Joseph was born in Brighton, Mass. and spent his school years in Raymond, New Hampshire and Tucson, Arizona. He graduated in 1980 from Palo Verde High School and went straight to Pima College where he took classes in Interior Design. While there he was asked to teach Vocational Education. He did so for the next seven years. During that time he was also working with his Dad learning the upholstery business. In 1992 he and Deana were married and he was running his own business called "Top Stitch." Wanting to branch out to see what else was out there in his field of work, Joseph sold the upholstery side of his business and started working for a furniture consulting company, which would include working with Sears Home Life Furniture, Penney's, and many other department stores. After five years of this consulting work, he became American Home Furniture Quality Control Manager.

Enough big city life !!! Joseph and Deana moved to Sonoita in 1995. The year 1996 brought employment at Ace Hardware, joining SEESI as a volunteer, and taking Wild Land Fire classes at Huachuca City. In 1997 Fire Fighter I and II classes were taken with instruction here in Sonoita. Another new beginning in 1998 brought Joseph back to his original business. He began his upholstering career again--the business was still named "Top Stitch." He and Deana bought an Embroidery Mobile Unit in 2001. With it they travel around on the week ends to fairs, rodeos, horse shows and live stock shows. Deana runs the machine and embroiders designs from these different events on hats, caps, shirts, tote bags, and the like. Next, Joseph was appointed fire department Training Captain. Big job, but it was handled with his characteristic precision and dedication. He enjoyed this position very much.

Then in 2002 Jim Maloney resigned as Fire Chief of SEESI, because of conflicts between too many hours required at both SEESI and Fry Fire Dept. The SEESI Board named Joseph as Interim Chief. The Fire Chief position was advertised in the Bulletin and The Nogales International for 90 days. There was not one application turned in. When the 90 days was over, Joseph put in his application for the SEES Board to review. Because of his previous performance, goals for the future, and his steadfastness, he got the job. In November / December of 2002 our SEESI Fire Chief was named --- Chief DeWolf . And what a job he has done!

His primary aims for improving the fire station were: taking an inventory, improving communications (badly needed), increasing the number of certified firefighters and EMT's, and increasing staffing through recruitment and retention. When Joseph took over as Chief, there were 2 qualified firefighters and 4 EMT's. Now there are 12 qualified fire fighters with Fire Fighter I and II training, and 18 EMT's with 1 paramedic and 3 more in training. Thirty eight volunteers round out Chief DeWolf's efforts to date. Some of these people can handle a HAZMAT (hazardous materials) - 1st responder situation. They have also been taught to extricate patients from cars, semi's, aircraft, and homes. There are 4 EMT's who can start an IV. There is a new innovation being introduced to Fire Depts. having to do with future use in ambulances. "PHIL" is his name. "PHIL" is an electrical dummy that will react negatively if you are doing an emergency procedure incorrectly in the ambulance. Our people don't have any training classes as to these procedures yet, but the crews will be working on him in the near future. Watch for "PHIL"!

Chief DeWolf has opened our station to many organizations. Our Chief hosts Santa Cruz County Fire Chiefs 6 times a year for lunch. The 28 Cochise County Fire Chiefs meet here in June every year. Santa Cruz County road crews get their CPR training and refresher classes here. There are workshops for fire and EMT related situations. The building is also used by The Boy Scouts, 4 H young people, Crossroads Quilters, business meetings, and weddings, memorials and anniversaries. The greatest accomplishment in this respect is all the different Fire Chiefs getting together and discussing their issues and problems. All this was Chief DeWolf's doing.

Some outstanding activities have taken place during Joseph's time as Chief. There is now a "Fire Prevention Presentation" taught by Kathe Barry to the Elgin and Harvest Christian Schools. A BIG book was written by our department, Forestry Service, BLM, Pima County, Santa Cruz County, and the State of Arizona. It is entitled "Fire Protection Plan" and deals with protection of the south east corner of Arizona.

The grants obtained during Chief DeWolf's tenure include:
-The Patagonia Community Foundation grant for patient oxygen bottles, and a STOKES basket for mountain or cave rescue (use of ropes).
-FEMA grant for equipment required by Homeland Security for all new turnouts, (yellow fire clothing for everything but wild land fires), air fill station, new wild land fire uniforms (green) and some new equipment for trucks.
-Santa Cruz County Grant to upgrade the repeater with a 70 ft tower and 3 vehicle repeaters. These improved our communications so we now receive 75% better coverage in our area.
-SAFER Grant - $700,000.00 for 5 years to be used to hire personnel. There are 9 hired full time people plus 2 part time people. This has cut the crew's response time down by 5 - 6 minutes.

When asked about his future plans Chief DeWolf noted that it will take 3 to 4 years to establish the Fire District into a working, steady, plan to see what he will have to work with. He would like to obtain the CON (Certificate of Necessity) for our District area thus enabling the Sonoita/Elgin Fire Dist. to provide ambulance transport. He plans to work to develop water supplies at both SEFD and Elgin site; continue to add certified personnel; work toward lowering our insurance rating (ISO), and continue to develop a volunteer recruitment plan. He also plans to work with Pima and Cochise Colleges to get some of the students in Fire Science Classes to come here for on the job training.

When I asked Joseph what he enjoyed most about what he had done with the Dept., he said, "I have enjoyed the 12 years I have spent with the department - especially the last 5 years as Chief." He was recently appointed to sit on the Arizona Fire District Association Board in Phoenix. An honor you won't hear from Joseph. He is a soft spoken, quiet man. He is, as you can see, very industrious and works constantly to improve the future of the department. He looks for future innovations that can be of help, and his outlook is positive. He is a really nice guy. Go talk to him sometime and you'll see what I mean. Thanks, Joseph, for being our Chief. You contributed so much with your drive and foresight.

Fire District News-by Pete Daniels.

The past few months have been busy and productive for our new Fire District. We participated in two "Circle of Peace" mediation meetings in February and March in an attempt to de-escalate the controversy surrounding the fire district formation. Unfortunately, few district opponents attended the first meeting and none attended the second meeting so there wasn't an opportunity to really mediate the concerns. We did discover a significant amount of misinformation in the community and have been busy making accurate information available to the community members.

We presented information at the Sonoita Community Crossroads Forum on March 31st and brought in the State Fire Marshal John Rowlinson, AZ Fire District Association Rep. Bill Miller, and Tubac Fire Chief Kevin Keeley to provide locally unbiased information regarding the needs and benefits of preserving our fire district.

We are now working closely with SEESI to effect the transition to full fire district responsibility for the Fire Department operations. We have begun putting together our first year budget that will require a public hearing prior to adoption. You can expect announcement of this hearing some time in June. We are very pleased that preliminary information suggests that we will be able to fund all necessary expenses without exceeding our promised cap of $ 1.50 per $ 100.00 tax levy.

Although there have certainly been a few rough spots and challenges, I feel that the community is slowing coming back together in support of our fire department….and that is a good thing!

What in the World is a WUI Boundary?
The above is not a typo. It is an acronym used in the fire industry interpreted as "Wildland-Urban Interface Boundary". This is the area, or zone, where houses, structures, or other developments meet and intermingle with undeveloped wildland, mainly grasses, shrubs, and trees. Many of our community members are living in that very area. It is the main reason people choose to move to our beautiful land where they can enjoy some serenity and see nature from a very short distance, even their living room. However, when a wildland fire starts up, tension rises and danger sometimes looms around the corner.

This winter season, our community formed a group called the Sonoita-Elgin Firewise Team (SEFT). This group consisted of local residents, ranches, subdivisions, representatives and agencies. The main goal for this group was to form a plan creating a boundary around our populated areas where wildland fires could divert around structures and leave homes and lives intact. Group members identified high risk areas, terrain, vegetation, water sources, and studied historical fires, firefighting preparedness, fire breaks, and evacuation routes. Overall, the plan suggests several fuel reducing projects to decrease the availability of flammable vegetation around inhabited areas, thus creating a boundary, or WUI.

Developments of the 100 page plan involved approximately 10-months of planning and review by the SEFT and the final version was prepared by Logan Simpson Design Inc. from Tucson. Currently, this plan is being reviewed for approval by the Santa-Cruz and Pima County Board of Supervisors and will be forwarded to the Arizona State Forester, BLM Gila Manager, and Coronado National Forest Supervisor.

The next phase planned to decrease the chances of our community "going up in smoke" from a wildland fire is for the SEFT to begin advancing theories on how to attain national Firewise status, enabling access to grants which would help cover the cost of reducing the flammable fuels in our area. For further information or to join the SEFT, call Lt. Prentice Barry at the Sonoita Fire Department, 455-5854.

Secure the Perimeter. On April seventh, SEFD wildland firefighters met in the Hidden Hills area for an intense day of live fire training. Residents offered 130-acres of property as a training ground. Working in Brush Truck Companies under an Incident Commander, the companies first created a blackline around the perimeter by laying a foamline and burning out from that. Another company then extinguished the fire when it had burned enough fuel to make a good blackline.

Live Fire Evolutions. After the perimeter was secure, the chief and training officer ignited small sections of grass-2-3 acres. Brush truck companies worked from the black (the burned area) and did a direct attack on the fire. A typical company consisted of three people. The driver followed the edge of the fireline, keeping pace with the hose operator. The hose operator attacked the fire using a one inch hose spraying foam in a pattern along the edge. Another fire firefighter followed about 30 feet behind the truck with a flapper to catch any restarts. The crews swapped positions on each evolution to gain experience and to get the other crew member's perspective. They ran about 10 evolutions, igniting and suppressing fire. The training was very helpful for our new firefighters, Tom Gundy, Josh Brown, and Priscilla Perez who recently completed the forty-hour Basic Wildland class.

Team Readiness. Besides this training, SEFD has trained on brush truck pump operations, GPS and mapping, fire shelter deployment, and ancillary tasks like fence cutting and repair. Crews have begun inspecting and inventorying personal gear. Crews spent the winter improving the Brush Trucks.

SEESI ANNUAL AUCTION AND DINNER FUNDRAISER A SUCCESS
The Sonoita-Elgin Fire Department's Auction and Dinner raised over $40,000 on Saturday April 14th. Officials in attendance included County Supervisor John Maynard, Emergency Services Director Louis Chaboya, and Republican State Senator Timothy Bee and his daughter (pictured at right).

The silent auction, which closed immediately before the live auction, found many people scrambling to get the final bid on items they wanted, much to the dismay of others who even went to the extent of recruiting spies! Great items were purchased at a good price, all for a good cause.

After dinner was served, an enthusiastic crowd took part in the live auction which included a golf cart, a puppy, a mini motorcycle, several vacation destinations, and a myriad of paintings, pictures and furnishings. Two helicopter tours were donated by Life Net and Air Evac. The crewmembers of Air Evac 22, who provide emergency medical transport in our area, arrived in their helicopter from Sierra Vista to participate in the festivities.

IMPROVEMENTS FOR THE BETTER

There have been many improvements to the fire station in the past few months. On the exterior, we moved the fence and gates on the north side to the rear of the building, allowing for more parking and a more user friendly look to the front of the station. Further exterior improvements planned for the future, as budgets and manpower allow, include the installation of a front canopy over the entry to the administration offices, and another small canopy over the north and south sides entry doors. A fresh coat of paint is in order for the bay doors and the wood finishes. A double split rail fence will separate landscape planters from parking areas. We will also be looking for Firewise type plants to be planted in the planter areas on the west side of the station.

On the inside, we have done some minor remodeling to create an entry/reception area, administration area, and duty crew work area which allows the crew on duty a place to eat, work on the computer, train, exercise or study without affecting anyone who might be using the meeting room on the south side of the building.

All the improvements have been made through the donation of materials and manpower, and re-using items such as doors. Although it has taken some time to complete the work, now that the paint and flooring are done it is nice to stand back and look at what can be accomplished without costing the Fire Department any money. Thanks go out to all of the people who donated their time and/or money for the effort. Watch for future improvements as we continue to grow.

Motorcycles are becoming more popular with all age groups. The Sonoita-Elgin area is very popular with motorcyclists. These two facts are very concerning for local emergency service providers.

Daniel Judkins a nurse and the Trauma Outreach Educator and Injury Epidemiologist at University Medical Center, presented his class, "Motorcycle Madness" to 36 volunteers on May 8, 2007. The class covered motorcycle use, safety, accident incidence, injuries typically seen in motorcycle accidents, patient treatment, and patient packaging for ground and helicopter transport. The class targeted pre-hospital medical personnel: paramedics, EMT-Basics, and First Responders. Dispatchers and Support Service Techs also attended to gain insight.

The curve at milepost 44.5 of highway 83 is the worst in Arizona and eighth worst in the nation for motor vehicle fatalities.