments as-sisting on mutual aid includedKaw Township, Oskaloosa, Oza-wkie, Jefferson #11 at ValleyFalls, Nortonville, Efnghamand Soldier.

Moundridge - TheMoundridge Fire Departmentheld its 34th annual ChristmasOpen House Saturday, Nov. 23,with all proceeds going to assistthe Department. Navarre- A house re in lateDecember displaced a family ofsix in Navarre. Dickinson Coun-ty Fire District #1 Chief PaulFroelich said the home sufferedsubstantial damage and was notinhabitable. The re was at thehome of Shadd and Janice Sny-der. Mr. Snyder is employed bythe Junction City Fire Depart-

ment.

New Strawn- A trailer re inearly December destroyed thetrailer on 16th Road after he hadbeen burning leaves and brush.New Strawn and Burlington re-ghters responded to the re. Newton - Vince Garcia hasretired after 31 years with theNewton Fire/EMS Departmentin mid- December. Vince is ourmost senior member and his leg-acy of service will carry on but

he will be greatly missed, saidMark Willis, Chief of the New-ton Fire/EMS Department.

Nickerson - A re in Nick-erson left a family looking fora new place to live in early De-cember. It is believed the re waselectrical in nature with the blazestarting in the attic.

Oswego - A re in late Decem-ber destroyed a home in Oswego.Oswego Fire Chief Donnie Al-lison said that there were fourpeople at home when the rebroke out but that they were ableto escape without injury. Ottawa - A home was dam-aged by re in early Decemberat Ottawa. The re is believed tohave been ignited by a portableheater used in the crawl spaceunderneath the home to thaw outsome frozen water lines. Overland Park - An Over-land Park apartment complexwas damaged by re in early De-cember. One person was trans-ported for signicant burn inju-ries according to Jason Rhodes,Overland Park Fire Departmentspokesman. Parsons - The Parsons FireDepartment has been investigat-ing options for new re trucks.An aerial and a pumper are tobe bought with proceeds from a1/2-cent sales tax that went intoeffect in January. Pittsburg - A Pittsburg man

died in a house re in early De-

cember on 7th Street. The rewas found at the rear of a single-family home. A man was foundinside and removed and trans-ported by EMS. The home sus-tained signicant damage to theback family room and rooineaccording to Pittsburg Fire ChiefMike Simons. Pittsburg- A re in southwestPittsburg destroyed a house inmid-December. Battalion Chief

Jim Radell said that ames wereshowing through the roof whenthe re was reported and downedpower lines and icy branchesfrom a winter storm also ham-pered reghters response. Pratt - A house re in mid-December resulted in the deathof infant twins. The mother wasfound outside the home coveredin smoke and soot and was sentrst to Pratt Regional MedicalCenter and then transferred toVia Christi St. Francis Burn Unitin Wichita for re related inju-ries. Pratt reghters were joinedin mutual aid by Township 12Fire Rescue Department. Sabetha- An implement shedwas damaged by re in early De-cember on 200th Road. SabethaFire Chief Jim Johnson said thatthe re department respondedto the scene with 13 reghtersand ve trucks. Mutual aid wasrequested from the Bern Fire De-partment.

Sabetha - A home was a totalloss after a re in mid November,according to Chief Jim Johnson.Sabetha reghters were joinedon mutual aid by reghtersfrom Goff and Wetmore.

Salina - An unoccupied homewas damaged by re in late No-vember. The re appears to havestarted under two solar panels.

Solomon - A house re inearly January claimed the life of

Fire news across Kansas continued from 2

See Fire news, page 5


4/24


Steve Hirsch, Secretary Do you take the time to take

your kids to the fire station? Doyou spend time with the otherfirefighters kids - encouragingthem and educating them so thatsomeday they may want to be oneof us?

J.L. Ellis, President I want to remind everyone we will againhost our Legislative Reception on Feb. 10,at Topekas historic fire station number 2 at719 SW Van Buren Street beginning at 5 to7 p.m. This is one block north of the StateCapitol.

PresidentJ. L. ELLIS

414 Smith DriveColby, KS 67701

Bus. Ph. 785-460-4454Fax Ph. 785-460-4444

[email protected]

1st Vice-PresidentKEVIN FLORY

4935 NW Brickyard Rd.,Topeka, KS 66618

Cell Ph. [email protected]

2nd Vice-PresidentSHANE PEARSON6714 S. Tamara LaneAssaria, KS 67416

Res. Ph. 785-667-4005Cell Ph. [email protected]

TreasurerDAN ROMINE24978 S. Auburn Rd.Osage City, KS 66532

[email protected]

SecretarySTEVE HIRSCH

P.O. Box 296Oberlin, KS 67749

Res. Ph. 785-475-2358Bus. Ph. 785-475-2296Fax Ph. 785-475-2060

[email protected]

Northeast TrusteeDOUG SCHMITT215 N. Erpelding

Leonardville, KS 66449Cell Ph. 785-331-7496

[email protected]

Southeast TrusteeRON EWING119 S. Union

Emporia, KS 66801Cell Ph. 620-366-5399

Home Ph. [email protected]

Northwest TrusteeJUSTIN COUSE

P.O. box 215Lucas, KS 67648Home Ph. 785-526-7810Cell Ph. 785-735-8021

[email protected]

Southwest TrusteeTROY WOLFP.O. Box 558

Johnson, KS 67855Res. Ph. 620-492-2630Cell Ph. 620-492-1861

[email protected]

HistorianSONNY RUFF

P.O. Box 191

Logan, KS 67646Ph. 785-689-7546

[email protected]

KSFFA OFFICERDIRECTORY

2013-2014

REPORTS FROM KSFFA OFFICERS

Where Theres Smoke...

By JL Ellis,President KSFFA

What a busy start to the NewYear! My wife and I are proud toannounce the birth of our secondgrandchild on Jan. 1. If you havekept up with our board membersthrough social media, you areprobably aware that several of usare now grandparents and Ronwas a new father in the last year.It really does help to put thingsinto perspective. Upon meetingmy new granddaughter, Vivian,and holding her for the rst time,her very rst gift was to quietlyand politely poop on grandpa. I

gure if this is the absolute worstthat happens to me this year, itsgoing to be a GREAT year. Another legislative seasonis gearing up and your KSFFAExecutive Board along with ourlobbyist John Federico are hardat work identifying issues thatwill affect the Kansas Fire Ser-vice. One issue in particular thatwe have been working on forquite some time is the 5 mil capfor certain re districts. Throughour lobbyist, we are working with

Attorney General Derek Schmidtto reach a workable non-legisla-tive solution. We believe we arevery close to reaching this goaland I will report our nal solu-tion when I can. I want to remind everyone wewill again host our LegislativeReception on Feb. 10, at Tope-kas historic re station number2 at 719 SW Van Buren Streetbeginning at 5 to 7 p.m. This isone block north of the State Cap-itol. I highly encourage everyonewho can attend to please be thereby 4:30 p.m., so that we can beready to welcome our legislators.

Last year was very well at-tended by over 75 legislators and60 re service personnel fromacross the state. We really needto have a reghter from everylegislative district present be-cause that is who the legislatorswant to see, someone from theirhome area. As we identify theissues affecting our re service,we need to have those relation-ships in place. Please attend thisimportant event if at all possible.If I failed to mention, we will

also have FREE FOOD! Pleasedo RSVP to [email protected] so that we will be ableto have plenty to go around. Also, if you have not signed upfor our Legislative CapWiz toolto track legislation affecting theKansas re Service, I highly rec-ommend you do so. We have hadseveral recent issues that needour attention at the national lev-el. One issue is the Volunteer Re-

sponder Incentive Protection Re-authorization Act (H.R. 3747/S.501) would eliminate federaltaxation of property tax benetsand up to $600 per year of othertypes of benets that volunteeremergency responders receive asa reward for their service. Probably of more importanceis legislation clarifying thatqualied emergency servicesvolunteers will not be countedas employees under the PatientProtection and Affordable CareAct (PPACA or Obamacare). Ifenacted, this would mean thatre and EMS agencies wouldnot be required to offer volunteerpersonnel health insurance, evenif they receive other nominalbenets. On our website, clickthe link KS Legislative CapWiz.This is a free service to you andonly generates email when weneed you to take action or noticeof legislation affecting us all. Important events remind me ofour upcoming KSFFA 126th An-nual Conference in Salina, KS,on April 24, 25 and 26. Pleasemake plans now to attend. TheSalina Fire Department is -nalizing plans and information

By Steve Hirsch,KSFFA Secretary

We could probably label thiscolumn a history article of sorts.I am writing this after having justgotten back from the regional reschool at Marion the rst part ofJanuary. Although there was quite a bitof snow in Marion, driving homewas no problem - and that wasnice to say the least. It is alwaysfun to get out to a part of thestate that we havent had classesin for a while. As Secretary fornearly 14 years now, I know a lotof names and quite a few people,but it is always good to put a face

with the name. When we are down in MarionCounty folks in the re serviceneed to remember that MarionCounty is really one of the coregroups of this association. Notonly do we see a lot of MarionCounty reghters at our re-gional re schools and at ourannual conference, we need toremember too that towns likePeabody and Florence have along, long history with this as-sociation. Those two towns weresome of the earliest members ofthe association, dating back tothe late 1800s. Charles Marshof Peabody was an ofcer in thisassociation from sometime in the1890s and served in one ofce

or another at least up until 1931!What a history our associationhas with Marion County - andwere making history again this

year with a re school there. While were talking about his-tory, I want to not forget to men-tion that Bob Wing, the Presidentof the Kansas State Council ofFireghters celebrated a mile-stone of sorts recently. His son,Chris, became a reghter withthe Kansas City Fire Department- the fourth generation of Wingsto be with the KCK Fire Depart-ment! Wow. As I understand itthere has been a Wing on the de-partment since 1941 - thats im-pressive. How about in your depart-ment? Do you take the time totake your kids to the re station?Do you spend time with the oth-er reghters kids - encourag-ing them and educating them sothat someday they may want tobe one of us? I always took mykids with me to re events, in

fact my son, Joe, just went withme to a soup supper at the Seldenand Rexford departments in lateDecember. Those guys and gals

have seen Joe grow up in the reservice. Will he become a re-ghter some day - I dont know.What I do know, though, is that

my kids spent quality time withother reghters from aroundthe state. They learned our tra-ditions, they have shared in ourtears of both happiness and greatsadness, and theyve climbed onand ridden in lots of re trucks. How did I get in the re ser-vice? I have an early memory ofprobably when I was less than 5years old of being in the re sta-tion playing on re trucks whilemy dad served up soup to raisemoney for his department. Ialso remember going with himto clean up after tornadoes hadstruck a neighboring community- and looking at re supply cata-logs - and, man, lots and lots ofSmokey Bear stuff.

Society has changed a lot inmy 50 plus years. People are dif-ferent. Values have shifted. Prior-

See Ellis, page 4

See Hirsch, page 6


5/24


Kansas State FirefghtersAssociation, Inc.

2014 Regional Fire Schools & Events

February 1-2, 2014 .................................................................Clain

March 19-23, 2014 .............................................. SCAFFA - Topeka

April 5-6, 2014 ............................Agra Regional Fire School - Agra

April 24-26, 2014 ..............................................Conference - Salina

May 3-4, 2014 ......................................................................Ashland

May 29-31, 2014 ................Labette Regional Fire School - Parsons

July 12-13, 2014.................................................................Plainville

August 9-10, 2014........ Harvey County Regional Fire School - Newton

September 6-7, 2014 .. Riley County Regional Fire School - Manhattan

October 4-5, 2014.......................................Russell County, RussellNovember 1-2, 2014....................... Lakin Regional School - Lakin

December 6-7, 2014 ......................................................... Concordia

2014 FRA Mini-Clinics

March 19-23, 2014 .............................................. SCAFFA - Topeka

April 5, 2014...............................Agra Regional Fire School - Agra

May 29-31, 2014 ................Labette Regional Fire School - Parsons

August 9, 2014............. Harvey County Regional Fire School - Newton

September 6, 2014 ..... Riley County Regional Fire School - ManhattanNovember 1, 2014........................... Lakin Regional School - Lakin

See the

KANSASSTATE

FIREMARSHALTRUMPET

MONTHLY

NEWSLETTER

Go To

www.ksfm.ks.gov/

a Solomon resident. Fireghterswere called to the re around 4a.m., according to Chief RandyPaden. South Hutchinson - A re inearly January destroyed a homein South Hutchinson according toChief Mike Patterson. The dam-age was estimated at $65,000. St. John - A wood burningstove is believed to have been thecause of a re that extensivelydamaged a home in early De-cember.

Topeka- A small re in early

December at an apartment com-plex on the citys south side wasquickly handled by the Topekare crews. Topeka Fire Investiga-tor Rusty Vollintine said the remore likely than not was acci-dental and related to the mechan-ical or electrical malfunction of afurnace inside the units. Topeka - A re in early De-cember in east Topeka when akerosene heater mishap occurred.The lone occupant of the homewas taken to a local hospital fortreatment. Topeka - Fireghters fromStation No. 6 in the Oakland areaof Topeka built two new benchesfor the LULAC Senior Center in

Oakland. Three reghters, PaulWaggoner, Larry Peters and Bri-an Hillebert were responsible forthe act of kindness. Topeka - Topekas Labradorretriever died of cancer at the ageof 10 in mid-December. The doghad served the department since2005 as the partner of Investi-gator Rusty Vollintine. Boomerresponded to more than 900 in-

cidents and logged more than80,000 hours. He visited around300 re scenes and played a keyrole in the investigations of about60 injury res and more than 20fatality res. Towanda - A re in mid De-cember damaged a home inTowanda. Fireghters fromTowanda, Benton and El Doradoresponded to the re. Towanda - The Towanda FireDepartment has gained a Class 6ISO rating in the City of Towan-da, according to Fire Chief TomPyle. Troy - A re in mid-Decemberdestroyed a home on 205th Roadnorthwest of Troy. Fireghter-EMT Instructor Matthew McK-ittrick said the house was fullyengulfed in the ames when hearrived. Fire Chief Allen Winkelsaid, The occupant was asleepon the living room couch. At thetime, he told us he had an electricspace heater nearby and indicat-ed that the wall socket popped orblew up and the re went up thewall. Wamego - Wamego Fire-ghter Martin Johnson was wedto Chrishelle Stanhope in Sep-tember. Congratulations to the

couple! Wamego - The Wamego FireDepartment Auxiliary hostedtheir annual chili feed on Dec. 7. Welda - A donation of $2,500from Co-Bank has started a fundfor newer, larger quarters for there department at Welda. White City - Mike Markleyhas been named as 2013 Fire-ghter of the Year by the White

City Fire Department. Wichita - Spontaneous com-bustion is believed to be the causeof a re in late November at asouth Wichita laundry and drycleaning business. Acting Bat-talion Chief David Voss said thatdamage estimates were $10,000on the building and $20,000 tocontents. Wichita- A chimney re dam-aged a house on South Kansasin late November according toFire Marshal Brad Crisp. The recaused an estimated $12,000 tothe house and contents. Wichita - An east side housere took the lives of four individ-uals including two children. The

re was in a doublewide trailerhome on Goebel on Wichitaseast side. Wichita - A 95 year old mandied from injuries sustained ina house re in mid November.Evidence indicated that the mantried to put out the re but be-came overcome by smoke in theprocess of escaping. Wichita - A woman was re-ported in critical condition ata local hospital after she wasinjured in a house re in westWichita in late December. FireMarshal Brad Crisp said thatdamage was set at $15,000 to thehome and $5,000 to contents. Winchester - A re in a va-

cant house at 105 Grasshopperwas extinguished by Winchesterreghters in mid November. Winfield- Nine months after are burned down an island parkplayground, the case remainsunder investigation by the Win-eld Police Department. There burned the playground to theground on the night of March 14.Wineld Fire Marshal DennisDarby conrmed that the re wasset on purpose. Woodson County - The

Woodson County Commissionhas approved the purchase ofa new re truck for WoodsonCounty Fire Department accord-ing to Chief Nick Barney.

Fire news across Kansas continued from 3

should be on our website www.ksffa.com detailing the eventsand schedule for the conference.Please look over the agenda asthere are quite a few changesfrom the ordinary. The KSFFA Auxiliary willconduct the Memorial Service onFriday morning this year to allowthose attending time to get lastminute names included. If youknow of anyone that has passed

away in the past year and should

be honored at the Memorial Ser-vice, please use the MemorialService Submittal Form on ourwebpage. Also I will remind youthat the KSFFA Honorary Mem-ber form is also on the webpagefor those so deserving. Conference credentials pack-ets are also being mailed fromthe KSFFA and will have all theinformation you will need to reg-ister. Every member department

is allowed to have four voting

delegates attend. Alternate del-egates and spouses are alwayswelcome and I know there willbe plenty of activities to keepeveryone busy. Our KSFFA Aux-iliary will present the annualscholarship winners and alsoraise funds for the scholarshipduring the Presidents auction atthe banquet on Friday evening.If you know of someone eligiblefor a KSFFA Auxiliary scholar-

ship, please send them to our

website under the Info tab anddownload the application form. Itis a simple form and process tobenet our family members andalso reghters who are further-ing their education. Again, pleasecheck our website for informa-tion on the 126th Annual Confer-ence and all that will be offered. I close as I always do with thesimple promise to keep each andevery one of you as informed as

I possibly can and to provide the

very best service you deserve.Your Executive Board is at yourservice and we do want to hearfrom you. Our contact information isposted on the website www.ks-ffa.com, we always welcome anysuggestion and stand ready toanswer any question or concernyou may have. I look forwardto seeing you at a regional reschool or one of the events men-

tioned in this article.

Ellis continued from 4


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ities are skewed. BUT one thing(other than Anita) has remaineda constant in my life all of thoseyears. The men and women of there service have always been andstill remain the most committedbunch of the most compassionatepeople that this world has everknown. Alright - probably alsothe most committed bunch of

jokers too, cause we sure like to

tease and play and have fun. Thisis my re service - this is yourre service - God bless you all,because where theres smoke...

Hirschcontinued from 4

Submitted by Ross Hauck,Fire Management

Coordinator,Kansas Forest Service

Written by Ryan Royal. (Thisarticle was taken from the Face-book pages of Ironandladders.com. While it was written withthe career firefighter in mind, I

felt it has a strong message aboutour volunteer ranks). Read itclosely and see if you see your-

self, the departmentor its leaders.

This one has beenbrewing for years,and I think it is timeto get it out in theopen for everyoneto share. I reallystruggle with thistopic and it createsa lot of frustrationfor me to try andcomprehend thatthis is somethingwe are even talk-ing about. Lets juststart it out bluntly.If youre already setin your ways, and have long ago

decided that not only are you go-

Mental poison

Ross Hauck

ing to just simply gather a pay-check but at the same time holda deep never ending grudge forthe guys that are trying to moveforward and make this job bet-ter, then go ahead, hold on to thatmediocre mentality, sit back forthe ride and nish your career inthat state, but by all means KEEPIT TO YOURSELF! I am truly sick of new, young,great minds on this job coming to

me discouraged be-cause these peoplehave decided to de-motivate them andtalk trash about mycrew, everythingand myself we be-lieve in. You knowwho you are, and Ihope you sit backfor a second andrealize that you arementally poisoningthe youth and futureof our job. It is easi-er for you to verbal-ly bring us down tonew guys (because

they wont talk back) than it is to

step up and bring your own crew

to the front and raise the bar. Thisis criminal, do you know how bigof an impact you have on theseguys that are just trying to dothe right thing and work hard.They are at a point in their ca-reer where they are just lookingfor guidance on how to do their

job right, and trying to gure outwhat that really means. The goodones are attracted to places wherethey have mentors that will actu-

ally teach them, but then you tryand spin us off as those guys,and proceed to describe to themevery single way that I will ruintheir career if they come aroundme. That is garbage. We have a great bunch of peo-ple that have come on our job inthe last few years, some of thebest new guys that I have everhad come through our rehouseand other great ones I didnt getto work with. Hungry, motivated,self- driven, and ready to get bet-ter everyday. They are blowingthe old expectations of what itmeant to be a good new guy outof the water. When they nishtheir probation and move on to

their own rehouse I watch with

great satisfaction as these newguys start making an impact ontheir own with their highly moti-vated mentality of holding them-selves to a standard of pursuingmastery of their craft. At theend of the day, my only goal forthem as they rotate through ourrehouse, is to mentor and teachthem the way I would want to betaught. If we hold up on our end of

the deal of what it means to bementors, then we will reap the re-wards across the entire job as thatmentality slowly moves aroundthe city. However, as I havelearned rst-hand, be prepared toput yourself out there and take abeating from a group of peoplethat will ght this type of energyeveryday of your career. Here are some examples ofthe mental poison that is beingput into these young motivatedminds by others who are threat-ened by what we are teaching.They tell these guys to be verycareful at my rehouse and neverlet yourself become one of thoseguys. They will say that its an

easy thing to get sucked into

down there and you will see inthe long run it is a waste of yourtime and energy. They will makeaccusations that we only careabout res but never focus onany other aspect of our job. Theywill try to convince them that it isall shallow egos, cockiness, andbravado. They will even go as faras to tell these guys that they aretraining too much and that theywill never make it through a ca-

reer if they dont take it easy. Thelist goes on of a hundred differ-ent examples that are being usedin an attempt to scare them (thenew guys) away from ever be-ing a part of that. Let me tell you what being apart of that is. Expectations arehigh, you come to work everyday knowing full well it couldbe the day where we need you atyour best. You check your truckout in the morning like its actu-ally your job. That doesnt meana walk around the truck, whichmeans halyards are dressed andtied around only one rung. Itmeans batteries are fresh on toolsand blades have been replaced. It

means running your hands downthe chains on the saw to makesure they are sharp enough tograb your skin so you know theyare fresh. It means the powerheads/saws are getting run everyday. If lines are sloppy they arepulled and reloaded, yes, even inthe winter or on a Sunday (what aconcept). That is how importantour apparatus is to us. It means training comes rst.If your priorities arent regularlybased around quality companytraining, I can assure you nothingelse will replace it. No amount ofdrawing on a whiteboard, or talk-ing about hose lays at the tail-board will replace actually doingit. Your email management is notwhat makes you a good ofcer!We need leaders who are willingto get dirty and be the rst one tostep up at the next drill. If you areleading an engine company withone of these new guys on it rightnow and it has been more than afew shifts since you pulled a line,shame on you. You are verballytelling them how wrong we are,but your inaction at your ownrehouse is sending a far strongermessage to them. I have noticeda common denominator to thetrash talking over the years. Themore frequently you talk downabout us, directly correlates withhow infrequently you teach yournew guy hose management.

Early on in my career, I wasSee Mental poison, page 7


7/24


If you feel like you have no where to turn with your

public education questions, then make the

FIREEDUCATIONASSOCIATIONOFKANSAS

part of your local prevention plan. FEAKs purpose is: To assist Kansas communities in promoting re and life safety education

To provide opportunities for training, educationand interventions to those people dedicated to re and life safety education and awareness

To provide a re and life safety network for the exchange of ideas and resources

Visit www://feak.orgto learn more or to download a membership application

surprised how you almost hadto feel bad for feeling this way

about the job, I had plenty oftimes where that atmospheremade it feel like you were inthe wrong and almost as if youshould apologize for being at acertain rehouse. I got the sametalks from guys telling me not tobe a part of that, to choose mybattles (and that this was not oneto be involved in), I was that newguy receiving the same demoti-vating talks that the current onesare still hearing. Company pride does not haveto equal unchecked egos andcockiness. Can they go togethersometimes? Sure they can. But99 percent of this negative lightthat is brought on about myrehouse is created outside of

it. I am not sure if it is insecuri-ties about their own companysperformance, or if they feel badabout the time spent in the lounge

chairs while we are out training.But something makes them feel

as if they need to discredit every-thing about us. When you have agroup of guys that want to builda crew and their common goal isto be the best they can possiblybe, company pride and espiritde corp will always be present.When another re company doesnot have this common goal, doesnot believe in company pride,and sees training as more of abother, then clearly it dont takea genius to see why they are of-fended by a highly motivatedcrew with strong company pride. We understand that this highenergy mentality that is startingto gain traction with our youth isintimidating. It requires a lot ofhard work, dedication to training

your new guy, and an all-aroundcommitment to raise the bar onyour own performance. I am notsorry that we are choosing the

hard way, because it is the rightway. For those of you who truly

believe in this mental poison youare spreading among our youth,keep it to yourselves. If you feelyou have to talk to someoneabout it, I honestly welcome aphone call from you any day Iam on shift. I will always have adiscussion about this topic, but Iwill always ask you one question.Can you tell your Chief word forword these beliefs that you areso quick to tell to the new guys?Because I can tell him mine, andI stand behind every word. For the young guys that areworking hard and trying to bemasters of their craft.Keep ongoing, you are doing the rightthing and we will always standbehind you. The right way is

rarely the easiest way, and at theend of the day it is pretty clearwhos who. From the corner ofce, be safe.

Mental poison continued from page 6

Iola firefighters put out the flames Monday night as storageunits owned by American Self Storage burst into flames. The units are at the corner of East Monroe and Kansas Drivein Iola. The units were built in 2007. They are owned by DanaWatson and Benny Buerskens. By this morning, total damage was not known. Cause of the fireis unknown and under investigation. (Iola Register, Iola, Dec. 3, 2013; photos by freelance photogra-pher Mark Dunlap.)

By Corey A. Sands,City of ShawneeFire Department

Vice-President of FEAK The 2014 National BurnAwareness Week is Feb. 2 8this year. An estimated 43 per-cent of all burn injuries occur

at home. Fire and burn deathsper year is approximately 4,000and over 500,000 people receiveburn injuries that require medicalcare. Prevention is the best way tohelp lower this alarming number.Teaming up with your local burn

center is a good way to get yourmessage across to a broader au-dience. Below are a few tips thatyou might think about sharingwith your community.

Create a kids-free zone inthe kitchen Keep the pot handles in so

little children cannot grab them Set your water heater to nomore than 120 degrees to helpreduce scalds Always blow out candles be-fore leaving a room Cover electrical outlets Give space heaters room.

Keep all combustible items atleast 36 inches away.

National Burn Awareness Week - February 2-8


8/24


Membership Application

KANSAS STATE

FIREFIGHTERSASSOCIATION, INC.

Name: ______________________________

Department or Business: ________________

Address: ____________________________

Email Address:_______________________

Individual Associate Membership - $10 per year

(FIREWIRE mailed to your address)

Department Membership $50 per year

MAIL TO:STEVE HIRSCH, SECRETARY, KSFFA

BOX 296, OBERLIN, KS 67749

Individual and GroupInsurance Services

5200 Bob Billings Parkway, Suite 301Lawrence, KS 66049

Phone: (785)393-1299

[email protected]

Brian Millls Agent

Connie Daggatt Administrator

FRA Benefit Plans

Voluntary Payroll Deduction

Plans

Life-Annuities-Disability

IGIS

By the National VolunteerFire Council

First responders areused to being there when oth-ers need them. Through res,medical emergencies, naturaldisasters, and other incidents,reghters and EMTs are theones community members counton to protect them in any kindof emergency. Yet these samerst responders often neglect to

take care of their own health andsafety. Year after year, heart at-tack is the leading cause of line-of-duty death, and countless rstresponders struggle with medicalissues such as hypertension, highcholesterol, diabetes, and heartdisease. Fire and emergencymedical services personnel are

Focus on your heart health this February and all yearnot alone in their risk of heartdisease. According to the Cen-ters for Disease Control and Pre-vention, about 600,000 peopledie of heart disease every year,making heart disease the leadingcause of death for both men andwomen. What makes the re ser-vice unique is the intense pres-sures and high intensity nature ofthe job. A 2007 study publishedin the New England Journal of

Medicine found that emergencyreghting duties were associ-ated with a risk of death fromcoronary heart disease that wasmarkedly higher than the riskassociated with nonemergencyduties. Fire suppression had thehighest risk. This is probably notsurprising to most rst respond-

ers. What is surprising is thatthere are still so many reght-ers and EMS personnel who arenot taking proactive measures toreduce their risks of heart attackand heart disease. First respond-ers must be ready at a momentsnotice to battle very demandingemergencies. Emergency re-sponse personnel must be physi-cally and mentally prepared forthe job at hand.

February is AmericanHeart Month, an annual eventthat is designed to renew the na-tions commitment to ghtingheart disease and increase pub-lic awareness of how to preventthis deadly illness. While hearthealth should always be a prior-ity, American Heart Month cre-ates an opportunity to reafrmand re-energize our commitmentto a leading healthy lifestyle.

While getting and stay-ing healthy takes some work,help is available. For emergencyservices personnel, the NVFCHeart-Healthy Fireghter Pro-gram offers resources for individ-

uals and departments to focus ontheir health. These include toolsto start and expand a departmenthealth and wellness program,tness demonstrations, healthyrecipes, health assessment tools,success stories, training webi-nars, the Health and WellnessAdvocate Workshop, smokingcessation resources, and more. Inaddition, the interactive Fired Upfor Fitness Challenge motivates

rst responders to get active byproviding incentive rewards formeeting tness goals. Find allof these tools and more at www.healthy-reghter.org.

There are many simplesteps you can take to begin onthe path to heart health. Theseinclude: Aim for a healthy weight. It isimportant for a long, vigorouslife. Excess weight and obesitycause many preventable deaths. Get moving. Make a commit-ment to be more physically ac-tive. Aim for 30 minutes of mod-erate-intensity activity on most,preferably all, days of the week.

Eat for heart-health. Choose adiet that is low in saturated fat,trans fat, and cholesterol. Be sureto include whole grains, vegeta-bles, and fruits. Know your numbers. Ask yourdoctor to check your blood pres-sure, cholesterol (total, HDL,LDL, triglycerides), and bloodglucose. Work with your doctorto improve any numbers that arenot normal.

If you smoke, try to quit. Peoplewho smoke are up to six timesmore likely to suffer a heart at-tack than non-smokers.Be proactive in your health andwork to prevent avoidable illnessand tragedy. With so many peo-ple who depend on you yourfamily, your department, andyour community you cannotafford to put off taking care ofyourself. Find more steps, tips,and resources for becoming hearthealthy on the Heart-HealthyFireghter web site at www.healthy-reghter.org.

If youve ever sat around abonre at night roasting hot dogsand making smores, then youprobably know the beauty of re.However, if youve ever seen aprairie re racing across a tall-grass pasture or felt the searingblast of a house ablaze, you un-doubtedly have some inkling ofthe devastating power of a re-gone-wild. Controlled re is oneof mans greatest tools, allowingthe advent of modern civilizationthrough the culinary arts and in-dustry (think of a barbeque grillor the are of a welders torch);

but when re escapes that controland spreads wildly through com-bustible materials, re is one ofmankinds deadliest enemies. And thats where the Benning-ton Volunteer Fire Departmententers the picture. On Fridaymorning, Oct. 11, I was walkingfrom my classroom in Benning-ton High School down to the caf-eteria to get a cup of coffee whenI saw the re trucks in BulldogAlley. A handful of men andwomen, 13 in all, some dressedin full reghting regalia, stoodtalking in small groups as littlekids trooped out the school doorsand engaged in exploring the ve-hicles, observing the specializedtools like gasoline powered sawsand long handled axes, and man-ning a re hose to try to hit a tar-get across the pavement. It wasalmost a scene out of a NormanRockwell paintingAmericana atits best. Why were these volunteersstanding by the trucks, explain-ing the equipment and speak-ing to the youngsters about thedangers of re? Because thesefew men and women have madeit their business to help protectthe rest of us. Unlike most cityemployees, they are not paid toman the re station or to presenta lesson that might someday savea life or a home; they do it for thelove of community and the sanc-

tity of human life. Since we have been present-ing these programs to the grade-schoolers, explains 22-year vet-

Up in smokenot on their watcheran David Carson (1980 BHSgraduate), weve seen res start-ed by kids playing with matchesor other materials drop from veor six a year to only an occasion-al incident. David Swetson, alsoa BHS alumnus from 2005, nodshis head in agreement. We allchip in to fund this presentationthat includes a bag of re safetymaterials for every student. Theguys and gals out here todaytake off from work to do this; itsmoney out of our pocket, but itsimportant to us, so we do it. These volunteers are of the

same breed as those brave andheroic souls who, when the twintowers of the World Trade Cen-ter were on re after 9/11 andpeople were rushing down thestairs to escape the conagration,were rushing up the stairs to aidand rescue those caught in thathell-hole created by the worstterrorist attack on American soil.These seemingly ordinary menand women in Bennington, KS,USA, serve their country andcommunity by offering their timeand talents to protect and educatethe young, the nave, and thecomplacent. They are ordinarycitizens doing what it takes tomake our nation great: volunteer-ing for a cause that binds themtogether into a specialized force

for the good and safety of the restof us. In my 22 years on the Ben-nington Volunteer Fire Depart-ment, weve responded to hun-dreds of res, says Carson.Probably 30 or 40 of those werehouse res, and at least twice thatnumber were car wrecks. We usethe Jaws of Life tool on three orfour of those wrecks a year, andoften that makes the differencebetween survival and death. We encourage others to joinus, Carson continues. Our ju-nior reghters are high school

students like senior Casey Wal-ters. These young people see theimportance of what we are doingand have become a vital part ofcontinuing the effectiveness ofour volunteer force. We needyoung people to step up and helpout. You can help fund the Ben-nington Volunteer Fire Depart-ment by making a donation oftime and/or money. Every littlebit helps these courageous menand women serve the greatergood of our local communitiesand country. They are the oneswho keep our dreams, homes,and lives from going up in smoke. (Minneapolis Messenger, Min-neapolis, Nov. 7, 2013; writtenby Don Wagner.)

Christmas came early to Shawnee County Fire District No. 4. The department received a new re engine. The department purchased the re engine with funds from its reequipment fund and through a lease purchase agreement with Com-munity Bank in Topeka. The engine cost about $215,000. Shawnee County Fire District No. 4 covers western Shawnee Coun-ty and part of eastern Wabaunsee County. It is the only department inShawnee County that is operated by volunteer reghters only. Thereare about 20 volunteer reghters and EMTs. The new re engine will be placed at the Dover Fire Station andreplaces an engine that is more than 20 years old. (Topeka Capital-Journal, Topeka, Dec. 20, 2013.

Shawnee Co. Fire District

No. 4 gets new engine

126th

ANNUAL KSFFA

CONFERENCE

April 24-26, 2014SALINA, KS

Check www.ksffa.com for details


9/24


The home of Evelyn Anshutz,NW 190th Street, was destroyedin a re that broke out just after9:30 p.m., Tuesday. The home in the northwestpart of the county was almostfully engulfed by the time re-ghters arrived at the rural farm-

stead north of Seward. Fireght-ers from Stafford, Barton andPawnee counties responded tothe scene. Evelyn, who arrived home

just after the re started left andcalled 911 from another location. Flames were contained to justthe house even though strongwinds fanned the ames andblew embers into a group of Ce-dar trees bordering the yard. Fireghters were on sceneuntil approximately 3 a.m.,Wednesday. The home was the fam-ilys original homestead with thehouse being built circa 1887. A re department spokesper-

son said they believe the cause ofthe re was electrical. (St. John News, St. John, Nov.

27, 2013; written by Terry Sprad-ley.)

Blaze destroyscentury-oldhome

A firefighter shoots a stream of water to Evelyn Anshutzs home. Photo by Terry Spradley, St. John News.

By Steven Lehwald, Esq.Administrator,

Firefighter Relief ActKansas Insurance Department Financial statements The beginning of the year is abusy time for most people, andthat is no different here at theKansas Insurance Department.For the FRA program, it is nowtime to start submitting nancialstatements. Please submit your

nancial statements using theFRA online program by April 1. Failure to do so is a violationof Kansas statute and makes theFRA not qualied to receive adistribution from the relief fund.The online program can be foundon the Kansas Insurance Depart-ments website at www.ksinsur-ance.org/secure/FRAOnline/in-dex.php. To log in, you will need toknow your FRA number, user-name, and password for yourparticular FRAs account. If youdo not know this information,call the ofce at (785) 296-7831and we can set it up for you. As previously mentioned,there will be two new featuresprovided in the FRA online pro-

gram. One is a two-year compar-ison worksheet that allows youto use an electronic worksheetto populate your data and add orsubtract amounts to check yourwork before starting the nancialstatement wizard. The other feature involvesthe annuity program. When youclick on the nancial statementwizard, the rst thing that willpop up will be the annuity/pen-sion screen. The screen will pro-vide questions regarding yourFRAs annuity program and takeyou through a step-by-step pro-cess. Once all the questions areanswered and the amounts areentered, the information will beautomatically populated in thenancial statement, and you willbe able to continue on with theother items. Those of you that le yourincome taxes using online pro-grams will nd the annuity/pen-sion screen to be similar to thee-le systems that those pro-grams use. If things go well, wewill look into possibly expandingthe e-le system to cover other

areas of the nancial statement. The overall goal of these im-provements is to make thingsmore efcient and easy to use. Ifyou have any problems or sug-gestions to make the programbetter, please feel free to call, e-mail, or drop by my ofce. Corporate status In the last edition of the

Firewire, I mentioned that wewould be creating a databaseto track every FRAs corporatestatus to make sure they werein good standing as a corpora-tion with the Kansas Secretary ofStates ofce. Those FRAs foundnot in compliance are not eligibleto receive money from the relieffund until their status is cleared.We have created that database

Steve Lehwald

and have sent out notication let-ters to those FRAs whose statuswas not in compliance. We have had a quick responsefrom most of those FRAs andonly have approximately 20 leftthat are not in compliance. If youthink or know that your FRA isone of those 20, please contactus so we can take the steps to getyou in good standing and quali-ed to receive money from the

relief fund.

New FRA Handbook All FRA treasurers shouldhave received a new blue Kan-sas Fireghter Relief Act Hand-book and Best Practices bookin the mail along with the nan-cial statement reminder letter.The handbook was changed toinclude some new information,update old information, and re-

arrange some of the sections foreasier use. Please take some time to gothrough the handbook; it pro-vides a wealth of informationrelated to the Fireghter ReliefAct. I will bring extra books toall events and workshops that Iattend throughout the year. If youwould like a handbook, pleasecontact the ofce, and we can getone sent to you.

Financial statements need to be submitted by April 1

By Todd Hart, Deputy Chiefof the City of Olathe

Fire Department My name is Todd Hart andI serve as Deputy Chief of theCity of Olathe Fire Department.This past summer, I was electedto the KPERS Board of Trust-ees as the Non-Schoolrepresentative. BeforeI discuss my role onthe Board of Trustees,I want to thank all the

reghters throughoutthe State of Kansasthat helped me win thiselection. It was greatto see how we orga-nized as a group to ob-tain ballot signatures,create a calling tree,speaking at variousevents, and essentiallyspreading the word ofthe importance of a healthy Kan-sas Public Employees Retire-ment System. I especially want to thankCaptain John Dejulio, AssistantChief Doug Fischer, Police Ser-geant Brian Wessling, and the en-tire Olathe Fire Department forall of the support you provided tothis effort. I could not have been

KPERS update from your KPERS Trusteeelected to the board without all ofyou. Again, thanks to everyone. As a KPERS Board memberwe are asked to do several thingswhile serving in this capacity;however, the primary role of theBoard of Trustees is to providegeneral administration over the

retirement system andto ensure that the fundsare invested in a du-ciary manner. Since my rst meet-

ing, I have been ex-posed to a large amountof information andhave learned a greatdeal about the overallKPERS program. Thereare some very compe-tent people working atKPERS and they al-ways take careful con-sideration to employ the

best consultants and advisors sothat our funds continue to receivethe best returns on investments. Iam also highly impressed by thededication and the level of exper-tise that KPERS employees inTopeka provide to the memberson a daily basis.

It is no secret that KPERS hashad some funding concerns in the

past; however, KPERS has beenworking with the legislature todevelop an action plan to addressshortages and bring the plan intoactuarial balance. The plan didvery well from 2004 to 2007 andthen the market steeply declinedas a result of the great recessionof 2008. This decline resultedin a couple other changes suchas higher contribution rates anda cash balance plan for newKPERS members after 1/1/15.

The funding issues did nothappen overnight and they wontbe completely solved overnight;however, the good news is thatKPERS is making great strides.In fact, 2012 showed a 14.7percent rate of return on invest-ments and so far we are on trackfor a 14 percent rate of return in2013. In 2008, KPERS total as-sets were valued at $8.8 billionand today that amount has risento $15.2 billion. The plan is ontrack to be fully funded by 2033. In summary, I am truly honoredto serve on the KPERS Board ofTrustees and will always striveto act in the best interest of eachmember. Please feel free to con-

tact me if you have any questionsor thoughts regarding KPERSand or KPF.

Todd Hart


10/24


On Jan. 18, Burlingame FireDistrict #6 held its annualawards banquet and honored longtime volunteer Lt. Elora Bickfordfor 33 years of dedicated serviceto the community of Burlingameand surrounding area. She waspresented with a custom painted

traditional helmet, a certicatefrom Kansas State FireghtersAssociation presented by Trea-surer Dan Romine as well as cer-ticates from the Kansas Boardof EMS and the Kansas StateFire Marshal. Elora began her volunteer ser-vice on April 2, 1981, when shesigned up with a newly formedgroup called the BurlingameRescue Squad. This was a groupof several community mindedpeople that saw a need for whatwe now call First Responders.Their operating budget camesolely from donations. The groupwas very well supported by thecommunity. As time went on li-

ability insurance and other costsgot to be more than they couldafford. In July of 1987 the group

Elora Bickford retires after 33 years of service with

Burlingame Fire Departmentmade a deal with the local redepartment and they joined forc-es. Elora stayed until this day asone of only two of the origi-nal group that merged withthe re department. Elora spent 33 yearsworking for the VA hospi-

tal in Topeka as well as be-ing a dedicated wife to herhusband Ron and raising afamily of three girls. Elorapassed on her sense of com-munity to her daughters.The oldest daughter, TeresaMcNellis, who was honoredfor 25 years of service at thebanquet and is still an activemember, Marisa Lacoe ismarried to Eric, who volun-teers for Beloit Fire Depart-ment, and Alicsa Mayer andhusband, Dana both volun-teer for Alta Vista Fire De-partment. Eloras husbandRon spent many years as avolunteer for Burlingame

Fire Department as well asserved several terms on theBurlingame City Council.

As with all volunteer servicethere is always training and newthings to learn. Elora took that

very seriously. She became certi-ed as a First Responder June 9,1988. She was later promoted to

Lieutenant over the medical pro-gram for the re department onJan. 7, 1993. As she challenged

herself more, she becamea certied EMT April 13,1995, Fireghter I certiedin June of 1997 and becamean EMT-I on Sept. 11, 1998.

You could always nd Elo-ra attending the SCAFFAschool in Topeka everyspring as well as numerousother training opportunities. Elora has been a veryactive volunteer for Burlin-game. She has participatedin and played a big part inthe progress of the depart-ment, especially with therst responder medical pro-gram. There is no doubt shehas touched many lives inthe community. It takes aspecial person to do whatshe has done selessly for33 years. Burlingame Fire

Department and the com-munity wish her the best inher retirement.

Burlingame Fire District #6 honored long time volunteer Lt. Elora Bick-

ford for 33 years of dedicated service to the community of Burlingame andsurrounding area. She was presented with a certificate from Kansas StateFirefighters Association, presented by Treasurer Dan Romine.

Joseph Joe Schweiger age79, of rural Osawatomie, KS,died Wednesday, Jan. 1, 2014, athis home. Joe was born Dec. 4, 1934, in

Lenexa, KS. He was the oldestof 10 children born to ClarenceMaximillian and Theresa Cath-erine (Renner) Schweiger. Joe grew up in the Lenexaarea and attended school there.He graduated from St. Agnes(Bishop Miege High School) inthe class of 1952. On Sept. 20, 1957, he enlistedin the U.S. Army and served inactive duty until Aug. 5, 1962, atwhich time he was in the ArmyReserves until Sept. 19, 1963.During his time in the Army hewas stationed at Fort Gordon,GA, Fort Monmouth, NJ, FortSheridan, IL and served overseasin Germany.

Joe married Barbara Ann Yur-chak on May 4, 1963, at St. CyrilChurch in Kansas City, KS. Theybecame the parents of sevenchildren. The couple made their

home in Lenexa for nine years.They moved to rural Osawato-mie in 1972, where they raisedtheir family. Joe and Barbara cel-ebrated their 50th wedding anni-

versary this past May. Joe was a farmer all of hislife working his own land. Also,he was a reman in Lenexa forseveral years, so when he movedto rural Franklin County becom-ing a member of the volunteerre department was just a partof who he was. He was proud toserve his community and servedas a long time Fire Chief of Cut-ler Township VFD (Rantoul). Joealso worked on the road crew forFranklin County for about 15years. He was a man who wasalways busy. He was known tosay Cant was not a part of hisvocabulary. He enjoyed recycling things,

making something old intosomething new. He made manyvarieties of yard art from recy-cling. Joe attended craft and artshows in the area, displaying and

selling his yard art. He also wasan antique tractor enthusiast. Hewas in tractor shows for severalyears. Showing his collection ofantique tractors, one of his favor-

ites is his 1935 Allis ChalmersW.C. He was a member of the St.Philip Neri Church in Osawato-mie, KS, a member of the Powerof the Past (antique tractor orga-nization), member of the RuritanClub of Lane, Kansas, and theKansas Fireghters Association.Joe also served on the CentralHeights School Board and theLane, Kansas Fair Board. Joe was preceded in deathby his parents, one infant sonon March 24, 1972, two sisters,Helen Eckerberg and BarbaraEckerberg and one brother, CarlSchweiger. He is survived by his wife,

Barbara of the home, ve sons,Christopher (Pamela) Schwei-ger of Blythe, GA, Steven (Jan-ice) Schweiger of Gresham,OR, Joseph (Jinny) Schweiger

The Graham Brothers retruck Baldwin City bought newoff the assembly line more thanseven decades ago is still servingthe city. Baldwin City Fire Chief AllenCraig said he was preparing thetruck for its annual appearancein the communitys Dec. 7 Festi-val of Lights Parade. Hes givenit a mechanical tune-up and get-

ting ready to put on the electricalconverter that will supply powerto the Christmas lights strung onthe truck for the parade. The truck also is a yearly entryin the Maple Leaf Festival Pa-rade. Craig said he didnt knowif more miles were put on the retruck answering res back in itsheyday or as a popular parade

vehicle since it was restored in1973. Its been in a lot of them,Craig said. We used to take itto parades in Ottawa and Gard-ner. Ive driven the truck in everyFestival of Lights Parade since itreplaced the old Christmas Pa-rade about 20 years ago. Craig has traced the purchaseof the truck through re depart-

ment ledgers he saved from thescrap heap when the city con-verted to electronic records. TheGraham truck with four-cylinderDodge motor was purchased inMay 1928 from local car dealerPerry Stover for $800. The totalcost of its conversion to a retruck with a bed and chemicalsoda-acid activated water tanks

was $3,580, although the citywas credited for a trade in of thecitys older Ford truck, the re-cords show. The truck was the citys pri-mary defense against res untila new truck was purchased in1949. At that time it was givento the citys public works depart-ment for its use. Archie Carlson said he was

at the last re the Graham wascalled to help ght. The volun-teers with the city departmentbrought the truck to the scene ofa small re in a Baker Univer-sity sorority house because theydidnt know how to operate thetanks or hoses on its replace-ment, Carlson said. As a spectator at the re, he

helped get the new truck in op-eration, Carlson said. I said, Heck, you better letme join the department so I cancome down and run it (the newtruck) for you, said Carlson,who stayed on the departmentfor 54 years and was its longtimechief. The truck was in pretty roughshape when the re department

got it back from public works,Craig said. But with extensiverestoration work, its now ashowpiece. Its entry in the parade is popu-lar with children, because it al-ways carries Santa Claus in theback. Playing that role in theparade, as he has for the past 33years, will be Craigs old friend

Gary Browne. I gave him the chance once toride our new Quint (re truck) in-stead, Craig said. He chose theGraham. Craig and Browne put thetruck in service one last timeabout a decade back when Craiganswered a re call as the Christ-mas parade activities were end-ing in the truck.

I asked Gary if he wanted togo, and he said, Heck yeah,Craig said. It turned out to benothing, but I turned on the oldsiren the last couple of blocks.The guys at the scene were allsmiles when I pulled up. (Baldwin City Signal, Bald-win, Nov. 21, 2013; written by

Elvyn Jones.)

of Rantoul, KS, Damon (Rach-ele) Schweiger of Tucson, AZ,Gregory (Aly) Schweiger ofKnoxville, TN and one daugh-ter Angela (Doug) Farrell of

Pomona, KS. Eight grandchil-dren, Brett, Ethan, Tyler, Dylan,Alyssa, Fern Schweiger, Melissaand Kyle Evans. Three brothers:

Thomas Schweiger of GravoisMills, MO, Clarence Schweigerof Basehor, KS, Bernard Schwei-ger of Olathe, KS, three sisters,Dorothy McClain of Osawato-

mie, KS, Joan Norman of Over-land Park, KS and Mary Rice ofWellsville, KS and many otherfamily and friends.

1928 fire truck still serving city

Joseph Joe Schweiger passed away January 1

Submitted by Stan Berry Ransom/Nevada Township assisted Utica Fire Depart-ment at a structure re in Utica. An agricultural spray ve-hicle was the seat of the re within the storage building.The vehicle was fully involved when Ransom arrived onscene. After a brief attempt at entry with a two-inch line

was thwarted by heavy smoke from berglass and oil re,the Ransom crew knocked down the re with their deck gunand access was then made to mop up and move the sprayeraway from a high concentration of methanol barrels.

Ransom/Nevada assistedUtica Fire Department


11/24


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By Brad SmithPresident, KSAFC

First I want to say a bigThank you for the condenceplaced in me by the Fire Chiefsof Kansas for electing me to beyour President of theKS Association ofFire Chiefs for thenext two years. I amhumbled and hon-

ored and know thatI have big shoes toll following Presi-dent McLemore. Iwant to thank ChiefMcLemore for hiscommitment to theKansas Fire Service.It is not an easy jobwhen you are work-ing your fulltime jobat the same time. My goal as Presi-dent will be to continue the mis-sion of the KSAFC of promotingand enhancing the Kansas reservice. We will be doing thisby providing communication toKansas Fire Chiefs on a regularbasis whether from the Presidentor from District Representatives. The Kansas Association ofFire Chiefs hosted our annualconference in Hutchinson, KS,Oct. 24-27, 2013. HutchinsonCommunity College Fire Scienceand Hutchinson Fire Departmentserved as hosts for this yearsconference. A big thank you tothem for an excellent programand facility to use. There arenot many places in Kansas thatvendors can drive their trucksincluding APs inside to be outof the October weather. Speak-ers for the Conference were Dr.Denis Onieal, Director of the Na-tional Fire Academy, and Cam-eron Bucek.

Dr. Onieal gave a Friday after-noon presentation talking aboutthe Future of the Fire Serviceand Ethics in Emergency Ser-vices. Two of the main points ofhis excellent presentation wereFuture success is dependenton todays preparation. Thefact that we deal with so muchchange in our culture makes theChiefs job that much more dif-cult. His other point dealt withthe stupid things that we can doas Chiefs to destroy our reputa-tions and that of our departments.His point about leaders having ablend of personal humility and

professional behavior shouldstrike home to us as leaders andfuture leaders in the re service. Cameron Bucek presented anexcellent message on the newNFPA 1584, Rehabilitation Prac-

tices and MedicalMonitoring. Cam-eron is sponsored bythe IAFC and Ma-simo Corporation. A

special treat was thepresence of RandyMantooth who didopening comments.Many of you havemet Randy and a lotof us remember himas Johnny Gageof Emergency. Wehad a great banquetand fellowship timeon Saturday eve-ning including the

presentation of Fire Chief of theYear award to a very deservingperson, Chief Larry Ellis. Con-gratulations to Chief Ellis! On Sunday morning we n-ished up our conference withan opportunity to discuss future

legislative issues with KSAFCLobbyist Pat Lehman. We have alot of issues that we continue towork on and need to get rightedin the coming legislative ses-sions. Make plans now on attendingthe 2014 Conference Oct. 23-26 again in Hutchinson. We areplanning a great conference andif you want to request something

special let your District Repre-sentative know and we will con-

sider it. The Association, made up ofover 250 Kansas Fire Chiefsalso has two divisions, the Kan-sas Pro-Chiefs and the Fire Pre-vention Association of Kansas.These two divisions bring an ex-tra perspective to the table whenwe are discussing issues affect-ing the Kansas Fire Service. Members of the executive

board serve on a number of com-mittees in the State including the

Memorial Committee, KansasFire Service Working Group,Kansas Fire/Rescue TrainingCommission, Homeland Secu-rity Regional Councils and manymore. All of this while working afulltime job whether in the reservice or in the real world. For contact information onyour district representatives,

Vice-President Shelton or my-self, go to www.ksafc.org.

Brad Smith

At the monthly drill of the Sabetha Fire Department in December, Fire Chief Jim Johnson and theSabetha Fire Department honored four department members, Chris Baumgartner, who has been withthe re department for 10 years; Zon Middendorf, who is retiring after serving for 20 years; Tom Nolte,who has served for 30 years; and Bob Steiner, who is retiring after serving for 45 years. The yearsof service provided by these four men, combined with the 20 years served by Alvin Thompson, whoretired in October, totals 125 years of service to the Sabetha Fire Department and the local community. The Sabetha Fire Department, which responds to an average of 40 to 50 calls per year, meets the rstTuesday of each month and has drill the third Tuesday of each month. (Sabetha Herald, Sabetha, Dec. 25, 2013.)

Sabetha Fire Department honors five memberswhose combined service totals 125 years

Brad Smith elected as president of the KS Association of Fire Chiefs


12/24



The Holcomb CommunityFire Department was host forthe November regional KSFFAre school. Chief Bill Knightwelcomed students to the schoolfrom all across Kansas. Alsospeaking at the school were twolegislators who represent theFinney County area: Represen-

tative Ron Ryckman, Sr. fromMeade and Representative JohnDoll from Garden City. Bothspoke about reghters gettinginvolved in the political processso that their views are known tothe legislators in Topeka. The weather was beautifuloutside for the re school heldon Nov. 16 and 17, 2013, at Hol-comb. On Saturday morning theclasses taught were Search andRescue/PPE, Defensive Driving,and Wildland Fires all of whichcontinued into the afternoon. The Burlington Northern Rail-road was on hand to present aResponding to Railway Emer-gencies class all day long, partof which was at the railroad sid-ing in Holcomb inspecting a lo-comotive and several cars. Thenext morning (Sunday) reght-ers from all over Kansas partici-pated in Oil Tank Battery Fire

Holcomb hosts December fire school

Firefighters begin to gather for live fire evolutions at the Holcomb fireschool. Photo by Dan Romine.

Firefighters gathered for the Holcomb regional fire school in November. Photo by Dan Romine.

Firefighters participated in hands on training at the KS-FFAs Holcomb fire school. Photo by Dan Romine.

Rep. Ron Ryckman, Sr. ad-dressed the firefighters at theregional school in Holcomb.Photo by Dan Romine.

State Fire Marshal DougJorgensen was on hand for thefire school at Holcomb in No-vember. Photo by Dan Romine.

class and Fireghter Rehab classas well as a Grain Elevator Fireclass. Sunday afternoon the KS-

FFA burn trailer was on hand sothat students could practice theirlive re evolution skills. The KU

skills trailer was also on hand forreghters to participate in. The school was well attended

and many reghters got somegreat training at the regional reschool held in Holcomb.

TOPEKA-MARCH, 2014

SCAFFA SCHOOL

Check www.ksffa.com for details


13/24


Needed:Action Fire PhotosPlease send them [email protected]

along with information to explain the photo.


The Kansas State Fireght-ers Association ofcers traveledto Garnett for the Dec. 7 and 8,2013 regional re school. Theschool was hosted by the GarnettFire Department and the Ander-son County Fire Department. Saturday morning the asso-ciation ofcers busied them-selves with classes on buildingconstruction/structural collapse,Engine Company Operationsfor small departments, IncidentSafety Ofcer and Farm Res-cue. In the afternoon the LessonsLearned class was added to theline up. Farm Rescue class washeld inside during the morninghours but moved outside afterdinner for lots of hands on activi-ties. On Sunday the Farm Rescueclass continued and classes onVehicle Fires and Salvage andOverhaul were also added. Thevehicle re class was able to burnseveral cars in the late morning.Then the students moved on tothe live re evolutions in the KS-FFA burn trailer. The school was

well attended despite the weatheron Sunday being anything butperfect. It was very cold andsnowy. In addition reghtershad been out the evening beforewith a house re in the commu-nity.

Anderson Co. and Garnett Fire Depts. host December re school

Firefighters (above) are pictured in the farm rescue class at thefire school in Garnett. Photo by Dan Romine.

Firefighters participated in hands on activities at the Garnett Fire School. Photo by Dan Romine.

Firefighters (left) participated in the live fire evolutions in the KSFFA burntrailer at Garnett during the regional fire school. Photo by Dan Romine.

The car fire class got some good practice at the Garnett-KSFFAfire school. Photo by Dan Romine.

The ofcers of the KSFFAthank the members and ofcers

of the Anderson County FireDepartment and the Garnett Fire

Department for a well-plannedre school - and to the reght -

ers from all over Kansas who at-tended the training.


14/24



The Marion County FireChiefs Association hosted themonthly KSFFA regional reschool in Marion on Jan. 4 and 5.Friday night Westar Energy puton a class on electrical emergen-cies, which was well attended.Planning and preparation for theevent had gone on for several

months. The one thing that youcant plan for is the weather. While it was cold out on Sat-urday in Marion, when eveningcame the weather began to turnbad. Five or six inches of snowfell with quite a bit of wind.While the re school classeswent ahead as planned, the frigidweather on Sunday did lead tocancellation of the burn trailer onSunday afternoon. Chief Mark Slater of the Flor-ence Fire Department served as

Marion Co. Fire Chiefs Association hosts January re school

Firefighters practice rescue skills in the Farm Rescue class at the fire schoolin Marion. Photo by Dan Romine.

One of Marion CountysCommissioners addressed thecrowd of firefighters at the re-gional fire school in Marionin January. Photo by Dan Ro-mine.

Several of the KSFFA officers and attending firefighters listen to the speakers at the opening ceremonies at the fire school in Marion.Photo by Dan Romine.

The Farm Rescue class used air bags during an exercise at the regional fire school inMarion. Photo by Dan Romine.

event chair for the school. ChiefSlater began the school by ask-ing the Hillsboro American Le-gion to present the colors and allpresent recited the Pledge of Al-legiance. He then introduced oneof the Marion County Commis-sioners who welcomed all of thereghters to the school, whichwas held at the Marion HighSchool. This facility is an old

building that has been built onto

kansas firewire

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