Chelsea Area Fire Authority (CAFA) Chief Rob Arbini said he’s been working on a number of grant funding requests for the fire authority.
Arbini said he’s applied for funding for medical devises, fire hose, gear and a new vehicle – he reported to the CAFA Board on Feb. 16.
Arbini said he expects a decision on these funding requests in July.
In addition, as part of his operational planning process, he’d also like to add two staff members and asked for permission to apply for a 3-year Federal SAFER fire grant.
These plans follow a recent Insurance Services Office (ISO) rating review after which he said areas noted for improvement included better logging and records for personnel training and improved pre-planning procedures for local businesses.
As part of this rating system, fire departments are scored on how they are doing against ISO’s standards to determine property insurance costs. After analyzing the data, ISO gives a Public Protection Classification (PPC) on a scale from 1 to 10, with one being the best.
Keeping track of and reporting on everything a fire department does helps to improve scores. Also taken under consideration in this rating system is staffing and how staff is allocated.
Arbini said by adding these two employees, it would assist the fire authority in its business pre-planning duties because this person would be assigned to go into local businesses and put together a plan for the fire authority that includes where things — like the Knox box, nearby fire hydrants, electric and gas shut-offs — are located so firefighters would have a layout of all businesses if they are called to the address for an emergency.
The second person would provide for a continuity of training, Arbini said.
If approved, Arbini could know as soon as June if a SAFER grant will be approved for a 3-year period. He said at the end of the grant cycle, he thought employees could then be hired on full time by the department through a retirement and a new position.
In addition, fire officials and Lyndon Township representatives met recently to discuss staffing Fire Station No. 3 more frequently. Although there is not a firefighter in that station every day, firefighters do go to the station each week and start and inspect the fire vehicle that’s parked inside the station.
Arbini said that with an improvement in weather conditions and the number of trails in the township, he expects to provide an increased presence there from May through August depending on the call volume.
