The orientation session for the next Emergency Medical Responder class was held tonight at Siloam. The first actual night of class is scheduled for Thursday night, July 29th. If anyone is interested in getting in the class they need to be present on Thursday to get on the register. This class is a prerequisite for the Firefighter I program that is coming up at the end of the month of August.
The 2010 AAVFD conference was held at the Alabama Fire College in Tuscaloosa, Alabama. Chairman Billy Doss and his crew put together a wonderful conference that was only marred by the unbearable heat outside. Below are a few pictures from the event. Many more pictures will be published on the site in the next few days. If you didn’t have a chance to make the trip this time I hope that you take in the conference next year.
Harry sharing some of his portable shade! Harry works very hard behind the scenes at this event and just about everything we do in South Sumter. Many things would go undone and then actually noticed if Harry were not around.
Skip and Tuscaloosa Fire Equipment owner, Tim Tingle, look over the Nicol VFD truck that was purchased using money received from a FEMA grant written by a South Sumter member. The Siloam and Ward trucks were built along the same standards and should be delivered within the next three months.
Ashley… Taking in a new toy!
The Hollis VFD Competition team running in the Bucket Brigade relay on Saturday morning.
The tropical season is underway with yet another named storm. Bonnie has been trying to get her act together for the past several days and finally received a name from the NHC today. The storm will make it into the Gulf in short order, but the persistent 40 knot shear upstairs should keep it from becoming a monster. The current forecast models put Bonnie into South Louisiana and then re curving around the extreme high pressure that is sitting over Alabama. If the models hold true we could see very little from this storm, but you never know what will happen. We should keep our ears tuned to the latest and be ready to put out IAP into practice. Once a storm makes it into the Gulf it is anybodies guess where it will end up. Here are the current forecast maps and model output below.
Below is the intensity forecast for the storm. Note that the model consensus is for Bonnie to remain a tropical storm at the moment.
Here is the historical storm tracks for storms that originated near Bonnie’s genesis during the same time period in the past. Note the one storm that run out directly over Sumter County!
Cuba, Siloam, Ward, and Kinterbish firefighters were more than busy this weekend with everything from the mundane fender bender to the mass casualty incident. Fire Units responded to an MVA at the four mile marker on Saturday afternoon and found no injuries. Firefighters assisted the female occupant with the items that were slung from her trailer during the accident. Immediately after clearing the minor accident at the four mile marker, the call for all available units was transmitted for an accident at the York exit. Safety Officer Holder was the first South Sumter unit to arrive on scene and he requested that all units step up there response. Chief Vaughan and Captain N. Larkin (Livingston) arrived on scene shortly afterwards and began patient care. When the dust settled the York, Cuba, Siloam, Livingston, Ward, and Kinterbish Fire Departments, as well as Northstar Ambulance and the Sumter County Rescue Squad had treated 11 patients. One of those patients was airlifted form the scene and the remainder were transported via ground ambulance. All departments did a splendid job to insure that all viable patients were transported to this hospital for care. These incidents don’t happen often, but the increased training and professionalism of the the men and women of the Sumter County Fire Service certainly shine through at moments like this.
Once units cleared this scene they answered two wreck calls in the next 12 hours for minor incidents on Pretty Branch Road and I 20-59 at Exit 1. Later Sunday afternoon the Cuba and Siloam Fire Departments were requested to respond to a structure fire in York for mutual aid. Perhaps, this week will be a little quieter.
MVA @ 4MM
MVA @ Exit 8
MVA @ Exit 1
I would like to take the opportunity to say that all of Sumter County’s rescuers did a splendid job Saturday evening with the operation on the Tombigbee River. It is a testament to the dedication and training of all those involved. Two people will get a chance to recover from the accident and lead a productive life. Top notch job all around!
The Gulf is getting rather active with tropical activity. There are two areas identified in the Gulf of Mexico that are being watched by the National Hurricane Center for potential development. One of the areas is very close to coastal Louisiana and is spreading quite a bit of rain over the area. It is likely that the system will not develop into anything more than a weak tropical storm at the best. However, it could spread quite a bit of rain over the southeastern area. The chance of development has been scaled back from the 60% chance of development earlier Monday.
The other area is over the southern Gulf and has medium chance of developing into a tropical cyclone. The intensity models all trend toward the low end on this system as well and strength is kept at tropical storm force at best. Further the models also indicate that the storm is going to head for Texas if it develops.
Sea surface temperatures are very warm out there in the Gulf and further mischief is certain.
