Marion County Fire Dist. No.1, members of the International Association of Firefighters Local 2557 and Volunteers of the Marion County Volunteer Firefighters Association will be conducting a community-based door-to-door smoke alarm campaign on Saturday January 14, 2012. Firefighters and volunteers will be testing and installing smoke alarms if needed at Salem RV Park located at 4490 Silverton Rd. NE, Salem, Oregon.

Smoke alarms are critical to home fire safety because they alert us to fire in its early stages. Even more important, they can alert us to a fire when we are most vulnerable – when we are asleep at night. According to the Office of State Fire Marshal, 80% of Oregon’s 41 fire fatalities occurred in homes in 2004.  The majority of the home fire victims died in homes without a working smoke alarm. The smoke alarms were not working, usually because batteries were dead, disconnected, or missing.

“The presence of a working smoke alarm significantly increases your chances of surviving a fire, and our program will ensure that more of our residents have that protection,” stated Fire Chief J. Kevin Henson.

Local funding for this program was provided by Oregon Office of State Fire Marshal Office, IAFF Local 2557 and MCFD1 Volunteer Association.

On Friday evening, Marion County Fire District #1 (MCFD1) responded to a school for an unconscious person. Upon arrival, the crews found bystander CPR being performed on a 12 year old male. With precious time counting against them, MCFD1 paramedics began the advanced life support measures that would bring a pulse back at the same place he collapsed. Battalion Chief Craig LoSasso added, “The crews worked so quickly that the patient had a pulse when I arrived on scene. A lot of credit should be given to the coaches that witnessed the collapse and performed CPR.”

But the return of the child’s pulse was more than a fire department success, it was a success of the system. Prior to this call, citizens were trained in CPR, 911 dispatchers were trained in call taking and routing critical resources, law enforcement and fire departments were trained to assist each other, chaplains were trained on a comforting family members, and hospital doctors, nurses and staff were trained in pediatric care. The collaborative efforts of many enabled the system’s success. MCFD1 Fire Chief Kevin Henson stated that he was pleased with the response to the situation. “When an event like this happens, it great to see multiple agencies and the public working in synchronicity”, Henson said. Marion County Fire District #1 encourages people to get CPR trained and call 911 early for emergencies because seconds do count.

Marion County Fire District #1’s annual food and toy drive is our largest event; this year we will be serving more than 260 families in our Fire District. It all begins each November when volunteer firefighters deliver food collection barrels to schools within our District which are then collected the second week of December and delivered to families along with donated toys just before Christmas.

Each year, staff, students, and neighborhood surrounding the elementary schools of Auburn, Brooks, Clear Lake, Forest Ridge, Hayesville, Hazelgreen, Middle Grover, Marion Miller, Mary Eyre, Lamb, Livingston Jr. Academy, Scott, Yoshikai, and Head Start come together to gather food donations for families in need during the holiday season.

This year, our local schools have gone above and beyond the numbers from previous years with our top three collections from Four Corners Elementary with 5409 food items donated, Mary Eye with 4250, and Yoshikai with 4045.  Mary Eyre’s Community School Outreach Coordinator Priscilla Villalobos reported that the five 55-gallon drums of food were overflowing and additional boxes were needed to contain the generous donations. 

Fire District personnel along with assistance from the Marion County Sheriff’s Office arrived at schools this morning to begin loading all of the donations onto trailers to be taken to our Brooks Fire Station for sorting and packaging. The collected food and toys will be packaged and delivered on Saturday by volunteers in our community.

In response to the seemingly endless donations of food, Chief Henson added, “This event that helps so many families simply could not happen without the support and cooperation from the citizens and schools in our fire district. We are humbled by their graciousness and generosity.” Chief Henson expressed his appreciation and sincere thanks to MCFD#1 Volunteer Melissa Northcutt who dedicates countless hours of her time and energy to coordinating this event year after year with our local schools and businesses.

We want to share a story regarding dedicated employees at our State Penitentiary.  Three years ago, Penitentiary staff discovered that there was an efficient way to send needed items to our US combat troops serving overseas.  What began as an individual effort, soon spread throughout the entire institution.

They now have fundraisers throughout the year: Challenge coin sales, auctions, t-shirts, barbecues and assorted other fund raising efforts with a target of supporting our troops on the front lines or Forward Operating Bases (FOB) as their need is usually greater.

They utilize the website of www.anymarine.com or www.anysoldier.com to identify the units they want to support.  Typically their efforts impact our soldiers who have very few creature comforts.  Sometimes they have no electricity, cooking, or shower facilities.  For those sites, the troops indicated what they need, and that is where the efforts are focused.

They also recruit people to fill out Christmas Cards and letters to boost morale as a lot of troops do not have anyone to correspond with.

Bottom line, the dedicated men and women of our State Penitentiary quietly have created a very meaningful way to recognize and support our troops, their commitment to our country, and the sacrifice that they and their families are making.  A number of State Penitentiary employees and correctional officers have been, or presently are volunteers who also serve Marion County Fire District #1.

We commend the efforts of everyone who takes the time and effort to recognize our troops.

As we enjoy our Thanksgiving Holiday, please take the time to think of our troops serving us across the globe.

Thank you,

Kevin Henson

Fire Chief

On Veterans Day 11/11/2011, the 50+ Senior center in North Salem held a special luncheon for Veterans. Boy Scout Troop 87 located in Keizer, and led by Scoutmaster Mark Becktel, was asked to post the Colors at this event.

Marion County Fire District No.1 wanted to make the day a little more special for the scouts and offered to transport them to and from the center using reserve engine 727 from Station 6, driven by FF J. Louthan.  During the trip to the center the troop received information about the fire engine and firefighting in general.

Before returning home, the engine stopped at the Whiteaker middle school parking lot for an interactive show and tell of the process of getting water from a hydrant, through the pump and to a hand line and the deck gun. The lack of warm air temperatures didn’t faze the scouts at all; everyone had a great time and learned a few things in the process.