MVRFD February 8th 2010
It was a very quite week for the Madison Valley Rural Fire Department. We received no calls for service last week. This down time has given firefighters time to concentrate on training and other on going projects.
This week MVRFD Personnel will be training on air bag deployment and cribbing for motor vehicle accident operations. Up coming training this month will focus on wildland fires as we are already preparing for this summer’s fire season.
With the respite in response activity, equipment maintenance and repair has been a priority. Thanks to a very generous $10,000.00 donation by a local resident, the department has the means to repair and equip a type III wildlands fire engine that was recently obtained from Federal Surplus Property. The engine was obtained from the Whidbey Island Naval Air Station in Washington through a determined collaborative effort by the MVRFD, Madison County Emergency Management Director Chris Mumme, and the Montana Department of Natural Resources and Conservation. It is anticipated that this new engine will be put into service this spring, in time for the summer fire season.
Remember the two outstanding training opportunities that are coming up. The Virginia City Rural Fire Department will be hosting a Fire Operations in the Wildland/Urban Interface course. That class in tentatively scheduled to begin at 6 pm on Friday Feb 26th and run until 10 pm. Saturday and Sunday is scheduled for 8 – 5 both days with a ½ hour to hour lunch each day. The VCRFD will provide dinner Friday night @ 5:30 and lunch both Sat & Sun. Please plan to attend this valuable fire training.
The Twin Bridges Fire Department will be hosting an Initial Attack Incident Commander course on February 20th and 21st. Class will begin at 8 am on Saturday, February 20th. Again, this is invaluable training.
This week we would like to introduce Firefighter Corinna Christensen. Corinna is married to Fire Chief Shawn Christensen and is the mother of 6 year old Jamie and 4 ½ year old Paul. Corinna is a 5 year veteran of the Madison Valley Rural Fire Department. For the last 26 years Corinna has worked at the Ennis Pharmacy and is the Manager of Yesterday’s Soda Fountain. As for hobbies, Corinna jokingly maintains “I have two businesses and two kids… Who has time for hobbies”? When asked why she joined the Madison Valley Rural Fire Department, Corinna recounts, “I had wanted to be on the Fire Department ever since I started dating Shawn.” She quips “He finally thought it was a good idea when he couldn’t shame anyone into taking the minutes at the Fire Department Business Meetings. Additionally, I can make huge quantities of sandwiches in a short amount of time.”
If you have any questions or concerns, Madison Valley Rural Fire Chief Shawn Christensen invites you to contact us at 682-3311. We look forward to hearing from you. If no one is available, please leave a message and we will return your call as soon as possible. Remember, you can get up-to-date emergency information at the Madison County Montana Emergency Information web site, located at http://madison.homestead.com/. Please visit our home page at www.mvrfd.org/. Remember to sign our guest book and let us know what you think.