CHIEF'S REPORTS
April 9, 2024 Chief's Report
Fire Chief Edna Queen
101 A Yellow Knife trail, Fort Davis TX 79734
April 9, 2024
From March 14th, 2024 through April 13th we had no EMS calls and one stand-by for a fire on 166.
From last month for the Board to know, on March 10th we drove the evacuation route though the Geary ranch. The road was in rough shape but we made it just fine in the UTVs. There are a few places that might need flagging but if Mr. Geary blades the road as he said he would, then it should be easy to follow. It takes 10 minutes from the station to the first gate then 45 minutes to reach highway 118 N near the solar park. You will need a high clearance vehicle in order to make that trek. Right now, it’s more of a trail in some parts than a road.
Training on March 17th was to go over the trucks making sure they were ready to go in the event of a fire. I also drilled the firemen on the use of the pumps.
On March 20th, I had WTG fill our 500-gallon unleaded tank just making sure we had enough gas on hand to make it through fire season.
We received a $4000.00 check for the FMH foundation the week of the 24th. This grant for the tuition and some of the housing, to send Wendi Bates and Edward Eaton to Fire school for their Fire fighting one and two course. The school is in Terlingua, TX and runs May through October.
On March 27th the DMR firemen joined the Fort Davis VFD for a joint training opportunity. We were invited out to what will be the High Frontier hotel / resort. It was an opportunity to make suggestions as to where the firemen would need to have water connections for fire. The manager had done a great job already as far as making a good defensible space, yet he was open to suggestions made by Fire Cief Olivas and others.
Training on March 25th was supposed to be running the McIvor ranch evacuation route but it was postponed until the March 30th so I took the opportunity to give our firemen a history lesson. With the maps we have in the station I was able to go over every fire that came into the boundaries of the DMR from 2000 until now. Starting with the Rock House fire, then the Livermore, Tejano, McDannel, and the Loop Complex. We discussed how they were fought, fire behavior, how the evacuations were done and how having the Southern Command stationed in the DRM affected our operations. There are only two other firemen on our roster besides myself that was here for all of these fires, Bert Lagarde and Dale Kitchens. It is important to learn from our past.
On March 30th Julie and Scott McIvor led our firemen out the evacuation route through their ranch. It took 20 minutes to reach the gate at the end of Squaw Valley and then another hour to drive the road that comes out at the U up U down headquarters on Highway 118 North. This road is in better shape than the Geary ranch but you will still need a high clearance vehicle.
I attended a Fire Chiefs meeting in Alpine on April 3rd. Fire Chief Martin of Terlingua said Fire school will be starting on the 3rd of May and that she would be sending me the registration information this week.
On April 11 the fire department worked together with the road crew to install a liner on the rock tank / dip tank by the road on Yellowknife. Head of the road crew, Darrel Fellers, determined that a liner would be the best option for long term repair of the tank. The fire department split the cost of the liner with the POA. Thank you to firemen Ed Eaton, Kevin, Dale Pilcher, Ray Queen, Wendi Bates and Rhonda Honeycutt for all your help. Also thank you to Fireman /road crew employee Art Fitzgerald and road crew member Robert Lavigne for getting this done. Thank you to Bob Kincaid, Kevin and Rhonda’s brother- in -law, for all your help. You are on vacation and we put you to work! It was a long day but the weather was perfect and we had plenty of hands-on board. Thank you to Rhonda and Wendi for helping me feed the team. The tank is full now and it looks great. There were even a few canyon tree frogs that got washed in, they made it out safely. One more step in being as prepared as possible for this fire season.
I got Ed Eaton and Wendi Bates enrolled in fire school yesterday. They will have their first meeting May 3rd. We will be hosting a joint training with FDVFD tomorrow on drafting.
On April 19 – 20 the Fort Davis Fire Department and DMRVFD will be hosting the district 13 meeting and election for the State Firefighter Fire Marshal Association or SFFMA. There will be firemen from as far as El Paso to Sonora and from Terlingua to Seminole. There is a dance on Saturday open to everyone at the pavilion starting at 7.
On April 27th we will be hosting a Fire Wise / Ready set Go event with Fire Chief Jason Duran and Assistant Chief James Wolf of the NE Midland VFD and Jayme Trainer of the Texas A & M Forest Service as our guest speakers. Starting at 11:30am everyone is invited. It is important that as many residents attend as we will be discussing evacuation routes. We will be serving hamburgers and hotdogs with all the fixings. Free of charge.
Save the date for our Memorial Day fundraiser on May 25th. This year’s theme will be An Evening at the Ponderosa. So, dust off your best western attire and come dance under the stars to your favorite county and western music. We will be selling brisket sandwiches with two sides and a desert.
As always, be safe and be vigilant.
See smoke or fire call 911.
Edna Queen, Fire Chief
DMPOAVFD, INC.
February 10, 2024 Chief's Report
From January 11, through February 08, 2024, we had one EMS call, one welfare check and one standby for fire. We also had one DMPOA road crew assist and two new members added to our department.
We started the year with high wind warning after high wind warning. There was a fire Thursday the 11th on the loop road between the Eppenauer race track and the turn off to the Observatory visitors center. I radioed in to let FD know we would be on standby if needed. Thankfully they had enough people. We were fortunate it happened during our monthly board meeting, so most of us were already in the station.
Training on January 14 was finishing the setup of the station should it be needed as a warming center. Thankfully we never lost power and it was not as cold as predicted. Also discussed was whether to change our training date and time from the 2nd and 4th Sunday to the 2nd and 4th Saturday. It was decided that for the time being, we would keep our training date and time the same. We may revisit this later on during the year.
On January the 22nd I received a phone call from a property owner. She was concerned that she had not been able to get in touch with one of our residents for weeks and would we do a welfare check. I sent Ed, Rhonda and Kevin over to checked on them and they were fine. They had the same phone problems a lot of people have had up here, her phone would not ring.
I attended a Fire Chiefs conference in Midland with fireman Wendi Bates. We left on Tuesday the 23rd of February, so that we would be there for the 10 am start time on Wednesday the 24th. That night, around 8:30, I received a message that the POA needed fire departments assistance. There were two trucks with horse trailers and horses, stuck on the main ranch road and the road was completely blocked. Thank you to firemen and support team members, Kevin, Rhonda, Ed, Marvin, Ray and Art that stepped up and got the trucks out. I am so lucky to have a team that works well together without having me to manage an event like this from my hotel room. They did a wonderful job on a cold, rainy night. During this training conference I found out that there are several options for Fire Fighter 1 & 2 that did not require us to send our firemen to College Station. One being in Terlingua starting in April running through June. I have started the process of getting two of our firemen enrolled in this school. Working with the NE Midland fire department, I was able to secure a donation of non-expired bunker gear for our firemen. All I have to buy is boots and gloves. Ed Eaton and Wendi Bates have volunteered to take this class. This should be the last piece in a long process of getting our VFIS insurance rating back to a 9.
On January 27th I reached out to Bert Geary about the eastern evacuation route through his ranch. I stressed my concern that I am the only one left in our department that had ever driven that route and that was 6 years age. He responded and stated he hoped to schedule a trip through that route soon. He would let me know when he could meet up with us to drive that route. I have asked for help getting the contact information for Scott McIvor about the evacuation route at the end of Squaw Valley or the gate at the start of high lonesome. If we had to evacuate that part of the resort, I need a route through the McIvor ranch that would come out on the Largent ranch then 166.
During our training on the 28th, we went over the recent calls for assistance that came through our personal phones. I stressed to our team that when those calls come in, to please call 911 and have our department toned out. It makes our assistance easier to document and we get credit for our responses with the county. Also, during that training, we welcomed two new firemen, Art Fitzgerald and Ray Queen.
Rhonda Honeycutt and I attended training provided by TDEM, Texas Department of Emergency Management. Held in Marfa over two days, January 31 and February 1, this class was to provide training for a staging area manager in the event of a major disaster. We both agreed that although it would be unlikely that either of us would manage a major staging area, we now have a better understanding of what it takes to do this. In addition, we are now better prepared to help TDEM when they set up a staging area in our area. Since I have been part of the department, they have deployed a staging area 3 times, Livermore, McDannel, and the Loop complex fire. Also, during the Rock House, Livermore and Tejano fires, but I was not part of the department then. Something that will always stay with me, 1 port-a-potty for every 20 people if emptied daily and 1 hand washing / sanitizing station for every 4 port-a-potties.
On Thursday 2-1 we got a message during class that our department was toned out for a possible suicide attempt or one that had already happened they were not sure. Ed and Kevin responded; Marvin manned the station. Ed and Kevin waited for EMS to show up at the country store to escort them to the scene, while sheriff Kitts and his deputy went up to the address on High meadow. Thankfully it turned out to be a non-issue. Once again, I am blessed to have a team that can function without micro management from me.
On Sunday Feb 3rd, with help from Bert Lagarde, I honored a request made to our department to give Jerry Rhea one last ride in a fire truck. During the reception, I presented former FC Rhea with a firemen tee shirt and thanked him for his years of service. Then I drove him in the UTV parked by the entrance, over to the station and got him loaded into B72. Bert then drove around the maintenance barn out to Limpia and back to the community center. It was a nice event honoring a pioneering DMR family. Also learned history of our department fire chiefs starting 1975, Charles Fellers, Jim Lannom then Jerry Rhea, Darrell Fellers, Loren Spencer, Brian DeLesdernier, Ken Gossett, Mike Fryer, Ken Gossett, Mike Fryer, Ken Gossett and then me.
The monthly business meeting of the FDVFD there was a discussion on how we should coordinate a training time when both DMR and Ft Davis VFD train together.
Marvin and Judy attended the Emergency Accounting school in Ft Davis, February 6-8th.
Ed and myself will attend the “Community Emergency Response team” or CERT being sponsored by FEMA and the Rio Grande Council of Governments. This training is to be held February 23rd – 25th in Alpine. Next after that is HAZMAT awareness for first responders to be held in Fort Davis on March 1st-2nd in Fort Davis.
We picked up trash on our section of the highway this morning.
It has been a busy month. As always, be safe and be vigilant.
See smoke or fire call 911.
Edna Queen,
Fire Chief – DMPOAVFD, INC.
January 13, 2024 Chief's Report
From December 14th, 2023 through January 13, 2024, we had no EMS calls and one stand by for fire.
On December 15, we met up to clean and decorate as best we could for the annual Fire Chief’s Christmas party. The forecast was for freezing temperatures that night so we could not leave the trucks out. The next morning, we met to move the trucks out and finish setting up the tables and chairs.
We had a good turn out and lots of wonderful food. The food held up well, although we ran out of turkey, we had a little ham left over. Thank you to all the amazing cooks in the DMR for your generosity.
Training was not held on December 17th as we had to clean and put away everything from the night before including reorganizing the storage boxes. Training for December 24th was cancelled.
So far, the new year has crept in cold and windy. Luckily, there have been no wind related fires so far. Knock on wood. We were having trouble with the heater in bay 4 and Kevin suggested buying a replacement online this time. Marvin ordered the heater and it should be here anytime now. Its being installed today or tomorrow. I will need to take B72 in for inspection and registration this month. The oil change is due for B71 and B72. Caleb suggested once a year oil change even with such low milage use. The air filters were changed on all three brush trucks.
I submitted the documents for our insurance grant and I received a confirmation of payment. We will only get $1520.00 out of the $8669.90 we paid. It’s better than getting nothing back.
I am attending the ESD meeting next week and have already submitted our budget proposal.
I am attending a fire chiefs conference in Midland on January 24th. The central topic will be training for firemen in the coming year. Possible new fire schools in the area will be available.
Thank you to the crew that helped bring down the tree on the power / phone line. The fire department, road crew and Jerry Guthrie and son all worked at felling that tree and cleaning up the area after. We were lucky that the lines did not arc.
There was a fire Thursday up on the loop road between the Eppennaur track and the turn off to the Observatory visitors center. The call came in during our monthly meeting and I radioed in to let the FDVFD know we would be on stand- by if needed. Thankfully they had enough people. I did not want to send more than one crew just in case something happened here. My first priority is to protect the DMR then help our neighbors. Trees falling could become an issue this next week due to the high winds and cold weather.
With that said, we will work tomorrow in making as much room as possible in the fire station just in case of a power outage. We have a generator and can power the station for a few days to a week in needed. Propane heat will keep people warm. We have hot plates, roasters and a microwave to heat food and a propane grill if needed to cook. We have cots, sleeping bags, pillows and extra blankets. If we lose power and people need a place to stay warm, they can come to the station. We will do the best we can to make people comfortable.
As always, be safe and be vigilant. See smoke or fire call 911.
Edna Queen, Fire Chief – DMPOAVFD, INC.
December 9, 2023 Chief's Report
From November 8th through December 9, we had 1 EMS calls, no calls for fire and helped get the trash truck unstuck.
Training held on November 12nd was going over our chain of command and Standard Operating procedures. There had been a discussion on updating our SOP,COC and work and safety rules.
On 11-8-23 we installed new batteries on B74, ie the 5 ton. Many years ago it was modified to run on fewer batteries, I think it had 4, and now the two that are there only last about 2-3 years before they need to be replaced.
On November 13th we helped the road crew get the trash removal truck un-stuck from the curve around a mile from the cattle guard. Thank you to Kevin and Ray for taking the 5 ton out to get the trash truck moving.
We were having trouble with the heater in bay 5. The pilot would blow out when ever the burner would shut down. We decided it was cheaper to buy a new one then to pay WTG to send a repair man with mileage and labor cost. Marvin, Ray, Art, Ed and Kevin all worked at installing the new heater.
Dale Pilcher finally got B72’s pump running like it should. After almost a year of trying so many different things, it came down to the delivery of the gas from the gas tank to the pump. It just did not have enough lift to successful to do this and the pump was not getting enough gas to run. So, we mounted a 5-gallon external tank and ran a line to the pump and bingo the pump now works like a charm!
Next Saturday, December 16th, at 6pm, the annual Fire Chiefs Christmas party will be held. I do believe this event has been held for 30 if not 40 years now. As always, the fire department will provide the hams and turkeys and the community is asked to provide their favorite side dish, desserts or bread to share. We will have coffee, hot chocolate, tea, sodas and mulled cider to drink. Come enjoy the sprit of the holidays and mix and mingle with your fellow community members to start the holiday season. There is no charge for the meal.
As always, be safe and be vigilant. See smoke or fire call 911.
Edna Queen,
Fire Chief DMPOAVFD, INC.
November 11, 2023 Chief's Report
From October 16th through November 8th, 2023, we had no EMS calls and no calls for fire. Training held on October 22nd was to winterize our water storage tanks. They were all in pretty good shape considering.
On October 28th the department members gathered together to present our former Fire Chief Kenneth Gossett a plaque in appreciation for his years of service to our department and community. It was a lovely tribute as we drove our fire trucks and UTVS over to his home lights on and an occasional siren wail. Because of his health issues we stood as a group down below in is drive way as I presented a beautiful flame shaped plaque to Cathy to give to Ken. Ken was able to come out and talk for a brief time. It was a moving ceremony.
We held a Fall Festival on November 4th. We had around 50 -60 people attend. It was a fun evening with lots of great food and community spirit. With the donations that came in before and those that came in after we raised around $1000.00.
Next up on our calendar is the annual Fire Chiefs Christmas Party to be held on December 16th.
On October 24th I received our annual workmen’s compensation renewal worksheet to fill out. On it, the documents asked for the number of calls responded on for Fire, EMS, Training hours and Maintenance. This was a record year for the DMRVFD. We responded to 21 calls for fire. We assisted the Fort Davis VFD with 11 fires and were on standby for 12. We responded to 23 EMS calls within the DMR. The EMS calls were either as lift assist, first on scene, welfare checks or to guide the ambulance to a specified location. Our firefighters logged 528 hours of training and over 360 hours on maintenance on our vehicles. Our department spent an average of 2080 volunteer hours. When you look at these numbers you realize how much we do in service to the community.
Work on B 72 continues as Dale Pilcher tries his best to get our pump working. We had to purchase two new batteries for B74 because someone left the radio on and it drained the power out of the batteries to the point where we could not charge them up again.
As always, be safe and be vigilant. See smoke or fire call 911.
Edna Queen,
Fire Chief DMPOAVFD, INC.