Fire News

December 2007
Retired Chief Dale Collins passed away.
He came to the fire district on April 19, 1961, hired by Retired and recently passed Fire Chief George Smith immediately as an Engineer - Driver. He was promoted to Captain on March 16th, 1968. He was promoted to Assistant Chief March 23rd, 1976. On September 23rd, 1981, Dale was appointed as Fire Chief. He held an Associates Degree in Fire Science from Penn Valley Community College. He worked in many areas with the Fire District in Fire Prevention, Investigation, Training, Shift Commander and others. At the time of his appointments he stated in a press release that his goal for the Raytown Fire District was “growth through training and a dynamic fire department responsive to the fire protection needs of Raytown.” Dale retired in January of 1994. Dale served for 33 years with the last 13 years as Fire Chief. Some of the high profile events that Dale responded to was the Pizza Pub Fire and Explosion on Raytown Road, The Frank’s Public House restaurant fire on 350 Hwy, the bombing of Raytown City Hall, the great flood of 1982, the Raytown Post Office fire, the Hyatt Regency Skywalk collapse, and the House of Lloyds fire. He led the way for a successful tax levy increase in 1982 and 1987’s “Is two enough” campaign. He helped set up the combining alarm dispatching with Raytown Police Department, He was a charter member of the IAFF Local 1730. He was a lifetime member of the Western Missouri Fire Chiefs, member of the Missouri State Fire Chiefs, Member of the Jackson County Firefighters Association, Firefighter Association of Missouri, among many other organizations.

August 2007
Retired Chief George I. Smith passed away
George I. Smith, 94, of St. Joseph, Missouri passed away Saturday, August 18, 2007 at Carriage Square Health Care Center. George was born February 25, 1913 in Brunswick, Missouri . He retired in September of 1974 as the first full time Fire Chief of Raytown after serving 26 years. Chief Smith was well known in the fire service community as being a leader, especially in fire training. As Chief, he was instrumental in getting the first two way radio for a fire department in the state. In 1957, He and other Raytown Firefighters responded to the area of a tornado strike in south eastern Kansas City . From that experience, he help start mutual aid agreements between area cities. Those mutual aid agreements are still in place. He was one of the first officers of the Missouri Fire Chief's Association setting up an organization that benefits all fire department leaders within the State of Missouri today. He belonged to and held officer positions of many fire related organizations in the Kansas City Metro region. After his retirement he moved to Lake Viking, Missouri and resided there from 1974 to 2005.

July 2007
2006 Fire Code Adoption.
An ordinance adopting the 2006 Edition of the International Fire Code was presented for the Board’s consideration. Upon motion made by Mr. Ross and seconded by Mr. Palmer the ordinance was approved and adopted upon roll call vote as follows: Mr. Ross-Yes, Mr. Bruch -Yes, Mr. Palmer -Yes

An ordinance adopting the 2006 Edition of the International Building Code was presented for the Board’s consideration. Upon motion made by Mr. Ross and seconded by Mr. Palmer the ordinance was approved and adopted upon roll call vote as follows: Mr.. Ross-Yes, Mr. Bruch -Yes, Mr. Palmer -Yes

May 2007
Firefighter of the Year
Chief Mawhirter nominated Firefighter Paramedic Ty Helphrey as the Harry S. Truman Association of Insurance and Financial Advisors Firefighter of the year. Area fire departments will also participate at a awards banquet May 10^th.

May 2007
Kansas City Baptist Temple Building Improvement Grant.
Chief Matt Mace was instrumental in helping Kansas City Baptist Temple obtain a grant to upgrade both of their buildings with a generator for their elevator, positive pressurizing their stairwells and getting a full alarm system installed. The grant was over $800,000.00.

May 2007
Battalion Chief / Fire Marshal Promotion Ordinance/Mace.
An ordinance was presented for the Board’s consideration as follows:
A motion was made by Mr. Ross to approve the ordinance promoting Matthew Mace to Battalion Chief and setting his rate of pay effective May 1, 2007. The motion was seconded by Mr. Palmer and unanimously approved by roll call vote as follows: Mr. Ross-Yes, Mr. Bruch -Yes, Mr. Palmer -Yes

April 2007
Automatic External Defibrillators (AEDs) Donated.
Chief Mawhirter approached the Board about donating the old Automatic External Defibrillators now that the District has purchased the new LifePaks. He stated that the Boy Scouts Heart of America Council is in need of AEDs at scout camp, and probably the Park Board would appreciate a donation. Mr. Palmer also mentioned Tarkio Fire District as a donee. A motion was made by Mr. Ross that Chief Mawhirter use his own discretion in donating the old AEDs. The motion was seconded by Mr. Bruch and unanimously adopted upon roll call vote as follows. Mr. Ross-Yes, Mr. Bruch -Yes, Mr. Palmer -Yes

November 2006
Raytown Fire participates in a disaster drill in Independence.
Chief Mawhirter authorized overtime for our department to participate in a disaster drill in Independence. Our personnel were scheduled to land Life Flight several times during the event but due to weather, the aircraft was grounded. Instead, they were reassigned to help with medical triage of 40 to 50 school age children. The simulation was of a school bus that had been hit by a train. The ambulance service in Independence was to assume the tasks of treatment, transportation and triage. However, they were testing a new system that used a tracking device and the triage component was failing. All three of our people are paramedics. Our medical director and Independence’s medical director were witness to our capabilities. Talking with Dr. George, he was very impressed by our response and capabilities. There were reportedly 300 or more witnesses that had been bussed in; to view this event. These people were attending the National Association for Pupil Transportation (NAPT) conference in downtown KC. A article in the December 2006 edition of the City of Independence's newsletter features more information about this event. Go to this web address http://www.indepmo.org/Downloads/CityScene/200612.pdf

August 2006
Memorandum of Understanding Approved.
Chief Mawhirter stated that a final document was ready for the consideration of the Board of Directors. He commented that this has been one of the most cooperative efforts he has experienced since he has been involved in contract negotiations. Following discussion of the document, a motion was made by Mr. Palmer to approve the 2006-2009 MOU. The motion was seconded by Mr. Bruch and a roll call vote followed: Mr. Ross-Yes, Mr. Bruch -Absent, Mr. Palmer -Yes

The motion having received the affirmative vote of those directors present, Mr. Bruch declared the motion carried and the 2006-2009 Memorandum of Understanding accepted.

Three Raytown fire personnel start paramedic training
August 2006
Three firefighters have been selected to attend paramedic training. The firefighters will be attending at MAST headquarters for the next eighteen to twenty four months. The length of the course depends on finishing the didactic phase then scheduling and completion of field clinical training. The students clinical experience is based in both pre-hospital and hospital settings.

The advance medical training program is recognized as one of the leading paramedic courses in the Midwest. Currently there are seven paramedics on the job. One is a chief officer. When these three finish we will have nine licensed paramedics on the line staff. The future goal of the district is to have a total of twelve personnel cross trained.

May 2006
Retired Chief Marion Eilers passed away.
Marion came to the Raytown Fire Protection District after answering an ad in a local paper. “Wanted: Full time fire truck driver, inquire at the Raytown Fire District.
Leaving a job at the Lake City Arsenal, Marion started with the department on Monday March 15th, 1955. He was stationed at the old fire station at 9705 E. 63rd and by that Thursday, he was sent to old number two fire station at 7021 Elm by himself. He was given a ‘crash’ course in pump operations and firefighting tactics.
He worked 12 hour shifts, six days a week. His salary was $240.00 per month. On his day off he had to report for first aid training. He was stationed at number one station four days a week and number two station two days a week. He was only one of four full time men.
His first fire came on his second day of work. It was a house explosion in Laurel Heights. His worst fire occurred in his first year at Westwood Ornamental. He pulled up by himself; fire was shooting through the roof. About five minutes later Chief Smith and several volunteers arrived.
Marion served the Raytown Fire District for 26 years, his last seven years as Chief of the Department. Chief Eilers retired in July of 1981. During that time he was a major player in the changes that we receive benefit from today.
12 hour shifts were moved to 24 on and 24 off with no holidays. Later it was changed again to the present system of 24 hours on and 48 hours off. Fire tactics, Rescue and First aid have progressed to standard operating procedures with state certified firefighters and officers, EMT’s and Paramedics on the fire truck.
Marion made Chief of Department in 1974 after serving 15 years as Assistant Chief in charge of training and maintenance. Five years later, in 1979, Marion was instrumental in helping get a bond and levy passed. That bond was used to build the stations we currently have and several fire trucks were purchased. The levy was used to hire three firefighters. Current Chief, Rick Mawhirter and Assistant Chief Jim Flannery were two of the three hired and still on the job. He considered the passing of these proposals as his main accomplishment as Chief.
When asked back in 1981 He was quoted in the papers with “in looking back over the past 25 years, I’ve enjoyed it. It had its ups and downs. And asked, if he had to do it all over again, would he still answer the ad? “I think I probably would.”

April 2006
Promotion of Matt Mace to Captain.
Chief Mawhirter announced that Mr. Mace has been promoted to Assistant Fire Marshal with the rank of Captain effective April 26, 2006.

April 2006
Election Results.
In January of 2006 the Raytown Fire Board of Directors passed resolutions to put forth two questions on the ballot. The short version of the resolutions are listed below. The questions were overwhelmingly approved by the voters. The bond represents $7.3 million (General Obligation Bonds) for building construction at both fire stations. The second represents several intended purposes. The majority of generated revenue will be used to hire six new firefighters. See the results below.

A RESOLUTION CALLING A SPECIAL ELECTION ON A GENERAL OBLIGATION BOND QUESTION IN RAYTOWN FIRE PROTECTION DISTRICT.

On motion duly made and seconded for the passage of the Resolution, the Resolution was considered and discussed and the President put the question of the passage of the Resolution to a roll call vote. The President declared the motion carried and the Resolution duly passed.

A RESOLUTION CALLING A SPECIAL ELECTION ON THE QUESTION WHETHER TO LEVY AN ADDITIONAL TAX TO BE USED FOR THE SUPPORT OF RAYTOWN FIRE PROTECTION DISTRICT.

On motion duly made and seconded for the passage of the Resolution, the Resolution was considered and discussed, and the President put the question of the passage of the Resolution to a roll call vote. The President declared the motion carried and the Resolution duly passed.

The certified election results will not be available for a week or so; however, the Jackson County Board of Election Commissioners website shows the unofficial results as follows:

                                                Yes                   No
Question 1                                6,302               1,316
Question 2                                4,929               2,637

March 2006
Raytown Fire District Hires Three New Firefighters
Two of the new hires have finished their orientation and have been placed in a company. The third will be finishing up this week and will be placed the following week. The last three new hires have completed their thirty day period of waiting to be called for overtime. This was an item agreed to by labor and management to not consider these three new people as part of the minimum manning equation for filling overtime positions. With the promotion of Matt Mace, this left a position open for another person to be hired. The person that was the last name on the established eligibility list for firefighter

January 2006
Driver Promotion / Captain Promotion Testing.
We have completed the Captains promotion testing. We have started the process for promotion of one Driver. A notice was sent out to all eligible candidates to respond in writing their intent to pursue this promotion. The Chief Officers met to discuss the testing procedure for Driver’s promotion.

Notification of the top candidate will be known upon receipt of the written test scores from the testing agency.

A new promotion to Driver was made. Firefighter EMT Bill Schoffstall was the successful candidate. The shift bid was posted at number one station on January 29th

Raytown Fire Comes to the Aid of a Single mother with three adopted boys.
December 2005

A special call went out to help a woman in Raytown. The Raytown Firefighters came to her rescue.
As firefighters were watching the local evening news on television at the station, they heard of the plight one of their residents was going through. "Catherine" had decided to adopt three boys, ages 10, 9 and 5 from a broken home. The boys are brothers. Catherine then bought a home in Raytown to make space for her new family. She hired two separate contractors that took her money and did not return to finish the work. Her plans were to convert a garage for a bedroom for one of the boys and use the rest of the space as a living room. This where the firefighters went into action.

After calling the television station and finding out about how to get in contact with her, they set up all the necessary permits, construction and finishing that the project needed. They went about doing some of the labor themselves. Some local trades unions stepped forward and donated their time, money and efforts to help with the project. As progress was being made, the firefighters discovered that Catherine's furnace was leaking gas and was about to quit altogether. They got on the phone and contacted a local furnace company with the help of a local country radio station. They too came forward and helped. By midnight that same evening, Catherine had heat with a new furnace completely installed. The furnace company went one step further and donated a heating unit for the garage space.

A local furnishing company stepped in with a custom made entertainment center. A local furniture store donated a new sofa, loveseat, chair and ottoman.

Local tile layers put in a ceramic floor covering in part of the garage. New carpet was donated and installed. New doors and trim went up. The outside of the house was cleaned up and personal belongings were placed in a storage shed. Firefighters wives pooled money and asked for donations for Christmas gifts and clothing. All were then gift wrapped and delivered by Santa Claus. A new Christmas tree was purchased and decorated.

The television station reporters, hearing of what was going on, decided to help the family as well. They contacted the Great Wolf Lodge (large upscale hotel with an indoor water park) and paid for the family stay for the weekend.

That Sunday morning, an hour after the family returned home, the Fire District delivered Santa (played by one of their own members with the complete costume) to their new home via Fire Truck. Catherine and her new family had the big unveil of the completed construction while her three sons unwrapped gifts. Everyone felt good about what happened and there wasn't a dry eye to be found.

Five firefighters left the District in 2005. Three left with medical retirements and two left to do something other than firefighting. Two of these men were Chief Officers. One was the Fire Marshal and the other was the Training Chief. The training officer was employed by the District in 2002. He came from Kansas City Fire Department as a Deputy Chief after with 28 years of service. He now is teaching emergency providers and other officials at the Mid America Regional Council office. The other Chief Officer (Fire Marshal) left with 15 plus years of service. The Fire Board chose not to fill the Fire Marshals position at this time. His duties were divided among other personnel within the department.

Two of the men retiring were working as Drivers or Fire Apparatus Operators. The most senior of the two had been with the Fire District since 1971. That is over 34 years of service! The other Driver left under a medical retirement. He had over 17 years with the District. The fifth person left the district to work with the railroad.

Subsequently, these vacancies required new hires and promotions. The first promotion was from the Captain rank to Battalion Chief. That person now works as the Training Officer and B shift Commander. That vacancy led to a promotion for Captain. A selective process occurred with multiple phases of testing. The person that was promoted has been with the District over 17 years.
Another person was promoted from the firefighter ranks to Driver. He has almost 16 years of service. That position also was made through competitive testing.
Three new firefighters recently were hired. All went through the testing process and multiple interviews. All have current certifications with Firefighter 1 and 2, Emergency Medical Technician and Hazardous Materials operation level training certificates. All three are on a six month probationary status. The District plans to train these men as Paramedics in the near future.

Raytown Fire District Receives Grants from Federal and Local Sources for Thermal Imaging Cameras
December 2005

Raytown Fire was one of the first in the KC metro area to have Thermal Imaging Cameras (TIC’s). The first cameras (two) were placed in-service in the late 1990’s. The technology was fair compared to today’s cameras. The technology advances in TIC has given firefighters more information to evaluate interior conditions while performing search and rescue and other firefighting functions. These cameras were starting to need repair. One camera part is failing and the replacement part is no longer available. It is twice as big as the new units available on the market today.

The Raytown Fire Protection District applied for a federal “Assistance to Firefighters” grant in April of 2005. The award was given in the second round of application review. The federal grant is 80/20 cost sharing. This meant that 20 % of the $20,000.00 request had to be paid for locally. That meant that the Fire District had to come up with $2,000.00 in order for the grant check to be issued.

Three separate checks were given as grants by the Wal Mart foundation and the SAM’s Club to the Fire District. This was of coincidence in timing and amount needed. These funds were put together with the federal grant to purchase two new cameras that have signal transmission features.

The Fire District went through dynamic evaluation under smoke room conditions and then through competitive bidding process. The Fire District now has two new Thermal Imaging Cameras on the front line apparatus. The older cameras were placed on the reserve units for mechanical back ups when the new ones are placed out of service for repair.

The Raytown Fire District has utilized the dispatching services of the Raytown Police Department since 1981. Previous to that time, the Fire District had paid their own Dispatchers working on shift. Once 911 system was installed, the Point of Service Answering Point (PSAP) was established with the City of Raytown Police Department. Coincidentally, the fire district was in need of adding more manpower. The Fire District transferred dispatching over to the Police Department and then used the Fire Dispatchers as frontline Firefighters.

Since that time, the Fire District turned over their old number 2 fire station to house the City’s Paramedic station at a reduced rate and in exchange for dispatching services. In 1999, the Fire District sold the building to the City for $1.00 (one) dollar. A year later, the City sold the property to a developer that turned to location into a Walgreen Drug Store. The new Paramedic Station was built in a more central location. During the term that Chief Kris Turnbow was in office, he approached the Fire Board with the concept of the Fire District paying for their service, as the City no longer was in the old fire station.

The idea never took root as the Fire District did not have adequate funding to cover this expense.

In August of 2005, the idea was once again brought forward by the new Police Chief, Jim Lynch. That started discussions with the City about covering part of the cost for adding new personnel. Alternatives were explored for combining dispatching services with another city, contracting out with another city to provide services and costs for going back to self dispatching. The least expensive was to contract out with the City of Raytown.

A letter of understanding was reached with the Raytown's City Council and the Fire Board to start paying for this service. Both the City and the Police Department understand that we are still in a critical financial situation, agreed to pay $40,000.00 for the first year. Additional revenue might be available if the Fire District was successful in passing a levy in April of 2006.

During his tenure Chief Lynch has brought his dispatching services to a higher standard of delivery through training and hiring certified dispatchers. It is his hope that other service might become available if the manpower situation (availability due to frequent turnovers) would be addressed. Emergency Medical Dispatching has been mentioned as one improvement, but the need to have even more on duty personnel has put this idea on hold.

Even though the price was quoted as much as $150,000.00 annually, the cost to the tax payers was not the deciding factor in making the agreement with both entities. There were two major factors beyond the tax dollar expense. The first is the maintenance of current response time from receiving the call to getting people on the scene of an emergency. If contracting to another jurisdiction was to have happened, a call would have to be rerouted from Raytown’s PSAP to the other PSAP doing the Dispatching and then to the fire district responders. The specific entity was the City of Lee’s Summit’s Fire Department. Currently they are dispatching for seven other jurisdictions. There was no guarantee of Raytown receiving priority over other jurisdictions. The second reason is closely related. That being, having familiarity with operations of all other Raytown emergency providers would lengthen the learning curve and the delivery of field unit requests. The decision was obvious. Keep the dispatching service locally for the better service for the dollar spent.

The Raytown Fire District and the City of Raytown’s Emergency Medical Service held their second awards banquet. This banquet was held in recognition of achievements and special recognition of both entities personnel.

Part of this recognition went to a civilian. This person helped save a life. This is award granted to citizens for an outstanding act or achievement that brings credit upon the Raytown Fire Protection District and which involves performance above and beyond that required by citizens. This award is given only to citizens who perform an outstanding or heroic act worthy of the District recognition. This Award is a Plaque, a formal letter of explanation and or a formal certificate. The following is a short synopsis, engraved upon a plaque of why this person was recognized.

The special James Schneider Award was presented by the person whose life was saved. (Name withheld for privacy purposes on the Internet)

For his actions on the 10th day of March, 2005.

During a routine day at work, a coworker fell , stopped breathing and the heart stopped beating.

This person, began cardio pulmonary resuscitation on his coworker and continued till emergency medical personnel arrived on the scene.

His unselfish and valiant actions were key to saving the life of another giving the Raytown Firefighters and Paramedics the chance needed to continue the care successfully.

The actions that this person had taken were immediate and greatly deserve the recognition by the
Raytown Fire Protection District

Presented this 5th Day of November, 2005

There were ten separate occasions where multiple personnel received life saving awards.

Ten commendations were awarded to EMS personnel that travel to Louisiana and Mississippi to help hurricane Katrina victims.

Nine personnel were given Unit Citations for responding to the damage resulting from a micro-burst on June 8th, 2005.

Special recognition was given to several Fire District personnel that work on the Rope Rescue, Confined Space and Trench Rescue teams.

Two were added to the current Honor Guard. The previous members were recognized at the Awards Banquet in 2004. All together there are six personnel were recognized as a group for their work as Honor Guard members. This ceremony was the first time the group had been unveiled at a public performance while wearing their new Honor Guard Uniforms.

Firefighter Paramedic Matt Mace was given the Fire District commendation for service above and beyond the service he gives every day. Additionally, the Fire Chief awarded Matt the 2005 Fire Chief’s Cross. Here is what his certificate read.

Fire Chiefs Cross

Awarded to

Matthew Mace

For

Consummate Service to members and citizens of the
Raytown Fire Protection District,
Selfless and tireless efforts while always helping other people at all times
Doing his best while being an exemplary role model for others
To know what a Raytown Fireman is capable of.
For making the City of Raytown a better place to live
Presented this 5th Day of November, 2005

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Another addition to the fleet of apparatus was put into service this week. Part of the 1996 Sales Tax campaign was a promise to the voters that the entire fleet of vehicles were to be refurbished or purchased to replace the aging fleet. The Fire District started this fix by refurbishing two of the vehicles, by recycling major components and modernizing the cab and body of the fire trucks. This saved considerable amount of money that was needed to replace firefighting equipment. Once the refurbishing was completed, other fire trucks were rotated every four to five years with new fire trucks.

The last edition was a Emergency One pumper. It will be housed at Station 1 and used as the frontline pumper. The pumper that it replaces will go into reserve at Station 2. This pumper was constructed differently than the previous trucks. It can still do the job as the others. The difference is that it has a shorter wheel base and a sharper turning radius. Along with this, the compartment doors have roll up doors instead of the conventional swing type. Both these features were necessary to accommodate new subdivisions that are designed with narrow street with on street parking.

Raytown Fire Personnel Escape Injury during 20 Hour Shooting Incident with a Barricaded Suspect
September 15, 2003

Pumper 601 and Ambulance 301 responded to an assault. Personnel staged as per protocol until the scene is secured by Police. An elderly woman was found standing in the intersection with multiple severe lacerations, bleeding profusely. The intersection was at the end of a long street with a dead end. The intersection was several houses away from the one at the end of the dead end street. Police called for immediate assistance. Crews responded in, parked their vehicles and shots were fired from within the house at the end of the street. Both crews quickly moved the woman to the ambulance, put it in reverse and quickly backed up the street while still receiving gun fire. The ambulance was hit immediately. Smoke and steam filled the cab and patient compartment. The fire truck was abandoned in place with the engine and lights still running. The suspect barricaded himself in the home and proceeded to shoot at everything in range. The fire truck was hit thirteen times. Two police cars were destroyed, homes were shot at, personal vehicles parked in the driveways were shot at too. The police department called in help from all over the metro area as the suspect continue to shoot various weapons over a 20 hour period. No emergency personnel were injured. The suspect took his own life. Law Enforcement personnel never returned fire as there was not enough information about the possibility of innocent person(s) still inside the building with the suspect.

Below the list of damage are some photographs of the wounded fire truck, ambulance and police car. Fortunately there was not damage to the engine or pump of the fire truck, despite the fact the engine was shot multiple times in the radiator, draining the fluid while the engine was running at idle.

A list below is the concerns of the Raytown Fire Department apparatus that was shot 13 times. This does not include the ambulance, police cars, near by homes or personal vehicles that also received numerous hits.

    1. Windshield replacement (Had been shot 3 times)
    2. Dash behind windshield where bullets enter causing damage and possible wiring problems in dash. Also having
        radio and speaker problems. Bullet may have enter the radio speaker on the dash.
    3. Captain seat has a hole from a shot that went through the windshield.
    4. Radiator had been shot (2 times).
    5. The apparatus set at the scene and was abandon by fire personnel. It idled for 20 hours on low coolant. Concerns
        that the engine was damaged. Oil leaking out of overflow tube on the engine. Low coolant alarm. Check codes.
    6. Radiator repair or replacement.
    7. Damage to engine from the two bullets that went through the radiator.
    8. Damage to Captain side door (1 shot)
    9. Damage to captain side corner or the apparatus. (1 shot). Possible damage to the wiring harness behind the
        corner of the apparatus. Also damage to the floor of the apparatus where bullet came through the corner of
        the apparatus on the captain’s side.
    10.  Damage to the front bumper.(1 shot)
    11. Damage to right front signal light and strobe. (3 shots)
    12. Damage to left front signal light and strobe. (1 shot)
    13. Damage to middle of the front apparatus just below the windshield. (1 shot)

Multiple bullet holes rear of police unit

Click on the thumbnails to enlarge them. Use your back button to return here.

At the Fire District's first annual planning retreat, Battalion Chief Kenneth Whinery announced that he was retiring effective October 15th. Battalion Chief Whinery stated that he has served the Fire District almost 22 years, but due to a medical condition he will have to retire.

Chief Whinery was hired November 3rd, 1979 with two other firefighters. Just prior to his hiring, the Fire District asked voters to approve a $1.5 million bond and a levy increase. The levy increase was used to hire the three firefighters and the bond was used to build two new fire stations.

Chief Whinery has served in several capacities with the District. He was promoted to Driver in 1990 and then to Captain in 1991. He continued that role until 1996 when he was promoted to Battalion Chief. He was the shift commander for C shift that entire time. He specialized his services and helped the District with improvement projects and repairs to the facilities. In doing so, he has saved the District and the taxpayers thousands of dollars.

The Fire Board, the Fire Chief, the other Chief Officers and members of IAFF Local 1730 wish Kenny Whinery the best of luck and issue a heartfelt thank you for the years of his service to the community.

The Raytown Fire Protection District has promoted several individuals this month. Two Chief Officers have left the district and a Driver was moved from the suppression force to a light duty-daytime position. This created three vacancies that needed to be filled. Captains Gary Jones and Brent Davis were promoted to Battalion Chief at the first part of September. They are assigned to be shift officers on A and C shift respectively.

The Fire District wishes to announce the promotion of Dean Miles and Sean Summers to Captain. Dan Scott was promoted to Driver. To fill their positions three new firefighters were hired.

The Board of Directors also has authorized the addition of three more positions to the suppression force. This brings the staffing level to eight line personnel per shift with a shift officer. Firefighter-Paramedics Matt Mace, Tom Ratterman and Nathan Davis will begin their careers as firefighters the first week of October. These firefighters also came from the reserve class.

The Raytown Fire District has taken receipt of a new piece of equipment. Emergency One, or E-One as they are known, was the successful bidder built the new pumper at their Florida plant. "The design of this fire truck is multipurpose" said Fire Chief Rick Mawhirter. "It can carry out the normal functions of fire suppression, but it will carry a large amount of rescue and vehicle extrication equipment". The cab of the new pumper will be tall enough for the Incident Commander to stand up in the rear part and see the surrounding events while being in a temperature controlled environment.

The purchase of this truck is the last one in the initial series of the fire districts apparatus replacement program. The voters overwhelmingly approved a quarter cent sales tax in 1996 for the purpose of modernizing an unreliable fleet of fire trucks and equipment. Since that time, the aging fleet has been replaced or refurbished. The Fire Chief explains, "Our plan was to replace one piece of equipment at a time until the fleet was new. Once that was done, each piece would be placed on a replacement schedule based on expected life and usage of that particular apparatus. Future capital expenditures would be spread out and could be budgeted for, without being a burden to the general operating levy while providing firefighters with modern and reliable equipment."