Menu

Welcome

Mission Statement

The objectives of this Division shall be to further enhance the education of all Fire Service Administrative Support by conducting workshops and seminars; to increase the proficiency of Fire Administrative Support by establishing a network sharing of information systems through various channels of communication; and to faciliate a statewide standardization wherever possible in all phases and aspects of the Fire Administrative Support field for the benefit of the Fire Service.

Recent Fire Administrative Support News

Posted: Oct 20, 2020
Comments: 0

Greetings all~

At the yearly business meeting of the WFAS, usually a part of the annual conference, 2020 elections were held. Two Regional Representative terms were up this year along with that of the Secretary and Chair. Cathy Blakeway, Tumwater Fire, will continue to serve as a Regional Rep and Tasiya Deering, Moses Lake Fire, was reelected to the position of Secretary. Kristen Cole chose not to run again for the Regional Rep position she has held but has opted to remain on the board as the Hospitality/Activity committee chair. Slita Bradley, Benton County Fire District 4, was chosen to fill that Regional Rep position. Caity Karapostoles, Clallam County Fire District 3, was elected to serve for the next two years as Chairman when Mykel Montgomery stepped down. Mykel will stay on the board as Past Chair, allowing her to help deliver the 2021 WFAS Conference in Chelan postponed from October 2020. A huge shout out to everyone for stepping up to run for positions on the board and to volunteer on the various committees, along with everyone who continues to serve as board/committee members. It takes all of us to create and maintain the valuable network that is the WFAS! And along those lines, the Vice Chair position is open if you or someone you know is interested, please let me know as soon as possible. In keeping with our policies and procedures, the vacancy will be filled by a majority vote of the Executive Board at our next meeting. The person chosen will serve until the next election at the 2021 WFAS Conference,

In lieu of this year’s conference and workshops, a number of webinars are being planned for our group. Check the website and the group’s Facebook page for more information as it comes available.

Please feel free to contact me or any of the other board/committee members, if there is anything we can help you with. I welcome comments, concerns and suggestions!

Take care and stay safe.

As always,

Caity K

WFAS Chair

Read more
Posted: Apr 21, 2020
Comments: 0

Wednesday April 22nd

Read more
Posted: Jun 27, 2018
Comments: 0

 

 A recording of the hour long webinar How to Apply for a Local Records Grant is now available at Washington State Archives’ website at:

 https://www.sos.wa.gov/archives/RecordsManagement/Local-Records-Grant-Program.aspx

 

The Online Grant Application form will be available on July 2, 2018.

If anyone has questions or would like assistance in planning and preparing their application, please email recordsmanagement@sos.wa.gov.

Read more
Posted: Apr 25, 2018
Comments: 0

On behalf of your Washington Fire Administrative Support (WFAS) Board and Committee Members, we would like to acknowledge your hard work, dedication and commitment to the fire service and the work that you do. We all play an integral part in the departments we work for and the communities we serve, but perhaps don’t always get the acknowledgement that goes along with it. I hope everyone feels valued for their efforts and feels the support of your network of peers within the WFAS Section. Enjoy your day and I am so excited to see 96 of you in Walla Walla at our annual conference next week!

 

Ashley Becker, WFAS Section Chair

Read more
Posted: Apr 2, 2018
Comments: 0
In accordance with the Washington Fire Chiefs' Bylaws, and the WFC Fire Administrative Support current Protocols, the recommended updated version of the protocols has been posted 30 days before conference

If you would like to see a version noting all of the changes, that document is shown as well. Feel free to share any concerns or comments regarding this updated document with us at: wfc@washingtonfirechiefs.org 

The updated protocols will be voted on by members at the WFAS conference in Walla Walla, Washington on Monday, May 7th.

Read more
Posted: Feb 21, 2018
Comments: 0
Nominations need to be submitted to the WFC office by Friday, April 20, 2018 to kathleen@washingtonfirechiefs.org.

  • Nominee can be nominated by any WFC member, belonging to any WFC Section – please include: nominees name, position title, years of service;
  • The nominee must be a current member of the WFAS;
  • Nomination should list the nominee’s administrative accomplishments and contributions during the previous year as well as their leadership abilities, demonstration of professional performance and personal character.  A short story should be submitted to enhance the nominee’s accomplishments.
Read more
Posted: Aug 8, 2017
Comments: 0

We currently have an opening on the WFAS Executive Board for an Eastern Representative, partial term, to serve through May 2018 (until the conference in which an election will take place for a two-year term).

 

Please submit a Statement of Interest to abecker@centralpiercefire.org, no later than Tuesday, August 15, for consideration at our upcoming Board Meeting in Walla Walla.

 

Feel free to reference the WFAS Board Campaign on the website for more information on Board involvement or reach out to a Board Member.

 

Read more
Posted: Apr 26, 2017
Comments: 0

On behalf of the WFAS Board, we would like to thank you for your endless dedication to the fire service and your commitment to learn and grow.

Read more
Posted: Apr 6, 2017
Comments: 0
In accordance with the Washington Fire Chiefs' Bylaws, and the WFC Fire Administrative Support current Protocols, the recommended updated version of the protocols has been posted 30 days before conference

If you would like to see a version noting all of the changes, please contact us. Feel free to share any concerns or comments regarding this updated document with us at: wfc@washingtonfirechiefs.org 

The updated protocols will be voted on by members at the WFAS conference in Olympia, Washington.

Read more
Posted: Jan 31, 2017
Comments: 0
Nominations need to be submitted to the WFC office by Friday, April 28th of this year, 2017.

  • Nominee can be nominated by any WFC member, belonging to any WFC Section – please include: nominees name, position title, years of service;
  • The nominee must be a current member of the WFAS;
  • Nomination should list the nominee’s administrative accomplishments and contributions during the previous year as well as their leadership abilities, demonstration of professional performance and personal character.  A short story should be submitted to enhance the nominee’s accomplishments.

Read more
RSS
12

Theme picker

FIRE ADMINISTRATIVE SUPPORT SECTION UPCOMING EVENTS

Upcoming Events

Theme picker

FIRE ADMINISTRATIVE SUPPORT BOARD & COMMITTEES

Fredericksburg (VA) Fire Departments Paying More, Waiting Longer for New Ambulances

“The cost increases, the number of them and the delays are something I have not witnessed before in my time.” — Chief Mike Jones, Fredericksburg Fire Department

Cathy Dyson
The Free Lance-Star, Fredericksburg, Va.
(TNS)

Mar. 29—Fire and rescue departments across the Fredericksburg region — and the nation — are dealing with the double whammy of higher costs and longer wait times for new ambulances and fire trucks.

Here’s a situation that played out recently in King George County: Fire Chief David Moody requested a replacement ambulance in September and initially put in a “placeholder of $300,000 with the disclaimer” that he didn’t know the exact price because the manufacturer hadn’t provided it.

When he got the final cost, Moody came back to the Board of Supervisors because he needed another $34,000.

“Just to give you a little bit of context,” Moody said last week, “this is the same model that we purchased in 2020 for $285,000 … and now the price today is $333,957.”

Wait times for new equipment are going up along with costs. Departments used to get new ambulances or fire apparatus three to six months after they placed an order. Now, the process is taking two to three years.

“It’s a big mess,” said Brian Frankel, deputy chief of EMS for Stafford County Fire and Rescue. “Pretty much every jurisdiction in the commonwealth is dealing with the same challenge.”

Four American and international groups, representing various fire and rescue officials, spelled out the problems with rising costs and wait times, and the risk they pose, in an October letter to U.S. Secretary of Transportation Pete Buttigieg.

“This issue is a rapidly emerging threat to public safety,” the letter stated. “The lack of proper equipment puts additional pressure on an EMS system that is already over-stressed.”

The groups included the American Ambulance Association, International Association of Fire Chiefs, International Association of Firefighters and National Association of Emergency Medical Technicians. They said that when an ambulance is totaled in a crash or has put in too many miles, the long wait for a new one makes it harder to ensure timely responses to 911 calls.

Most of the problems are tied to supply chain issues including the global shortage of microchips that’s impacted all automotive production. But the production of the chassis used for ambulances has been particularly hard hit, according to a June article on the Firehouse website.

Manufacturers, such as Ford, GM and Chrysler, typically provide chassis to companies that then assemble ambulances with specifications requested by local fire and rescue departments.

But the companies that assemble the rescue squads have gotten only “a fraction of their orders” in the last 18 months, according to the letter from fire and rescue officials. To compound the problem, the ambulance industry is getting more requests for new equipment.

Before COVID, North American companies were receiving about 6,000 requests a year for new ambulances, according to the letter from fire and rescue associations. In 2021, orders increased to 8,500 a year.

“These are extremely difficult times for buyers, dealers and the manufacturers,” Bob Reilly, owner of one of the largest ambulance dealers in the United States, said in the Firehouse article.

Chief Mike Jones with the Fredericksburg Fire Department has been in fire trucks or ambulances for almost 40 years, and worked to procure them for decades.

“The cost increases, the number of them and the delays are something I have not witnessed before in my time,” Jones said, adding that he’s also dealt with prices going up every month.

His department got permission from City Council to order a new ambulance a year earlier because of the backlog in getting the vehicles. He hoped the department could save money by placing the order in this fiscal year, but probably won’t receive it until halfway through fiscal year 2025.

As Moody pointed out to the King George supervisors, the $333,957 price for an ambulance is basically for the shell only. It doesn’t include a $20,000 power system used to load a $30,000 stretcher into the unit, or a $40,000 heart monitor.

“And it certainly doesn’t include any trauma dressings, Band — Aids and what we have to do to support the mission,” he said.

His department set out all the gear and monitors used by ambulances and affixed yellow tags with their prices, and the total was $197,126. Paired with the initial cost of the vehicle, a fully equipped “mobile emergency room,” as Moody called an ambulance, costs almost half a million dollars.

The only thing that isn’t increasing is the reimbursement rescue companies receive from Medicaid or Medicare for transporting patients to the hospital, Frankel said.

“We’re bringing in the same money that we did prior to COVID while seeing all these supply chain issues and cost increases,” he said.

Cathy Dyson: 540/374-5425

___

(c)2023 The Free Lance-Star (Fredericksburg, Va.)

Visit The Free Lance-Star (Fredericksburg, Va.) at www.fredericksburg.com/flshome

Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.

Print
Posted: Mar 31, 2023,
Categories: Fire Mechanics,
Comments: 0,

Theme picker