At the regular meeting of the Falcon Fire Protection District Board of Directors, Chief Trent Harwig announced that Glenn Levy, a 31-year veteran of the Poudre Fire Authority, was hired as the part-time Division Chief of Training. Levy was sworn in at the meeting.Levy served as a battalion chief for the Poudre Fire Authority for 21 years and is also a nationally recognized instructor and author. He wrote a No. 1 bestselling book and video series on hazardous material response.2009 IFC adoption updateThe meeting jumped to the hot topic of sprinkler systems. In May 2011, the El Paso County Board of County Commissioners amended the International Residential Code to state that sprinkler systems were not mandated. However, the 2006 International Fire Code included a requirement that homes larger than 6,000 square feet have sprinkler systems, which many thought was a good idea.Fire districts from the rural areas rallied for the mandate, including the FFPD.After reviewing more than 300 reports, Harwig said he found that 80 percent of the structure fires that required an extinguishing agent were in non-hydranted areas. Of these, about 25 percent were burned to the ground.ìThis isn’t a sprinkler requirement,î Harwig said. ìIt’s a water flow requirement. Sprinklers reduce the amount of water needed (to be supplied by the fire district or by hydrants) when the water system (the hydrants) cannot meet it.”Rick Shearer, FFPD board attorney, said the issue is two-part: the amount of water and the capabilities of the fire district. If the fire district cannot get to a fire in time, it doesnít matter how much water is available, he said.On March 27, the county commissioners unanimously passed a resolution stating that automated sprinkler systems are not required for newly constructed one-and-two-family homes.In a separate interview, Harwig talked about the boardís decision. ìWe agree with the fact that their (BOCC) codes donít require sprinkler systems, but our fire codes do,î he said. ìIn their opinion, the fire department canít enforce its own codes because the BOCC rejected it. But the BOCCís codes also say that if the county has no fire code, the fire districtís code shall apply. That power is statutorily given to us by the state of Colorado.îDirector’s election updateLeon Gomes, the designated election official, reported that four candidates for the FFPD board will be on the May election ballot. The candidates are Steve McKenna, Bobby Sorden, Dan Kupferer and Greg Heule.Gomes said April 9 is the last day to register to vote; the county will send out mail-in ballots April 16; the last day to pick up a mail-in ballot from the FFPD station No. 3 is May 4; all ballots must be turned into station No. 3 by 7 p.m. May 8.Gomes also said the permanent mail-in ballot list doesnít apply to special fire district elections such as this one. Voters must register to have this election ballot mailed to them or pick it up from station No. 3.Other newsHarwig said the FFPD will most likely postpone a full Firefighter 1 Academy to allow the new training program, under Levy’s instruction, to kick in.The Health and Wellness committee introduced its proposal to implement a health and wellness program at the FFPD. The board will act on the proposal in April.
