Brother Firemen and Honored Guests:

Welcome to the annual meeting of the Thibodaux Volunteer Fire Dept. for 2007.

It has been an honor and a privilege to serve as your chiefs for the past year.  During this time, the department continued to provide the same quality fire protection that it has provided for so many years.  Through the hard work and dedication of its members, the department completed many projects during 2007.  Most of these projects were geared toward maintaining or improving the services we provide to the community as well as providing for the overall safety of the firemen who provide those services.

A recap of those projects is as follows:

  1.   Replaced all remaining P-100 portables with new HT-1250 portable radios.

  2.   Air-pack cylinders that expired during the year were properly hydro-tested. 

  3.   Annual inspections were performed on all fire extinguishers in the department and hydro tests were performed as required.  

  4.     Received additional sets of personal protective gear for members.

  5.     Signed agreements for the use of our training center with Lafourche Crossing 308 and St. John Fire Departments. 

6.     Annual tests were performed on the aerial units with both units receiving certification.

  7.     Accepted bids and took delivery of generators for company stations.    

  8.     Adopted revisions and added new sections to the Standard Operating Guidelines (SOG) as recommended by the SOG committee.

9.     Installed adapters on the standpipes along the bayou to allow for the connection of 6” hard suctions.      

10.  Installed new water lines and new fire hydrants in the training center that will provide an increased water supply.  This will also allow various hose lay training exercises to be performed when training within the training center.

11.  Accepted bids and issued an order for a new 100’ aerial platform that will replace the current ladder truck as the main aerial unit for the department.

12.  Entered into a preventive maintenance program contract with 5 Alarm to provide semi-annual maintenance inspections and service on our fleet of vehicles.

13.  Air-packs were inspected and any problems or malfunctions were corrected.

14.  Installed a security camera system at Central Station in order to protect department vehicles, equipment, and assets.

15.  Received the Life Safety Achievement Award presented by the Residential Fire Safety Institute for having no fire related deaths in 2006.

16. Continued with the Fire Pup Program in association with the National Fire Safety Council in observance of National Fire Prevention Week.  Children in all day cares and grades K-6 were exposed to fire prevention material including the Learn Not To Burn program.  The Fire Prevention Squad logged in 1,161 hours in bringing across the message of fire prevention to the public.

17.  The smoke detector program continued to provide smoke detectors to needy families.  

  18.    Accepted proposals for the design and construction of a new fire station for Home Hook & Ladder Fire Co. to be located on Canal Blvd.

  19.    Submitted to the Thibodaux City Council a request to revise Chapter 9 – Fire Prevention of the Thibodaux Code of Ordinances.  This request was approved at the December 18, 2007 meeting of the Thibodaux City Council.  These changes will cause the operation of the fire department and Chapter 9 of the Code of Ordinances to be in agreement with each other.

  20.    Replaced the radio voice recording system at the radio dispatch center at the Thibodaux Police Department radio room.

  21.    Acquired a third thermal imaging camera compatible with the two currently in use.

  22.    Purchased a freezer to store ice at Central Station.

        During the year, the Fire Board requested that the City Council approve allowing the voters of the City of Thibodaux to vote on a 5 mill tax increase to be dedicated to acquiring, constructing, improving, and maintaining the City’s fire protection and rescue facilities, vehicles, and equipment.  On March 31, 2007, the voters of the City of Thibodaux overwhelmingly approved the 5 mill tax increase by a vote of 68.6% in favor of the increase.  These funds will provide a dedicated funding source for the improvements needed within the fire department in the future.

The following projects were started or approved in 2007 but were not completed.  These should be completed in 2008.

1.     Installation of generators for company stations.

2.     Purchase individual air masks for firefighters who routinely don SCBAs.

3.     Purchase of an additional thermal imaging camera similar to the ones currently in use.

4.     Purchase eight (8) thermal imaging cameras to be assigned to each company.

5.     Complete the design and construction of the new station for Home Hook & Ladder.                        

6.     Continue phasing out old pagers and replacing them with new pagers.

 The 2007 budget of the City of Thibodaux included funds allocated for supplies and equipment for the fire department.   Funds were used for the following:

1.     Thermal imaging camera

2.     Additional pagers

3.     Debris catch pans for the burn building

4.     Hooligan tools for forcible entry

5.     Radio voice recording system

6.     Rescue equipment

7.     Reciprocating saws for salvage units

8.     Hose and hose fittings

9.     Fair equipment

10.  HT 1250 portable radios

11.  SCBA air test kit                

During 2007, the Thibodaux Volunteer Fire Department answered 344 total alarms of which 290 were fire alarms and 54 were rescue calls compared to 341 total alarms in 2006 for a total increase of 3 alarms.

ANALYSIS OF FIRE ALARMS

In 2007, the Thibodaux Volunteer Fire Department responded to 290 fire alarms compared to 274 fire alarms in 2006 for an increase of 16 alarms.  There were a total of 5,044 member responses to these alarms for an average of 18 responders per alarm.   The average number of responders to the building fires was 47 responders.   Although there were only 5 working building fires during the year, it saddens us to report that three fatalities occurred during the year, all from the same fire.  143 of these alarms had a response time of 3 minutes or less.  The average response time for all alarms was 4.12 minutes.   A breakdown of the types of fire alarms is as follows: 

            Building fires                        5                        Fire - other                              17

            Vehicle fires                       14                       Smoke scare                            21

            Electrical fires                    28                       Good Intent                                4

            Flammables                       15                       Service calls                             18

            Cooking container             12                       Other calls                                 29

            Trash/Rubbish                   13                       Alarm malfunctions                    5

           Chemical                              1                        False alarms/Bomb scare         5

           Brush/grass                          3                       Unintentional alarm                100   

Of the above calls, 244 calls were in the City, which is 11 more than in 2006, 19 were in District 4, and 27 were to provide mutual aid to surrounding fire departments.                                                  

ANALYSIS OF RESCUE CALLS

The Rescue Squad responded to 54 rescue calls in 2007 compared to 67 in 2006.  These calls were for the following reasons.

                                                 Auto accident                       11

                                                 Medical assist                       25

                                                 Paged out - cancelled            2

                                                 Manpower for heavy lift        15

                                                 Threaten suicide                     1

Members of the department logged in 5,229.70 training hours compared to 4,879 training hours in 2006 and 4,258.60 in 2005.    This represents a significant increase in the number of training hours by members during the year over the number of training hours for the past two years.   Hopefully the improvements to the training center have helped increase training attendance as the types of training offered have become more diversified.

Each member is asked to increase their attendance at fires and training and to continue providing fire and rescue services to the area residents that is second to none.   Many thanks for a job well done.

As you can see, the Thibodaux Volunteer Fire Department had another active year in 2007.  We would like to thank and recognize the following for their contributions, support, dedication and loyalty to the department during the past year.Thanks to the general public for the support given to the department, especially at fair time but more importantly, by having the confidence in the service that we provide to overwhelmingly approve the 5 mill tax increase that was presented to the voters.   Without this support, none of our accomplishments could have been possible.

 Thanks to the wives and families of the firemen for patience and understanding and for allowing our members to devote the time necessary to operate this department.

 Thanks to Mayor Charles Caillouet and his staff, Police Chief Craig Melancon and his staff, Public Works Director Kermit Kraemer and his staff, Finance Director Debbie Daigle and her staff, Council Administrator Tommy Eschete and his staff, and all of the city employees along with the entire City Council for their support and assistance provided to us during the year.   

 Thanks to Byron Talbot and the employees of REECO Rentals for the use of heavy equipment when needed.

 Thanks to the Lorio Foundation Board for their generous support that helps us to protect the lives and property of the citizens of Thibodaux by providing funds for the purchase of fire fighting equipment.

 Thanks to Mr. Bill Hochstetler, Grand Marshal for 2007 and all of the past Grand Marshals for their generous support.  

 Thanks to all of the members and anyone who helped out in any way at the 2007 fair and parade.  It is through your hard work that the department was able to again realize another great and successful year despite all of the rain.

 Thanks to the officers and members of the surrounding fire departments for any assistance that you may have provided us when called upon.  Being able to call upon a neighboring department for assistance is vital to the overall mission of protecting lives and property.

 Thanks to all of the members of the Fire Board for the administrative management you provide and for allowing the department to move forward with the above projects and purchases.  

Thanks to Secretary Ken Bourgeois for your service to the department in performing your duties as a department officer.

 Thanks to the Captains and Lieutenants for your cooperation and devotion to your duties and for providing the leadership needed to prepare your company members to be quality firefighters.

 Thanks to all of the Squads and Squad Directors for the outstanding services that you provide over and above your normal company obligations.  These services play a vital role in the department's mission of protecting lives and property.

 Thanks to James Guillot who served as Training Director during 2007 and his assistants, Barry Ledet and Allen Spears.

 Thanks to Albert Fields for the time and effort it takes to maintain department records in the computer.  Record keeping is a required department function that has become more and more difficult to maintain with the amount of data that must be turned in to complete this task.  

 To each and every member of this department, thank you for your dedication and hard work.  It is through your continued sense of pride and dedication that we can continue to provide the quality services that the citizens of Thibodaux expect from us.  We ask that you continue to work together to make this fire department second to none.

 Thank you for allowing us to serve as your chiefs for 2007.   We are looking forward to serving you again in 2008.   

Respectfully yours,

Mike Naquin                Dan Naquin                        Randy Pate                           Chad Mire

Fire Chief                    Asst. Fire Chief                   Asst. Fire Chief                    Asst. Fire Chief