May 2020 Fire District Newsletter

May 2020

Message from the Chief

225 James Road Fire Station (Station “211”)
Upon its completion in 2007, your Fire District moved operations and administration from 225 James Road to the Public Safety Facility at 911 Donaldson Way East. At the time, we did not have an adequate amount of personnel on-duty daily to staff two fire stations. Part of the “re-use” plan for the 225 James facility was to lease it to the local ambulance provider, who at the time was Piners Ambulance. When the provision of ambulance services for our community changed to American Medical Response (AMR), we transitioned the lease and use of the facility to them. Recently, AMR changed it’s ambulance staffing model from 24-hour shifts to 12-hour shifts, no longer requiring the use of the facility as an ambulance station.

Since 2007, our staffing has gradually increased, now making it possible to staff two stations. In this time, the community has also grown. The District is in the process of acquiring property at 650 Napa Junction Road to construct a new station and administration headquarters in the future. This new development will also allow the American Canyon Police Department to expand operations into space currently occupied by Fire Administration at 911 Donaldson Way East.

The 225 James Road Station needs significant upgrades. It is also not strategically in the ideal location for a second station due to it’s proximity to the current Public Safety Facility on Donaldson Way East. However, with the current public health pandemic, and having ample staffing to cover two station, your Fire District is expanding its operations to include the 225 James Station. On June 2nd, the station at 225 James was temporarily placed back into service. The utilization of the James Road Station will provide improved distancing of firefighters to continue to enhance our preventative efforts towards firefighter health and safety in every way possible. We will be evaluating the feasibility and benefits of continuing to staff the station after the pandemic (pending development of the new facility at 650 Napa Junction Road). The District plans to continue to separate on-duty staff by utilizing 225 James (to the extent that we are able given staffing) for at least for the remainder of the COVID-19 incident.

Thank you to the Fire District staff and Reserve Firefighter Powell Helems for helping with the repairs needed to make the station more habitable.

Glen E. Weeks
Fire Chief

Click here for the Monthly Statistical Report for May 2020

Station 2, located at 225 James, is temporarily back in service. Thank you to everyone who helped make this possible!

Weed Abatement Program
The American Canyon Fire Protection District Ordinance 2015-01 requires the District to conduct annual inspections of properties for abating hazardous vegetation and the accumulation of combustible materials. All properties are required to be fire-safe by June 1^st of each year and then maintained throughout the fire season. The end of fire season is typically around November, provided there has been an adequate amount of rainfall.

The purpose of the weed abatement program is to prevent fire hazards posed by vegetative growth and the accumulation of combustible materials and ensure the safety of your property and our community.

Inspections will be performed by the District commencing in June and throughout the season.  Properties not in compliance will be posted with a notice to abate and need to comply within ten (10) calendar days. A copy of the notice will also be mailed. 

For additional information, please visit our website at www.amcanfire.com or contact us at 707-551-0650. For information such as how to create defensible space around your home, please visit the “Napa Firewise” website at www.napafirewise.org. 

Probationary Firefighter Training
Probationary Firefighters receive instruction from Captain Medina on how to perform a Low Angle Rope Rescue.

Firefighter Qualification Training/Evaluation
Newly hired firefighters for the American Canyon Fire Protection District are considered probationary firefighters until they have completed their first eighteen (18) months of employment and have passed their knowledge and skills evaluation benchmarks. Probationary Firefighter Steele recently was evaluated on the third (out of four) modules which include (but is not limited to) the following:

• Fire attack operations
• Ventilation operations
• Ground ladder procedures
• Wildland firefighting
• Torch operations
• Rope Systems

Probationary Steele is being tested on developing a safety line rope system.