Sonoita-Elgin Fire Department News

Summer 2005

Our 4 th Fire Chief—Wess Chambers, 1991-1998

Wess was born in Miami, Arizona, and was raised there until the 7th grade when his parents moved to Phoenix. After graduation from high school, he attended Whittier College in Whittier, California for two years. At that time he joined the Arizona Air National Guard with the hopes of becoming a fighter pilot. He attended pilot training in the Air Force and was the distinguished graduate of his class. After completion of pilot training he returned to Tucson, and entered the University of Arizona. In 1956 an Air National Guard unit was formed in Tucson. Wess was hired full time as a Flying Training Instructor which required him to drop out of the University of Arizona. Wess finally completed his Political Science Degree form George Washington University in Washington D. C. in 1965. During his time in the Tucson ANG he served in many positions to include Flight Commander, Squadron Operations Officer, Squadron Commander, Group Director of Operations, and finally Commander of the unit in October 1971. In April of 1981 he was returned to active duty and assigned to the Pentagon as Deputy Director of the Air National Guard of the United States. In 1985 he was reassigned to Pacific Air Force Headquarters (PACAF) at Hickam AFB, Hawaii. His tour included Hawaii, Guam, Japan, Korea, and other areas where reserve forces would be sent in emergencies. For two years he had this “tough duty,” and then was sent to Tactical Air Command Headquarters (TAC), Langley, Virginia as Special Assistant to the Commander. He remained in this position for three years until retirement.

Wess and his wife moved to Sonoita in 1988. He joined the Fire Department as a fireman in January of 1989. In April of 1989, when a vacancy occurred on the SEESI Board of Directors, he was appointed to fill the vacancy. In September of 1989 he was elected President of the Board. In addition to being President he continued to serve as a fireman, and enrolled in an EMT course. Also in January he became Assistant Fire Chief to Chief Everhart as John’s business was requiring more of his time, and John was planning to resign later in the year. In June 1991 Wess resigned as President of the Board to become Fire Chief when Chief Everhart’s resignation took effect - August 1991.

Chambers became Fire Chief in September of 1991. The Fire Department continued to grow by leaps and bounds. A few of the improvements of the Fire Department between September 1991 and May 1993 are as follows:

• U.S. West donated a suburban vehicle that was converted into the EMT response vehicle.
• The old ford rescue truck was converted into a quick attack brush truck and equipped with medical equipment as a back up EMT response and rescue vehicle.
• An Oxygen Cascade System was installed in the Fire Station to fill the oxygen bottles utilized by the department’s medical personnel.
• Map books of SEESI’s area (900 square miles) were produced by Dorothy Dannis for Dispatch and for the firemen to put in each vehicle.
• Construction was started on the north side of the station to provide for a training area, equipment storage, and offices.
• An agreement was signed with Santa Cruz County to allow the Department the use of the water stored at the County Complex in Sonoita.*
• The Fire Department began to establish Pre Plan Attack Procedures on how best to attack fires that may occur in the larger commercial buildings of Sonoita.
• CPR classes were taught in the fire station by Dr. Jud Marston**,EMS Captain, and in March 1992 eighteen residents graduated certified in CPR.
• Red Cross Blood drives were started by Dorothy Sturges with the Bloodmobile coming to the Fire Station.
• SEESI joined the Arizona State Fire District Association to gain knowledge of their requirements and how to establish a Fire District in the future.
• A First Responder class was conducted by Dr. Jud Marston to teach the protocols that must be followed for Department members that might be first on an accident scene.
• An Infection Control Plan was written by Dr. Dorothy Dannis***, and was eventually accepted as the plan for several of the volunteer fire departments in the county. The plan had to do with handling infectious material.
• The Fire Department was organized utilizing the Fire District Association rules and regulations to include functional job descriptions for Firemen and EMT's.

One of the most fun training exercises was with the Sisters of Santa Rita Abbey. They wanted to learn fire prevention, fire safety, and fire fighting, so they could be better prepared for a fire in their complex. These Sisters were wonderful. They really got with the program. One of the Sisters had the fire hose - shooting water clear over the building - and she was giggling and having the best time. Following the first two evening training exercises, the Sisters prepared and served dinner to the firemen. On the third exercise the wives of the firemen prepared and served the dinner to the Sisters and firemen. A great exercise and a wonderful group of Sisters at the Abbey. They were great to work with AND fast learners. We had other exercises with them in the years to come.

June of 1992 began the testing in Santa Cruz County of the 911 system. Up to this point we had to call the Santa Cruz County Sheriff dispatch at 394-2410 to report an emergency. In March of 1993 the 911 system was finally in full operation (Hooray) - but not for Southeast Pima County and Rain Valley. There were still many problems to work out between the counties to make it an efficient operation.

SEESI reached an agreement with Mrs. Beck of the Vera Earl Ranch to install a radio repeater and antenna on the old oil well derrick. This provided the Department with much better communication coverage throughout the Sonoita and Elgin area.

In July 1992 the Arizona Department of Health presented SEESI with a Special Merit Award for the great improvement in medical support for the community. This was accomplished by many hours of training and hard work of the EMT staff under the guidance of Dr. Jud Marston.

This brings our history up to May 1993 with a lot more to tell. Please see the continuation in the next Newsletter.

The Fire Department has helped 77 patient between January and March 2005 , a 57% increase from last year.

 

Sonoita - Elgin Emergency Services Annual Meeting

The annual meeting was called to order at 7:35 pm, June 6, 2005. Last year’s annual meeting minutes were read and approved. President Jody Walker introduced the members of the Board of Directors . ALL volunteers were asked to stand and be recognized. This is Jody’s last year on the board. Doug Ruppel was voted by proxy to continue on the board; all board positions are filled. The treasurer’s report was presented, briefly discussed, and accepted via general consensus. The Fire Chief and EMT Captain gave their reports. It was noted that an EMT must undergo 120-140 hours of initial training, with 32-48 additional annual hours to maintain state and national certification. Paramedics require 700-900 initial training hours, with 60-80 additional hours to maintain state and national certification. We discussed how mutual aid works between the area fire departments. In response to a question about who pays for helicopters, it was noted that it is typically an insurance company, the individual, or the State. The Border Patrol will only pay for illegals/undocumented aliens if they are already in custody. There are many call outs for medical support before they are taken into custody so they do not incur an additional expense to the taxpayers. The SEESI Ladies gave their report, which is also within this newsletter. It was then time for Jody to give her President’s report. Since she is retiring, she felt one of the major accomplishments was the hiring of a full time Fire Chief and two part time EMT’s. This was done after an analysis of the call load. The coverage provided by this small crew gives the community maximum coverage when volunteers are least available. (The paid EMT’s continue to provide coverage as volunteers when they are on their own time). Another major accomplishment was the “Pork Chop Dinners” that evolved to share information with the public on the workings of SEESI, to educate the public regarding both community/population growth and call load growth, and discussions of future options to maintain adequate coverage. This evolved to include numerous meetings at home owner’s associations, with realtors, with small neighborhood groups, an Ice Cream Social, and Wednesday evening open forums with the public at the Fire Station. SEESI is one of the best equipped and well trained stations in the state. This year we also installed 3-phase power for our compressor (and to power a future well); we finalized the transfer of 3 acres of land from the Babacomari Ranch to SEESI for a future substation in Elgin and fenced it in; we initiated an additional fund raising plan called Friends of SEESI; and lastly we held another SEESI Auction this past April, which was a huge success. One of the members of the public stood up and thanked Jody and the board for all these accomplishments, and the others joined in. A door prize was presented to the winner of the raffle.

Following the conclusion of the agenda items for the annual meeting, there was a lengthy discussion on the topic of the Fire District. Doug Ruppel facilitated the questions and answers. One member of the public read a letter he had prepared, with questions and preferences for 24/7 coverage. Other members spoke at length providing their experiences in creating other Fire Districts in the state. There was spirited debate on many issues related to the pros and cons of having a Fire District, as well as increase in membership fees vs. increase in taxes, and liabilities and insurance. Various board members responded to the different issues providing the rationale for our recommendations to create a Fire District, and shared the experiences we have learned from neighboring fire departments who have already gone through this process. The meeting was adjourned at 9:10 p.m.

 

SEESI’s Busy Weekend—by Jack Cox

Sonoita-Elgin Emergency Services Inc. put in a truly incredible busy weekend during the last week of the horse races. I won’t say it was my entire fault, but I did remark to my wife on Friday, as I started my 24-hour volunteer dispatching duties, that SEESI could have a fairly uneventful weekend ahead. Wrong!

It started that very afternoon as the Sheriff’s Office (SO) paged us out to respond to a medical emergency. Since our assigned Tubac ambulance was on another run, I had to request a dispatch of the Whetstone ambulance, the first of three trips they made to Sonoita between Friday and Sunday. Later, prior to the 1900-hour check in, SO toned us out to respond to a vehicle rollover down by Parker Canyon Lake. Luckily there were only minor injuries, but it still required a couple of hours to respond and return to the station.

My shift was over and Bob Barnhill assumed dispatch. It was quiet through the derby, and then a motorcycle accident occurred and SEESI was paged out. Shortly after that accident was taken care of, SO paged us out for another medical emergency, and while that was in progress, there occurred still another medical emergency. For one of these page-outs, Bob had to request a helicopter to transport the patient to a Tucson hospital. To cap his shift, Bob had to travel back to the station to dispatch for yet another medical call.

On the next shift, Don Weinstein assumed the day dispatch duties. That morning the SEESI fire personnel were called to battle a fire down by Parker Canyon Lake, which according to the next day’s news, encompassed roughly 400 acres. While the fire was being fought, there occurred three medical calls at the fairgrounds, which required Don to dispatch Whetstone and/or Tubac ambulances. And on the last response, I heard our medical people report that they were also helping somebody who had suffered some lacerations.

So, SEESI’s “uneventful weekend” ended up with one big fire, two motor vehicle accidents and seven (and one- half) medical calls. The point is that even without the race activities, SEESI had seven call-outs. This is a reflection of the growth in our 900 square miles of coverage - a growth that will continue as attested to by the number of new building permits so far in 2005. This is why eventually SEESI will become a fire district. There is only so much that can be expected of the limited number of volunteers that are available. I won’t speak for the fire and medical volunteers, but I will note that the three main dispatchers are getting a bit long in the tooth, and that a certain assistant dispatcher’s (baby) contractions were down to 45 minutes apart, while the father was out on the fire line. All and all, this was a weekend that I am not likely to forget. Well done Compadres!

This article was taken from the May 18 , 2005 BULLETIN with permission of Jack Cox. This all took place between May 6 at 3 PM to May 8 at 4 PM

More Fire Department Teaching

 

Past and upcoming instruction includes:

• CPR/First Aid classes taught to the Patagonia bus drivers. A refresher course is being planned for the summer.
• CPR taught to the AZ Rangers. Another class for them is being planned for the summer.
• Six departmental personnel attended a 120-140 hour EMT class this past spring. Five have completed their national registry testing and passed. The sixth is taking his test in June.
• In March 2004 a mini Pediatric Trauma Conference was sponsored by Sonoita-Elgin Fire Department. Over eleven agencies participated, with over 50 people attending. They enjoyed it so much that they requested another be held here. It is scheduled for October 7, 2005.

Between January and March 2005 the Fire Department has been paged out 63 times, up 50% from last year, and handled 21 motor vehicle accidents, a 75% increase over last year.

SEESI Ladies

Dis-cour’age (dis-kur’ij)1. To lessen the courage of; to dishearten. 2. to cause to weaken in an intention; to deter. This is what the SEESI LADIES are feeling now. The attendance at the lunches they have prepared since 1998 has dwindled. The ladies had a meeting January 2005 to see what they could do to bring attendance back again. They decided to try Saturday breakfast, and lots of folks came to the first one, but then the attendance again started dwindling.

The ladies are very interested in suggestions to increase attendance at their fundraising functions. What do you think of family nights with spaghetti, or burgers and hot dogs, or a steak fry, or whatever every other month or once a quarter? Can you help? Do you have any other ideas? Thoughts on the subject? Ideas? Please call Carol Hager (455-5348), if you have some good suggestions.

The rummage sales the ladies put on are good fund raisers, but they are only in March and October. There is a SEESI Ladies meeting being planned soon to discuss plans for the December cookie trays and breads, and a Gourmet Dinner. This is a time when the ladies really get fancy - cloth table coverings, especially folded cloth napkins, flower decorations on the tables, name tags on the tables, and matching silverware. The meal is always very special with appetizers, salad, maybe soup, main course, and choice of a few desserts. This is a fun time for both the women preparing the food and the diners. Lest I forget -- there is wine to go with whatever is served (red or white). Try it !!!!! You’ll like it !!!!!

 

In Memory of Clorene Bidegain

The Bidegain family requested that in memory of Clorene Bidegain - wife, mother, grandmother, sister, and aunt of the large Bidegain family- donations be made to Sonoita-Elgin Emergency Services, Inc, (SEESI). All of us here at the station wish to give a very big “THANK YOU “ to all of you who donated in Clorene’s name. What a tribute you all paid her. Your response was overwhelming. What a wonderful person she was. You showed her great respect. Our heartfelt thanks to all of you.

 

Auction 2005

Did you go to the auction? Boy, were there a lot of people there. And, the items for auction were tremendous. You should have seen them! There were beautiful bronze horses, wool Indian blankets, a round patio table and chairs, lovely art work, a Desert Winds quilt, a beautiful necklace modeled by the artist, an outstanding old pawn squash blossom necklace and earrings (donated by Ingrid Buchanan) - (that’s my “thing”), and so many wonderful other items donated by some of our local artists and others. You should have seen everything! It was great! And the silent auction! You should have seen that! There were engraved pieces, embroidered bags, gift certificates from local and other business, collages, paintings, door prizes, and on, and on, and on. The table decorations of emu eggs with emu feathers fashioned to spray out of them were given away. The dinner catered by Cafe Sonoita was delicious, of course. Our good friends and neighbors Mike and Dawn Milroy were there. They looked like they were having a good time too. The whole thing was organized and run by Jody Walker, President of the SEESI Board of Directors, and fundraiser extraordinaire Joyce Cox. Really, you should have seen it! It was lots of fun! You should have been there

 

Have You Noticed?

There is a new sign in front of the fire station showing how to make your house fire safe. Stop by and give it a look. Also, as you pass the station look for Smokey’s fire danger level. He tells us whether it is high (which it is right now), or medium, or whatever. Check it out! Have you seen the RED doors? Some of the Board of Directors painted two of them and then disaster struck --- the water compressor broke down and we couldn’t wash the bay doors, so that has to be for another time. Oh well!

News Credits:

Editing and layout: Alison Bunting and Bonnie Chambers

Teaching the Young—by Lt. Kathe Barry

As you know, learning begins from the day you are born. A big part of preventing injuries is teaching our children, no matter what their ages. October 2004 brought an opportunity through “Fire Prevention Week”. This is a national campaign geared toward fire prevention and safety. Every year has a new theme. This year’s was installing and checking your smoke alarms. Students from Elgin School and Harvest Christian Academy participated in learning about smoke alarms as well as touring the fire engines and spraying water. They also watched a fun clip of pictures from activities the fire department participated in throughout the year.

Teaching continued at Elgin Elementary the last two weeks of May 2005. Junior High students were able to practice basic CPR and choking maneuvers on “Annie” the manikin. The 4 th, 5 th and 6 th graders learned about bloodborne pathogens, taking blood pressures and pulses, and review of the 911 system.

Several groups of the local Boy Scouts were also able to have a tour of the fire department and receive fire safety and health lessons throughout the year.

We want to thank the community for utilizing the fire department as a resource for fire and health safety teachings. We hope everyone has a fun and safe summer!

 

* South east of the crossroads, on the east side.

**Dr. Jud Marston has a Ph.D. in Microbiology.

***Dr. Dorothy Dannis has a Ph.D in Microbiology. She was in charge of Infection Control at St. Joseph’s Hospital - Barrows Medical Center in Phoenix.