Elk Fire Dept. plans self-assessment
Community Notes
Find your winter reading: For those wanting some winter reading conveniently delivered, just log into your Mendocino County Library account, find what looks good, put in a request, and meet the bookmobile on Jan. 7 or Jan. 21 at 1 p.m. at the Greenwood State Beach parking lot. It is that easy! And don’t forget the Free Little Library may have something of interest too — located in front of the gallery.
Town Meeting slated for Jan. 14
This year’s town meeting will be held at 6:30 p.m., Thursday, Jan. 14 via Zoom webinar. The link for the meeting is as follows but will also be available at elkweb.org. The webinar works a little differently than a regular Zoom meeting — only the speakers will be visible and audience questions will be fielded through a “chat” where the moderator will read them to the speaker. The usual line-up of local organizations is scheduled to give reports, including the local sheriff, our emergency services agencies and other community organizations. Link to meeting: https://zoom. us/j/91325254719
EVFD Ambulance Receives $10,000
Along with the other three volunteer fire departments in the county that have an ambulance service, Elk received a $10,000 grant from Medstar Ambulance of Mendocino County. During the recent August Complex Fires, Medstar was contracted with CalFire. As a result, the air ambulance service made a lot of money. Being a nonprofit organization with 501(3)(c) status, Medstar’s board of directors decided to distribute some of the proceeds to volunteer ambulance services around the county. The other three volunteer departments that received a grant were Covelo, Laytonville and Anderson Valley.
2021 EVFD Projects
According to Fire Chief Bob Matson, the fire department is going to be very busy the first part of the new year. First off, they have an “audit” of sorts to comply with. Every ten years or so, the Insurance Services Organization assesses the capabilities of fire departments to do their jobs. Because of the pandemic, the EVFD will be assessing themselves, which will take the entire month of January. The audit generates a point rating with one being the highest score and ten being the worst. Currently, EVFD has a rating of seven in Elk proper, and a nine in the outlying areas.
In tandem with the ISO assessment, the EVFD will start complying with Senate Bill 1205, which requires local fire departments to annually inspect all commercial buildings and hotels, inns, or houses that accommodate 10 or more people. This bill came about because of the Ghost Ship fire in Oakland in 2016, where 36 people died because of inadequate emergency exits and an antiquated electrical system.
Lastly, the department applied for and received a permit to expand the main fire station in town. Construction will begin sometime in the spring. As always, the department is looking for new members. Please contact Bob Matson at the Elk Garage if you are interested.