Wolfskin Volunteer Fire Department
Oglethorpe County, Northeast Georgia
Peace in Wolfskin

wolfskinvfd@yahoo.com

Mark Your Wolfskin VFD Calendar!
Send additions, corrections, etc. to wayne@sparkleberrysprings.com.
Please note that as of the beginning of 2015, Wayne's descriptions of training are accurate, but not official. For the official reports along with attendance please contact the new
Assistant Chief and Training Officer, Charleen Foott (foott@att.net).

May 2015

May 5: (Tue 7:00pm): First Tuesday Oglethorpe Firefighters Association meeting (Farm Bureau Office in Crawford).

May 7: (Thu 6:30pm): First Thursday Business Meeting.

May 14: (Thu 6:30pm): Second Thursday Training Meeting. Discussed response responsibilities and tactics, esp in terms of going directly to scene or station, eventually decided should go to station first except: two others have indicated they're headed there; and take a look at scene but only if on way or out of way by less than 1 minutes round trip. No more than 1 minute to check out scene. Also exemption for repeated false alarms from same residence over short period of time. Strongly suggested using number of fire depts called as indicator of potential seriousness.

May 16-17: (Sat/Sun): Firefighter Weekend. Charleen and Glenn left 5:30am on Saturday and returned 6:03pm on Sunday evening. Each took a 16-hour course. CF: Training Operations in Small Departments: This course is designed to provide students with some basic tools and skills to coordinate training in a small fire/EMS organization. A training function in a smaller department typically may include conducting training drills and coordinating training with a nearby larger city or state training function. Exam: Passed. GG: Principles and Practice of Command: This course will present principles and foundations for maintaining a command presence during emergency incidents. In addition, sie ujp, tactics, strategies, and effective communications will be discussed. No exam.

May 21: (Thu 6:30pm): Third Thursday Training Meeting. Thermal Imager was charged while pumper was run for 1 hour. Practiced using booster hose, PTO, and pump.

May 28: (Thu 6:30pm): Fourth Thursday Training Meeting. Chainsaw training: TM and MP went over prepping chainsaw with gas mix and oil, chain blade tightness, starting and safety measures, and fundamentals of cutting up medium diameter trees. (Phyllis arrived and took photos for newsletter, 30 minutes.)

June 2015

Jun 2: (Tue 7:00pm): First Tuesday Oglethorpe Firefighters Association meeting (Farm Bureau Office in Crawford).

NOTE: Jun 3: (Wed 6:30pm): Business Meeting. Changed to Wed night Jun 3 because of unexpected difficulties with attendance on Thu Jun 4 by several members. Sorry! This happens very infrequently.

Jun 6: (Sat 9:00am): County wide training - Search and Rescue. 1096 Elberton Road. See OCFFA Description for details and contact info.

NOTE: Jun 11: (Thu 6:30pm): NOTE: Postponed to 6:30pm Friday Jun 12. Second Thursday Training Meeting. We'll be looking over SalemVFD's brush truck. Sorry about the late notification.

Jun 18: (Thu 6:30pm): Third Thursday Training Meeting.

Jun 25: (Thu 6:30pm): Fourth Thursday Training Meeting.

July 2015

Jul 2: (Thu 6:30pm): First Thursday Business Meeting.

Monday, January 14, 2008

Farewell Mike

Last post I mentioned that we had a board, but that some changes were in the offing. And at our last business meeting Jan 3, we had a quorum and voted to cement those changes.

We've been aware that our Fire Chief, Mike Geraci, was going to be leaving at some point, and that point came much too soon for all of us. He and Jackie will be leaving (in winter!) for the snowy wilds of Michigan, this week.

Assistant Fire Chief Ed Frey automatically moved to Fire Chief for all of five minutes after the announcement and then we made sure he stayed Fire Chief by vote. The new Assistant Fire Chief and Training Officer was also elected. He prefers to not have an internet presence and so we respectfully do not name him here.

And so you have outgoing Chief Mike (previously 401, now 410) on the left, and incoming Chief Ed on the right (now 401), filling the drop tanks behind our very fine tanker, on Saturday.



Mike and the aforementioned anonymous individual joined us just about two years ago, after attending our Dec 2005 Christmas Party, where they were quickly snapped up. Mike already had considerable Navy experience, and along with the aforementioned anonymous individual, immediately took the Mod 1 training for a week in Forsyth.

Both have an impressive array of practical and mechanical expertise. Mike will be known for that, which increased our repertoire of capability enormously over the last year. He'll also be known for increasing our training sessions from an inadequate one Thursday a month to at least all but one Thursday a month, something that has been important in keeping us comfortable and able to do what we do. This wasn't something that was met with a groan - we needed it and welcomed it, and it's made all the difference in the world.

We're going to miss him and Jackie for their dedication, fine barbecue, and impromptu get-togethers. We wish them the best and envy the community they're certainly going to quickly become a part of in Michigan.

We're lucky to have as our new chief Ed Frey, longtime firefighter for Wolfskin (and this year's Firefighter of the Year!).

posted by Wayne Hughes @ 6:57 AM

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