The Falcon Fire Protection District held its regular board meeting Aug. 15. All board members were present except Phillip Theodore, who was excused for a business trip.Chief Trent Harwig administered the oath of office to Lt. Chris Benoit, a 13-year veteran of the fire service who previously worked for the Cimarron Hills Fire Department.Rural Water FundDennis Weets from G.J. Gardner Homes discussed a request to participate in the Rural Water Fund in lieu of installing a cistern for a single-family home presently under construction.The FFPD board had previously discussed allowing individual single-family properties to be part of the RWF in lieu of installing cisterns to meet code requirements for firefighting water supply. The RWF was developed by FFPD primarily for commercial properties and new developments.After discussion, the board unanimously passed a motion authorizing the use of the Rural Water Fund for single-family homes as an acceptable option to meet fire flow requirements.Fire code updateHarwig reported the nine entities that are part of the 2009 International Fire Code adoption have answered comments from the Housing and Building Association of Colorado Springs. FFPD still supports the amended code to require sprinklers for commercial buildings larger than 6,000 square feet or exceeding 100 occupants. Harwig said, ìBased on our available resources, we believe this is necessary for fire protection and life safety in our district.îFFPD is ready to adopt the 2009 IFC; it still needs to go before the El Paso County Board of County Commissioners.Community outreachBattalion Chief Vern Champlin reported that summer is always a slow period for community outreach programs. However, FFPD attended two community festivals, hosted four community meetings and conducted one station tour.The Second Grade Fire Safety Program will resume in September.The next community CPR class is scheduled for Sept. 22. For more information, contact Gretchen at 495-4050.The FFPD and Falcon School District 49 have partnered to allow firefighters to go into schools for lunch. Champlin said itís an opportunity to ìeat with the kids, talk to the kids and be a visible face of the fire department for the teachers and the children.îTrainingDivision Chief of Training Glenn Levy and Lt. Dave Smith presented a spreadsheet they created, with input from the battalion chiefs, to track FFPD personnel training hours by topic and category. Training hours will be reported to the board monthly beginning in September.Smith described his first few weeks in the training division. ìItís been awesome being with each crew, and working side-by-side with them, delivering training and getting feedback from them about what theyíd like to do.îLateral transfers and CPAT Division Chief Levy reported that the applicant pool for lateral transfers has been narrowed down to 12 candidates. However, the requirement for a current Candidate Physical Abilities Test certification may pose a challenge for the department.The current policy outlined in the FFPD Member Handbook (which is under revision) states that ìevery new memberî must present a current CPAT. However, since CPAT certifications are only good for one year, some candidates do not hold a current certification; others were never required by their current departments to complete the CPAT. Enforcing the CPAT requirement could delay the FFPD hiring process by several months because the next local CPAT will be in October or November, and delays could result in candidates being hired elsewhere. At $110 – $170 each, CPATs are also costly.Division Chief Levy proposed that the board give authorization to the fire chief to waive the CPAT requirement for firefighters transferring from other departments. The FFPD will meet or exceed CPAT elements during the lateral training academy. ìThrough the academy, they have to demonstrate the physical ability to perform the tasks.îDirector Greg Heule expressed concerns that waiving the CPAT requirement could be perceived by line personnel as ìdifferent competencies required for different people.îAfter discussion, the board unanimously approved a motion to allow the fire chief to waive the CPAT requirement for lateral transfers.
