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2A – Daily News – Friday, July 2, 2010 Community people&events Graduation From the Firehouse: Reserve Firefighters By MICHAEL BACHMEYER For many years the City of Red Bluff has benefited from a system that utilizes reserve personnel to augment career (full-time) fire- fighters. When I started my career with the Red Bluff Fire Department (RBFD) in 1996, daily staffing consisted of two career firefighters and one reserve firefighter for a total of three personnel per shift. At the time all RBFD person- nel were assigned to eight (8) hour work schedules. Each day Courtesy photo Janette R. Gradney, a graduate of Gerber School and Red Bluff High School, graduated on My 26, 2010, from California State University, Long Beach with a Bachelors of Science in Finance. Gradney, 22, was on the President’s and Dean List with a 4.0, a member of Beta Gamma Sigma, Golden Key Honors Society and was awarded the Business of Excellence Certificate McNair Scholars Program, Corporate Mentoring Program. She is now employed as a financial analyst at Raytheon, an Aerospace and Defense Corporation located in Los Angeles. Gradney plans on earning her Master’s Degree at UCLA. Setting it straight –––––––– It is the policy of the Daily News to correct as quickly as possible all errors in fact that have been published in the newspaper. If you feel a factual error has been made in a news story, call the news department at 527-2153. was broken into three daily shifts similar to that of the mill sched- ules with a day, swing, and grave- yard shift. ‘A shift’ would start the day at 6 a.m. with two career and one reserve firefighter who were relieved from duty at 2 p.m.; ‘B shift’, two career and one reserve firefighter, staffed the station from 2 p.m. to 10 p.m.; and ‘C shift’, three reserve firefighters, staffed the station from 10 p.m. until relieved the next morning at 6 a.m. by A shift. This shift pattern was utilized until 2002 when the City Council approved the addition of three career firefighters (one per shift) and the transition to 24 hour staffing by career firefighters. That equated to a daily staffing of three career firefighters and one reserve firefighter. This was a crucial staffing pattern change which has been instrumental in allowing our department to miti- gate minor simultaneous inci- dents by operating two engines with a staffing of two personnel each. By augmenting the daily staffing of career personnel with reserve personnel, the City has experienced the benefit of a large personnel pool at a minimum expense. Over the years this reserve force has been the opera- tional backbone of RBFD. They have allowed the City to main- tain an effective fire fighting force while economically moving the department forward in a posi- tive direction. A large portion of the staffing credit received from the Insur- ance Services Office (ISO) is a result of our reserve firefighter program. ISO uses a conversion factor that gives the city credit points for a full-time equivalent employee based on a ratio of 3 reserves equals one career per- sonnel. This credit has allowed RBFD to hold an ISO rating of ‘3’, which is enjoyed by only about 5 percent of communities nationwide. For insurance pur- poses, lower ISO ratings equal lower insurance premiums. Unfortunately, we are still short of the 22- 24 full-time per- sonnel recommended by the City of Red Bluff General Plan and is potentially the last piece of the puzzle required to advance the City’s ISO rating to that of a ‘2’. However, this element and cul- ture is slowly being lost. The reserve force that seems to be attracted to the current system pro- vided by the RBFD is one that is career oriented and dri- ven. This is great from the standpoint of having highly moti- vated and trained employees, but difficult from the stand point of retention. The average length of service for this employee group is now roughly five to ten years, as com- pared to 20 years plus in the same workforce of the past. As always, please feel free to contact me with any questions or comments. RBFD responses for June 18 – June 30, 2010: 62 Medical Emer- gencies, 6 Traffic Collisions, 4 Fires, 8 Public Service Calls, 6 False Alarms, for a total of 86 incidents. From the Firehouse runs on Fridays. Michael Bachmeyer is the Red Bluff Fire Department Chief. He can be contacted at mbachmeyer@rbfd.org or by calling the station at 527-1126. Horseshoe tournament Daily News photo by Julie Zeeb Tehama District Fairboard Directors take a look at the new horseshoe pits, which will be used in a tournament Sunday starting at 10 a.m. D NEWSAILY HOW TO REACH US RED BLUFF TEHAMACOUNTY THE VOICE OF TEHAMA COUNTY SINCE 1885 VOLUME 125, NUMBER 191 On the Web: www.redbluffdailynews.com MAIN OFFICE: Monday-Friday, 9 a.m. - 5 p.m. Main Phone (530) 527-2151 Outside area 800-479-6397 545 Diamond Ave. Red Bluff, CA 96080 ______________________ Fax: (530) 527-5774 ______________________ Mail: Red Bluff Daily News P.O. Box 220 Red Bluff, CA 96080 CUSTOMER SERVICE: Subscription & delivery Monday-Friday, 8 a.m. - 5 p.m. (530) 527-2151 Ext. 125 subscription rates (All prices include all applicable taxes) Monday through Saturday $9.59 four weeks Rural Rate $10.69 four weeks Business & professional rate $2.21 four weeks, Monday-Friday By mail: In Tehama County $12.29 four weeks All others $16.23 four weeks (USPS 458-200) Published Monday through Saturday except Sunday, by California Newspaper Partnership. Home delivery NEWS News Tip Hotline: 527-2153 FAX: (530) 527-9251 E-mail: clerk@redbluffdailynews.com Daytime: Sports: Obituaries: Tours: (530) 527-2151 Ext. 111 Ext. 103 Ext. 112 After hours:(530) 527-2153 ______________________ ADVERTISING Monday-Friday, 9 a.m. - 5 p.m. Display: 527-2151 Ext. 122 Classified: 527-2151 Ext. 103 Online (530) 527-2151 Ext. 133 FAX: (530) 527-5774 E-mail: advertise@redbluffdailynews.com SPECIAL PAGES ON THE FOLLOWING DAYS Mondays: Kids Corner Tuesdays: Employment Wednesdays: Business Thursdays: Entertainment Fridays: Select TV Saturdays: Farm, Religion Publisher & Advertising Director: Greg Stevens gstevens@redbluffdailynews.com Editor: Chip Thompson editor@redbluffdailynews.com Sports Editor: Rich Greene sports@redbluffdailynews.com Circulation Manager: Kathy Hogan khogan@redbluffdailynews.com Production Manager: Sandy Valdivia sandy@redbluffdailynews.com newspaper of general circulation, County of Tehama, Superior Court Decree 9670, May 25, 1955 © 2010 Daily News The Red Bluff Daily News is an adjudicated daily 90 years ago... Six Farm Centers To Hold Picnic July Fifth A consolidated farm center picnic is to be held at Capay Rancho Monday, July 5, in which the six farm centers joining in the picnic are Richfield, Corning, Henleyville, Liberal, Squaw Hill and Capay. Attorney H.D. Jerress of this city will deliver the address at the patri- otic observance of the fourth in the afternoon. – Daily News, July 2, 1920 Farmer’s Market Registration is at 8 a.m. or can be done ahead by calling 528-0799. From, back left: Pete Dagorret, Fair CEO Mark Eidman, Ray Bianchi, Farrell Shatswell, Cindy Brown. Front, from left: Bob Kerstiens and Tonya Redamonti. COMMUNITY CLIPS Picnic As everyone is gearing up for the 4th of July week- end the Cottonwood Creek Watershed Group is preparing for the Farmers Market today. From 3 to 7 p.m. there will be live music provided by Push Play Trio, and a free children’s art activity. In honor of Independence Day, there will be a red, white and blue tie dye activity and the group will be provid- ing T-shirts for children. In addition to great music and free children’s activ- ities there will be fresh, hot tamales, barbecue beef sandwiches, fresh locally picked berries and veggies, walnuts, olive oil, eggs, jams, wine, nursery stock plants, locally made jewelry, birdhouses, sock dolls and other arts and crafts available. The Cottonwood Creek Certified Farmers Market & Artisans Fair is right off Main Street right next door to the OK Corral. For more information, visit www.ccwgrp.org. The Manton Grange will hold its annual picnic 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday, July 10, at Rockin CR Ranch, 21629 Cedar Ridge Road in Manton. There will be barbecue pork ribs and chicken, sal- ads, beans and bread for $8 per person, $5 for children 11 and younger. There will be music, cake walk, raffles, children’s games and prizes and a horse shoe tournament with a $5 buy in. For more information, call 355-6265. Honor Roll Names of students who have made the Scholastic Honor Roll Spring term have been announced by Ore- gon State University. A total of 603 students earned straight-A (4.0). Another 2,757 earned a B-plus (3.5) or better to make the listing. To be on the Honor Roll, students must carry at least 12 graded hours of course work. Tehama County students on the Honor Roll includ- ed: Emily L. Nicholson, Senior, Zoology, of Cotton- wood, with a 3.5 or better; Christopher A. Jones, Junior, Physics, of Red Bluff, with a straight-A average; and Lindsay L. Byzick, Senior, Manage- ment; Elizabeth A. Gruber, Sophomore, Exercise and Sport Science and Alex K. Moty, Sophomore, Pre-Business, all of Red Bluff and all with 3.5 or better.