Currently the board has approved to hire a new assistant chief of operations. Has anyone looked at the fire department website recently (click here). Is the Fire Department really broke if they can afford to pay over $100,000 a year for a new officer?
Chief Wayne told the board at a recent meeting he can’t do all the work and he needs help! So why can’t the three Battalion Chiefs or the two Captains or the 15 Lieutenants work together to these work?
Also there is one interesting employment requirement that this new officer: “Must reside within a 1 hour response time within 90 days of appointment.” Job Description That means that this officer can live 45 to 65 miles outside the Lehigh Acres Fire District. Nearly 65% of all of the Department employees live outside the boundaries of the district already.
With 1 hour response time you could live as north as Arcadia or Port Charlotte, as south as Naples, or as east as Clewiston, is these rule fair to the taxpayers that pay the bills of the district?
The next meeting is Tuesday, May 27, 2014 at 5 pm held at Lehigh Acres Fire Control and Rescue District, Station 104, 3102 16th St SW, Lehigh Acres, FL 33976 off of Sunshine Blvd.
I find it interesting that the editor of this publication continues to fire his “well crafted” missiles at the Fire District once again. Here is my response to the concern raised by the Gazette…The position of Assistant Chief of Operations is critical within the department when it comes to the safety of our personnel on emergency scenes. It is an intricate position that has been missing from our Incident Command structure for years. Currently, our department responds to over 10,000 calls for service annually and we are the 3rd busiest fire department in Lee County. In addition, we are one of only two departments that provide pre-hospital advanced life support (ALS) ambulance transport services.
Emergency call volume has increased approximately 40% since the District laid-off employees in August of 2009. Fire suppression positions have been restored to 100% capacity as of July 2010, however, administrative employee capacity of the District remains at only 55%. Administrative workloads have exceeded reasonable capacity as a result.
The Operations Chief will supervise all Fire Suppression, EMS, and Training Division staff and will be responsible for the day-to-day operations of these Divisions. The Operations Chief will be the second (2nd) in command of the District and will act in the absence of the Chief.
In addition, this position was approved by the Board of Commissioners in the current fiscal year budget, however, the position will not be filled until June of this year. This equates to an overall savings of approximately $35,386 this fiscal year. As a result of the recent retirement of a 28-year veteran employee, the Assistant Chief will replace this position, therefore, the District will not be adding an additional employee to next fiscal year’s budget as previously approved. That being said, this position has no impact to the District’s budget due employee attrition.
I believe that this is a reasonable response to the Gazette’s concerns and I encourage the editor to be more supportive of his local community public safety providers. Again, the District will continue to offer our assistance/information to the media and the public in any way possible and we will continue to strive for amicable/positive relationships as we move forward with a plan for the future of your local Fire/Rescue services. In addition, a media article has no credibility if it is not accurate or simply attempts to create negativity and confusion within the public. There are always two sides to a story and the Fire District is more than willing to provide theirs to the Gazette if they (Gazette)are willing to contact us and gather all of the facts before printing a story.
The public is encouraged to call the Fire District at 239-303-5300 to make an appointment to speak with the Fire Chief if you have any questions and/or concerns about any information provided in these blogs. In addition, our public meetings are posted on the District’s website (www.lehighfd.com) and the public is also encouraged to attend to have their voice heard. Thank you.
The Lehigh Acres Fire Department already has a second (2nd) in command, Asst Chief/ Fire Marshall so why do we need an additional $100,000 Asst Chief?
The last articles have critical on the policies and decisions of the board of the Lehigh Acres Fire Department and not of the employees of the district. The Lehigh Acres Gazette is very supportive of his local community public safety providers (Employees and volunteers of the LSCO and the LAFD). And has done many articles about the firefighters and the programs they do. But the Gazette cannot support the policies and decisions of the board of the Lehigh Acres Fire Department when they are deceptive and will cause do harm to the taxpayers of Lehigh Acres.
The only people with no credibility are the current fireboard themselves, if they could only be accurate and truthful with their plans on the so-called tax assessment.
We encourage the readership of the Lehigh Acres Gazette listen to the verbal minutes of the board meeting or even come to a board see how dysfunctional the fire board really is.
Doesnt matter
The Asst. Chief/Fire Marshall is not the 2nd in command of the District. This position is the 3rd in command per the District’s administrative structure. Again, this (2nd) position has been vacant since 2009. The Fire Marshall was given the title of Asst. Chief by the previous Fire Chief, as the Fire Marshall had to take on additional duties due to the fact that half of the Administrative Staff was laid-off in 2009. The Fire Marshall’s work load has long exceeded the capacity of a single employee. His division has seen a 50% decrease in personnel as well since 2009. He is responsible for all fire investigations, fire inspections, and fire prevention activities of the District…in addition to most of our Information Technology/Computer related issues. Many of the administrative functions he currently handles right now will be reassigned to the Operations Chief.
This should help clarify your concerns and I will once again ask you to contact me if you would like to do some research on a subject/topic before writing an article. This will answer many of your questions and help alleviate any confusion with the public.
The public is encouraged to call the Fire District at 239-303-5300 to make an appointment to speak with the Fire Chief if you have any questions and/or concerns about any information provided in these blogs. In addition, our public meetings are posted on the District’s website (www.lehighfd.com) and the public is also encouraged to attend to have their voice heard. Thank you.
FYI …. We have not edited the Chief comments at any time. Readers of the Lehigh Acres Gazette stay tuned …… for upcoming article on the Lehigh Acres Board what the Chief calls “well crafted” missiles……
Chief, you and the board have a lot of respect from the citizens of Lehigh for the great job you do.
So what if he/ she lives an hour away? He has never looked at how many cape coral and fort Myers police officer’s live in Lehigh have you Mr. editor? There are police officers from Hendry county, reservation police living here so again what is wrong with living an hour away?
ED: Post was edited for content, Thank you Lehigh Acres Gazette web team
We are not talking Cape Coral or Fort Myers or even Alva….. With 1 hour response time you could live as north as Arcadia or Port Charlotte, as south as Naples, or as east as Clewiston, is these rule fair to the taxpayers that pay the bills of the district?
We encourage the readership of the Lehigh Acres Gazette listen to the verbal minutes of the board meeting or even come to a board see how dysfunctional the fire board really is.
The next meeting is Tuesday, May 27, 2014 at 5 pm held at Lehigh Acres Fire Control and Rescue District, Station 104, 3102 16th St SW, Lehigh Acres, FL 33976 off of Sunshine Blvd.
it appears that you have a high disapproval rate of the current fire commission board. people have many different reasons to achieve political positions. unfortunately, one requirement is that there is no requirement of the position you may be running for. i may be wrong, but isn’t the board of fire commissioners main responsibility to handle the “purse” strings? overseeing a budget, and pursue the means to procure the funding should be the foremost concern of the citizens of Lehigh when going to the polls. it would also be a great compliment to the position if one had a true understanding of the operation and tactics of a fire department, providing an educated judgement for requests from the operating officers of the department. as for the public, most do not understand the structure and requirements to meet regulations to maintain a viable fire department, only that my taxes may go up to keep people on the payroll. as for the 1 hr response time for living requirements, it does seem a little much, but this to me would only apply to a large scale response for the incident command system to be implemented, as normal operations would have proper personnel in place to mitigate most emergency responses. that being said, one would think there would be more pride taken if you lived in the district you represent. the service that the fire department provides goes far beyond putting out fires and saving lives. inspections of fire/safety regulations, providing fire investigations as to cause, promoting public safety information and fire prevention, providing training to maintain a level of performance required by the NFPA, and so many more items of this type of service provided needs a compliment of dedicated people to form and maintain a viable fire department so the citizens of the district can be assured of the best available emergency response and lowest possible ISO
Thank you to the public for the positive comments. As for the 1-hour response time, that is exactly as stated…a 1-hour response time. It is not a 1-hour drive time to work as many seem to be suggesting. A response time, is the time the Asst. Chief would have to respond to a major incident within the boundaries of the Fire District. This is time allowed to return home, retrieve a District vehicle and arrive on-scene. Again, if those who have questions/concerns would simply ask the Fire District questions, they would more than likely have said questions answered outside of this blog.
The public is encouraged to call the Fire District at 239-303-5300 to make an appointment to speak with the Fire Chief if you have any questions and/or concerns about any information provided in these blogs. In addition, our public meetings are posted on the District’s website (www.lehighfd.com) and the public is also encouraged to attend to have their voice heard. Thank you.
I was in fire/rescue for over 27 years, and this district is the worst I have ever seen. They apply for grants then when they expire, they still havent saved money. Why doesnt Lehigh, incorporate they are bigger than Cape Coral. The chief really has no fire experience was hired as a paramedic with none. This district is a joke. Want the answer you already pay for EMS thats right, lee county ems, you already pay for that, so do away with your ems that you try over and over to save its a joke and the people of this district seem to not know anything about fire. This district is run poorly and bad and they are just terrible, I would be embarrased to work for them or evem live in thier district.