Curtis Sheet, Chief, Wintergreen Fire & Rescue
• Our crews have answered over 2,000 calls so far this year. This number is a bit higher than usual. Additionally, in the Covid-19 world, every call takes longer to complete. PPE takes time to don, trucks take time to disinfect, and often emergency departments are so overwhelmed that we must wait significant amounts of time before we can unload our patients. For now, at least, this is our “new normal.”
• The annual capital campaign for the Rescue Squad just began anew. Our previous drive was our most successful ever. Over 1,000 people contributed, and we are so very grateful. Next year we will be replacing a 2007 model ambulance. This represents roughly a 300k expense, and every dollar counts.
• The Fire Department also has a major project pending. We are wrapping up a nearly year-long project to select the vendor from whom to purchase a new fire engine. Considering we use our engines for more than 25 years, choosing the right one is important. The engine we are replacing was built in 1996.
• Over the coming months and years, we aspire to walk every driveway at Wintergreen. We are looking for ones where low branches and/or landscaping features make it impossible for our fire trucks and ambulances to reach the home. We will not be making any adjustments. We will make recommendations to the owners.
• We recently welcomed seven new volunteers to the Wintergreen Fire & Rescue family. Seven is a great start, but we still need more. We also hired a few new career firefighter/EMTs to fill open positions. As I type this in September, we are fully staffed for our “on property” positions and we are still recruiting to fill openings on our Nelson EMS crew. The WPOA Board of Directors acted swiftly and appropriately to help us with our immediate recruiting-retention challenge during the Covid-19 crisis.
• Several property owners have reached out to me inquiring about the vaccine status of our front-line healthcare providers. After much consideration and consultation with our team physicians, it was decided that all of our employees and volunteers need to be vaccinated. The back of an ambulance is a confined space, and our transports times are long. We need to do all we can to protect our vulnerable patients. Staff has been given until November 1 to be fully vaccinated. When you add full-time employees, part-time employees, and volunteers, there are roughly 100 people on our team. It appears we will lose two employees due to the mandate. We are assisting them in any way we can as they seek other employment.
• Wintergreen Fire & Rescue will now accept worn American flags. Thanks to a group of veterans and volunteers in our community, we have established a process to appropriately dispose of American flags. There is a dropbox in the foyer of the valley station. If the valley station isn’t convenient, you may drop your flag with a staff member at the mountain station. WPOA maintains five flag poles within the community. It was apparent that more options for appropriate disposal were needed.
• Here’s your sign! For a few years now residents of Stoney Creek have been requesting that we update signage in front of the valley station to “catch up with the times.” Although we could see the need, we were not comfortable using donated dollars to accomplish this project. Recent work by WPOA in the area created an opportunity to “piggyback” the sign project. Power for the helipad lights passes right by the sign location. WPOA staff fabricated the mounting brackets, constructed the bollards, completed the installation, and made all electrical connections. Most importantly, WPOA picked up the tab. The sign is programmed to turn off each night. We are still working through the bugs of programming variable messages and keeping them fresh.