Nevada County Picayune and Gurdon Times Newspaper Archive

Prescott Fire Chief Updates Council

Prescott's newly confirmed fire chief, Barry Higgenbotham, updated the Prescott City Council as to the department's status.

Higgenbotham, who was confirmed as the new chief of the Prescott Fire Department at the council's regular monthly meeting Monday, April 16, said all but the newest member of the department is certified, and he has a year to take and pass the courses required.

The meeting actually began with the confirmation, but developed into a question and answer period about the PFD.

Higgenthbotham said all members of the department completed 60 hours of training last year, with the training done in-house.

The department now has two members who are certified as instructors, he said, adding the PFD could use more room for classes because of the training requirements.

The firemen are currently working on a Firefighter I class, which is 96 hours long and, Higgenbotham said, covers a lot of ground.

The test for this class takes eight hours to complete and has about 1,000 questions to be answered.

Those who successfully complete this class, he said, could work for any fire department in the state.

Board member Howard Austin asked about doing disaster drills at the local schools. As it stands, he said, all that's done now is monthly fire drills.

The state, Higgenbotham said, wants emergency plans for every possible type of disaster. He promised to work with the school district in any way possible.

When questioned about equipment, he said the PFD needs to replace one of its firetrucks. As it stands, the department has a 1990 model Ford as its newest truck. There is also a 1980 Ford and 1970 LaFrance, but the 70 model stays broke down and can't be used.

A new truck, he said, will cost $131,000.

Jon Chadwell, executive director of the Prescott-Nevada County Economic Development Office, is working with the PFD to get a grant to replace the 70 model truck.

This money, Chadwell said, has been released from the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) and, should Prescott be successful, the grant would pay 90 percent of the cost of a new firetruck. The city's part would be about $13,000.

Higgenbotham said the department could sell the 70 model, as it could be refurbished if another fire department wanted to make the investment.

This grant, he continued, is for three years, so if the PFD isn't successful on this attempt, it will keep trying.

In addition, he said, the PFD has a lot of "antique" equipment, but the firemen all have new fireproof gear, along with a mixture of old and new breathing gear.

However, he said, there are a lot of problems with the radio system, as the radios are always being worked on.

The council also approved a new fireman, David Gummerson, who replaces Marshall Lewis.