The fire service brings about many job skill training opportunities. One is the ability to provide excellent customer service. One of the core values of South Pend Oreille Fire & Rescue is to provide caring service! Each winter our members practice dealing with difficult situations in order to be better prepared for such events. The ability to deliver high quality service in difficult times is a highly sought after job skill of our and other fire service organizations. We provide some of that training.

South Pend Oreille Fire and Rescue provides training to all of its members in a variety of topics that lend themselves to a higher level of service for our community. Currently, we have volunteers taking the annual EMT Basic training that is put on at one of our stations. Classroom training is an important element of the learning process. The next major training that we will offer to local volunteers is the annual Wildland Firefighter Training Academy. This class provides certification in wildland firefighting and enables our volunteers to learn the best methods to stay safe and effectively extinguish wildland fires. You could be a part of our wildland firefighting effort!

South Pend Oreille Fire and Rescue is currently accepting applications for new members. Being a volunteer firefighter offers many benefit is and provides great satisfaction through serving our community and being a member of an elite team of individuals. Please contact us through our website or for more information call as at 509-447-5305.

Safety Message

The less than wintry conditions we have been experiencing promote lower burning temperatures in wood stoves and the like. These low temperatures cause greater creosote buildup and the potential for a chimney fire. Please be sure to clean and inspect your chimney for safe use of your wood burning appliance. For more information on other safety issues please visit our website.

By Chief Mark Havener

NEWPORT – At first, the Gruver family thought it was the occasional waft of wood smoke from their furnace. But, when the husband and wife found plumes of smoke billowing from the attic Wednesday night, March 3, they called 911. More than 20 volunteer firefighters from South Pend Oreille Fire and Rescue and Pend Oreille Fire District No. 4 arrived on the scene at Coyote Trail Road. Captain Alex Arnold said a slight crack in the chimney seal caused the insulation to catch fire – which spread to the wood trusses in the attic. Fire crews worked into the night, opening the attic and hosing down the sprayed-in insulation. After fire crews hosed down the fire, Dave and Pandi Gruver decided to stay in the house for the night, “and it was a good thing we did,” Pandi said.

At 6:45 a.m., 911 received a second call. Smoke had again filled the house, this time caused by an ember that had gotten some feet away from the original fire, Arnold said. Spray insulation doesn’t really burn, the captain said. It smolders, generating heat until it touches something that does burn – like the wood trusses in the attic. Further damages spread through the attic, singing some of the living quarters below. A single fire crew arrived the second time, with six volunteers, to put out the fire. Arnold said the residents discovered the fire after seeing more smoke seep into the house. The house was saved with some water damage and minimal fire damage.

The fire captain said the district has already answered calls on three different chimney fires. Creosote build-up, accelerated from cool temperatures and no snow layer, is causing new dangers for county residents. “Check your chimneys,” Arnold said. An appointment from local chimney sweeps could make all the difference, Arnold said.

By Youssef Sleiman of the Miner

By Youssef Sleiman of the Miner