IFB Meeting Minutes, September 2007

President Rodger Birchfield called the meeting of the Indianapolis Fire Buffs to order at 1928 on September 19, 2007. Twelve members were present; three members were excused. There were four guests: Melissa Downton and C.L. Hankins from Indy CERT, Mike Gonzales, and Dave Manlove. (Welcome back Matt Woods!)

A moment of silence was observed to honor deceased members and local firefighters. The Pledge of Allegiance followed.

A motion to suspend the normal order of business was made by Ed McMichael in order that the two members of Indy CERT could make a presentation. The motion passed.

Indy CERT (Community Emergency Response Team) is a group of volunteers who have received training in emergency response so that they are capable of taking care of themselves and their neighbors/others for the critical 72 hour period waiting for “professional” responders. The Indy CERT group currently has 58 members, and they are looking for other to join and become trained. Training is four Saturdays. Indy CERT meets the first Tuesday of each month at George’s Neighbor Grill, 71^st Street and Binford Blvd. at 6 p.m. For more information, contact C.L. Hankins at 317-685-9336. Two Club members have become involved with Indy CERT: Mark Burke has completed his training, and Ron Cunningham has one more session to attend before completing his course.

A motion to approve the minutes of the August 2007 meeting was made by David Chambers. The motion was approved.

The Treasurer presented the August 2007 Treasurer’s report. A motion to approve the report was made by Jerry Traub. The motion was approved.

COMMITTEE REPORTS:

TURNOUT: Jerry Traub reported the pictures for the special convention issue of Turnout have been selected and that copy is being written. Target publication date is September 30. The normal fall issue of Turnout is due out approximately November 1.

MUSEUM: No Report

APPARATUS: Dennis Chambers reported he and David responded with the Bloomington Ford to the America Remembers 9/11 at the Rathskeller. He said a number of attendees came over to admire the apparatus.

MEMBERSHIP: several applications were passed out to our guests. C.L. Hankins completed his and was present for his first meeting.

CANTEEN: Canteen runs:

Aug 16 – 8858 E. 21^st Street, box alarm for working motel fire. Ed McMichael responded at 0613 and served 35 firefighters and 12 civilians with water, Gatorade, and snacks. Secured at 0812.

Aug 19 – 515 N. Tacoma Street, box alarm plus extra companies for working double residence. Responded to by Dave Babcock, Mary Morgan and Ed McMichael at 1654. 35 firefighters were served with Gatorade and water. Secured at 1818.

Aug 20 – Pleasant Run Parkway, dive response for possible drowning. Ron Cunningham responded at 1651 and was disregarded on the scene at 1730 – false alarm.

Aug 24 – 707 Greighton Ct (Perry Twp), box alarm for a working apartment fire. Ron Cunningham responded at 2026 and was disregarded at 2056.

Aug 24 – 1150 N. White River Pkwy W Drive, dive/vehicle recovery. Responded to by Mark Burke at 1407, serving Gatorade and water to about 20 firefighters and three civilians. Secured at 1515.

Aug 25 – 4018 Cornelius, box alarm for a working double residence fire. Ed McMichael responded at 1539, and served 25 firefighters Gatorade and water. Secured at 1618.

Aug 27 – 2314 N. Catherwood, still alarm for a working residence. Dave Babcock and Ed McMichael responded, serving 20 firefighters with Gatorade and water. Run from 2045 to 2125.

Sept 1 – 4502 N. Ralston, box alarm plus extra companies for working residence fire with entrapment. Gatorade and water were served to about 35 firefighters. Response at 0036 by Ed McMichael. Secured at 0233.

Sept 2 – 56^th and Westfield Blvd, dive/vehicle recovery. Response by Ed McMichael, serving water and Gatorade to about 20 firefighters and five civilians. Response times: 1630-1750.

Sept 3 – 2256 Carrollton, box alarm for double residence fire. Responded to at 0424 by Ed McMichael. About 30 firefighters were served Gatorade, water, and snacks. Secured at 0552.

Sept 8 – 3824 S. Emerson, box alarm plus extra companies for a working business fire (Beech Grove, Franklin Twp., Perry Twp., IFD). Ron Cunningham responded at 1629 and served 6 firefighters with water. Beech Grove had their own supplies and disregarded IFB, so Ron secured at 1705.

Sept 8 – 9021 Pinehurst Drive, box alarm plus extra companies for a working apartment fire (City of Lawrence, IFD). Response by Mark Burke at 1326, serving 30 firefighters with Gatorade. Secured at 1415.

Sept 9 – 9040 Woodmoss Lane, second alarm for working apartment fire (IFD, Lawrence Twp., Fishers). Gatorade, water, and snacks were served to 60 firefighters and 12 civilians. Response by Tod Parker and Ed McMichael from 0505 to 1004.

Sept 13 – 8250 Spring Mill Road, urban search for lost 10 year old (IFD, IMPD). Twenty firefighters/police officers were served Gatorade, coffee, hot chocolate, water, snacks, and sandwiches from 1805 to 2200. Response by Mary Morgan and Ed McMichael. The child was found about five miles away.

Sept 14-15 – 9513 E. 37^th Place, urban search for lost 8 year old (IFD, IMPD). Temperatures dipped to the mid-40’s during this all-night response, which started at 2326 and terminated with the finding of the child at 0922 the next morning. Gatorade, water, coffee, hot chocolate, snacks, and pizza were served to 50 firefighters and police officers.

The Club has obtained a quote for insurance from Volunteer Firefighters Insurance Services, which was the company recommended to our membership as having the best rates. The total premium was roughly $3900 and includes coverage for all the policies we currently carry, plus it would insure the two/three RSU’s. We currently pay about $1100 for our current policies, so if that amount is subtracted from the $3900 VFIS quote, we have about $2800 to cover.

So far, the Emerald Society, Local 416, and the State Fire Marshall’s office are all looking at this situation, and we are hoping for some assistance from one or more of these organizations.

The RSU’s are at the Shops waiting for lettering, which Chief Nicoson said should be arriving any day. There was no contact during the last month on the Franklin Twp. RSU.

WEBSITE: (www.indianapolisfirebuffs.org) Dennis Chambers reported he is tweaking the web pages and said a couple of pages were being testy about being updated. He said he would continue to work on the site and add more items when he could, Anyone having any suggestions for additional pages should email Dennis.

COMMUNICATIONS: Dennis Chambers reported he has been contacted by Fox59 and traffic.com regarding pagers. There was a general discussion about pagers, their cost, and the projected deficit in the pager account by years’ end. The Treasurer was authorized to borrow funds from the general savings to cover the deficit. Dennis was directed to research costs (including all miscellaneous charges) and determine whether a rate increase is needed for 2008.

THE “REAL” STATION 12: Mark Burke reported the back door has been fixed. The work was done by Matt Auch (Station 11) who donated his time. Thanks Matt!!

Jerry Traub reported the 2007 Raffle is underway. It began Tuesday, Sept. 18 with the ticket giveaway and sales at the Retiree’s Meeting at the Union Hall. Ron Cunningham, Mark Burke, Rodger Birchfield, and Ed McMichael joined Jerry Traub as salespeople for the evening. Jerry reported the best start for the Raffle yet. General sales to fire houses will start on the schedule below.

Lori White is the new manager at Local 416, replacing Betty Riggenbach. Lori is aware of IFB, so feel free to stop by and purchase items as needed.

Betty’s gift is still in the works. The Treasurer will get our gift out this week.

Several members reported the America Remembers 9/11 event at the Rathskeller was nice. Mark Burke brought in one of the program booklets and showed IFB’s ad to the group.

Mark Burke reported Bert Williams (Salvation Army) will be conducting the National Emergency Management class on October 6 at 8:30 a.m. at the Horizon Christian Church. Many of our members have already completed this training, and anyone who has not taken this is encouraged to attend. Among the items covered is the Incident Command system, which is used at every response. For reservations, contact Bert at 224-1013.

A motion to adjourn was made at 2045 by Jerry Traub. The motion passed.

NEXT BREAKFAST – 9 a.m., Saturday, Oct 6, 2007, Station 8 C-Shift (Station 8 is at 56^th &
NEXT MEETING – 7:30 p.m., Wednesday, Oct 17, 2007, Station 8 B-Shift Binford Blvd)

Indianapolis, Indiana 46220 Fire Buff of the Year