Chief Warn Provides Updates on County Fire Department

Prowers County Rural Fire Department

Stafffon Warn, Rural Fire Chief and Emergency Operations Manager for Prowers County provided a scheduled update on the department for the Prowers County Commissioners this past Tuesday, July 7.  The County and City had a combined burn exercise, torching several trailer houses recently, with the County Fire Department supplying water for the on-site exercise.  “We used a water shuttle from hydrants at Walmart and John Deere.  We were hoping to see about 250gpm, (gallons per minute) but achieved 500gpm when we pushed it,” he explained.  Warn said the exercise was conducted on a triangle of land owned by the City.

The chief said one water pump on a county truck needs testing and another truck is also scheduled for a pump test.  Warn explained that the vanes on the starter pump have been damaged and one vane was repaired, but still needs a complete job.  He said the starter pumps act as a starter motor for the larger pumps used on the trucks.  He added that an insurance rating for the Wiley Fire Protection District measured a ‘4’ on the ISO scale, based on a one-out-of-ten level.  “Four for a community that size with their equipment is a good, healthy rating.  We’re still waiting to receive word of the rating for Prowers County at this point,” he said.

Warn recapped the recent multi-agency response efforts for the Highway 287 accident in early June in which two persons died and 11 vehicles collided during a dust storm.  “There were 27 local and mutual aid personnel, eleven different apparatus were called in, three ambulances and 18 agency and private partners such as state, county and Lamar, as well as several towing companies,” he stated.  The response efforts also used six separate extraction devices such as the ‘Jaws of Life’ and those were requested at the very outset of the response.  In all, Warn said it was a great effort by everyone who responded.  He said that the County used a new, 360 degree rotational light tower, attached to the Haz-Mat trucks.  “This is an LED device that develops 220 watts and it casts a light all around the operation area.”  He explained that the light raises above the vehicle and was a great help illuminating the accident scene.

Chief Warn said Brawnwyn Nidey, who is working with the Prowers County Ladies Auxiliary, is beginning a fund raising project, selling illuminated or reflecting address signs.  The cost is $15 per sign which will be installed at your business or residence.  “Usually in rural areas, these signs can help save time for emergency responses, especially for ambulances when we’re trying to find your residence at night.  It really helps to have them posted and easily visible.  There’s not that much need when identifying a fire, but having one is a good decision for future safety measures,” he explained.

By Russ Baldwin