Glide Rural Fire Protection District

We have been busy since the passage of the bond.  Our first job was to find a bonding agent to sell the bonds and the Board picked Edward Jones Investments who has several local offices in Roseburg.  Edward Jones works hard to sell bonds to individuals and they feel that they can sell most if not all the bonds locally in Douglas County.  The district is currently finishing up the bonding process and hope to have the bonds available to sell by the end of April or the first of May.  If you are interested in buying Glide Fire bonds you can contact any of the local Edward Jones offices.  The second part of the puzzle that we have been working on is contracting with an architect.  The Board chose local architect Paul Bentley.  The district have been working very closely with Paul for the last few months finishing up details for the substation and looking at the new station.  The district has been working with Douglas County to have the land for the substation deeded over to the district.  We are hoping to be able to go out to bid for the Sub Station in the next month of so and start construction soon after that.  This summer we will be working on final plans for the main station, going out to bid for a contractor and starting construction sometime in October.

At the February board meeting the board chose local architect Paul Bentley to be the A&E firm for the new station and substation.  Paul was chosen from a list of five firms that sent in proposals.  The project team met over several days, going over and scoring all the proposals.  Of the five firms that sent in proposals four were selected for personal interviews.  The team spent one day interviewing each firm asking questions to determine which team would work best with our project and Glide Fire.  After checking several references it was decided that Paul would be the best fit for Glide Fire.  The district is looking at building the Sub Station first followed by ground breaking of the main station in late summer.

Dan Tilson

Fire Chief

At the last board meeting the Fire Board decided to go through Edward Jones to sell the bonds to build the new station.  Income from the bonds will be tax free and they will be sold in blocks of $5,000.  Interest rates for the bonds will be set on the day they go on sale depending on the bond market on that day.  Edward Jones has several local offices in Roseburg.  If you are interested in purchasing Glide Fire bonds please contact an Edward Jones representative .

Dan Tilson

Fire Chief

After an extensive two day investigation by ISO (Insurance Services Office ) Glide Rural Fire Protection had retained a split ISO rating of 5/8b.  So why doe this matter to the taxpayers of Glide?  The fire district ISO ratings impacts how much you pay for fire insurance.  Those people that are within 5 miles of the station and within 1,000 feet if a qualifying fire hydrant are a class 5.  Those homes that are not within 1,000 of a hydrant but are still within 5 miles of the station are a class 8b.  If you are more than 5 road miles from a station or are outside the district you are a class 10.  If you have any questions about what class you are in please contact the fire station and we would be glad to help you.

Dan Tilson

Fire Chief

541-496-0224

The projected costs of the new station as developed by the Architecture and Engineering firm of Group Mackenzie is $2,810,973.  This is for a 11,345 square foot building with 8 bays, and a 2,000 square foot sub-station located in the Whistlers area.

The main station will house most of the department’s equipment, administration, training and sleeping quarters for volunteers.

The sub-station will house the reserve engine and a water tender.  The sub-station will provide increased fire protection to theWhistlers   Park Road andSouth Bank Road areas.

Over the last 10 years, the District has saved $270,000 to use for a new building; applying this to the projected cost brings the cost down to $2,540,973.  The projected cost is $409,000 less than the bond in 2010 and 1.3 million less than the bond presented in 2008.  The Fire District is planning on going out for a 2.5 million bond at the general election in November.  According to the best estimates from bond council, the cost of a 2.5 million bond will be about $57.00 each year for a house with a tax assessment of $100,000.

Because paying off a bond is not the same as paying off your house or car, it is more difficult to estimate costs.  The cost to each individual taxpayer can vary from year to year depending on bond interest rates, value of the taxing district, amount of uncollected taxes, and value of an individual’s property.  Using this information, an individual homeowner with an assessed tax value of $150,000 would pay about $86.00 each year for the bond.  Using a level debt bond, your taxes would not escalate as your tax assessed value increases annually.  $86 each year is equal to about $7.13 per month, or $1.78 per week  (about a 1/2 gallon of gas).

A new station will help to ensure that the all-volunteer force of  Glide Fire will be available to respond to your fire and medical emergencies for many years to come. 

For more than 35 years, Glide Fire has provided professional medical and fire services to the community of Glide.  Help us to continue to provide the best service at the lowest rates by voting in the November election.

Dan Tilson, Fire Chief

Over the last several years the question has come up as to the need and use of the equipment that Glide Fire has and maintains.

Glide Fire has two class A pumpers.  2230 is a 1978 Ford Western States pumper.  It has a 1200 GPM front mount pump with a 1000 gallon tank.  This engine is used as a second out structure engine.  2230 is due to be replaced in the summer of 2012.  2231 is a 2000 Freightliner 750 gallon pumper with a 1500 GPM pump.  This is our first out structure engine.

Why does Glide Fire need two structure engines?

When the insurance rating service looks at our ability to fight structure fires, one of the things it looks for is the number of structure engines we have and the age of those engines.  Having two class A engines enables us to have the ability to get to the fire the maximum amount of personnel with full SCBA’s.  It also allows us to respond to a second alarm,  (yes we have had two structure fires at the same time), and most importantly it allows us to always have a class A engine on standby even if one is out of service for repairs.

Glide Fire has three tenders that carry water.  2260 is a 1984 Kenworth that carries 3800 gal of water  and a 3,000 gallon fold a tank.  It has an auxiliary 350 GPM pump on the tailboard.  2261 is a 1977 Kenworth that carries 3,000 gal of water and a 3,000 gallon fold a tank.  It has a 250 gpm pump mounted on the tailboard.  2262 is a 1990 Kenworth that carries 2500 gallons and has a front mounted 1200 GPM pump.

2262 is a first out tender that supplies water to the first arriving engine on a structure fire.  2260 is a second out tender and is used on mutual aid with other county fire departments.

2261 is a third out tender for structure fires.

So why does Glide Fire need three water tenders?  Again it comes back to ISO and insurance ratings.  For the best rating we have, a residence needs to be within 1000 feet of a fire hydrant.  Many of our residences are outside the hydrant system and we need to rely on shuttling water to the fire.  ISO requires that we are able to provide 250 GPM for 20 minutes (5,000 gal) for our 8b rating.  For a rating of 8 (the best you can get for a tender shuttle from ISO), we would need to provide 250 GPM for 2 hours (30,000 gal).  Some insurance companies give Glide Fire a “Tanker Credit” for residences within 5 miles from the station because we have the ability to carry so much water ( 10,050).  Currently one tender is not counted in this mix, as ISO will not recognize any piece of equipment that is not in an enclosed heated garage. 

Glide Fire maintains 2 state licensed  Ambulances. 2271 is a 1995 Chevrolet type 1 4X4.  2271 is our first out on all medical and MVA runs within the district.  It also stands by on all structure fires in the district.  2272 is a 1990 Ford type 1 4×4 ambulance and is our first out on all calls outside of the district and is our second out ambulance within the district.  (Yes we do run multiple medical aid calls up to several times a month)

Why does Glide Fire have more than one Ambulance when we don’t have an ASA (ambulance service area).  In 1976 when the district was formed, it was agreed by the voters that we would run a medical service to provide the patrons that are inside and outside of the district first response medical aid.  In order to provide for runs inside and outside of the district, and to cover the increase in medical runs, it is necessary to have two ambulances available for calls.  We also maintain medical equipment in other rigs in case of a third medical call.

2280 is our first out brush rig.  It is a 1990 4X4 Ford type 6 engine.  It carries 300 gallons of water with foam and had an auxiliary rear mount pump.  This rig also responds with the jaws for MVA’s outside the district.  Since much of our district also covers wildland it is important that we have  equipment that is capable of off road travel.

2291 is a 1978 1 ton Ford.  This vehicle was our first ambulance.  It has since been converted into a squad that carries all the extra equipment, flagging, air bags, smoke ejection fans, plus anything that doesn’t fit somewhere else. 

2290 is a 2000 3500 ford Expedition.  It is used as a command vehicle and for members to use when picking up EMT’s from the hospital, or going to out of town training or conferences.

Most insurers use ratings that are set by ISO ( Insurance Services Office) a national organization that rates fire
departments.  Glide Fire currently has the following ISO rating schedule.

5- if you are within 5 road miles from the station AND 1,000 feet from a hydrant.

8B – if you are within 5 road miles from the station.

10 – if you are more than 5 miles from the station.

This schedule has changed over the last few years.  In Oregon,
ISO and the State for many years considered over 5 miles up to 10 miles a class
9.  Several years ago the rules were changed to bring Oregon
in line with most other states where the limits were set at 5 miles.  Because of these changes insurance companies are reclassifying properties from a 9 to a 10 and as a result insurance rates
have gone up.  At the station we are getting several calls a week about fire insurance and what our  ISO ratings are.  Insurance companies are also looking more closely to make sure that your property is IN THE FIRE DISTRICT.  We do have some properties that are within the 5 mile distance, however are not in the Fire District.  These properties some times are being reclassified to class 10 or property owners are being denied insurance because they are outside a fire district.  So what can you do?  First if you are within
the five mile distance and you are outside the fire district, annex into the  district.  Second if you are in the 5-10
mile distance and still in the district shop around to find a company that will look at your location and what kind of water the department carries, and consider basing your rates on this information and not just the ISO
rating.  If you need help with letters, or talking to the insurance broker please contact us, as we have a good track record of working with agents.

Dan Tilson

Fire Chief