SFD Receives ISO Class 2 Certification

The Sedalia Fire Department was a major part of Monday night's City Council meeting, starting with Fire Chief Matt Irwin sitting in for City Administrator Kelvin Shaw and Assistant City Administrator Matt Wirt, who were both absent from the July 1 meeting.

Mayor Pro Tem Tina Boggess was also absent from Monday night's meeting as well.

Kyle Rupe, Sedalia Fire Department driver and engineer with 20 years of service, and Nathan Deuschle, Sedalia Fire Department captain with 10 years of service, were both recognized by the Council and Fire Chief Irwin.

“Kyle knows more about fire trucks and pumping operations than probably any member of our fire department,” Irwin quipped. “I'm very proud to have him, I'm very glad he's given me 20 years of service and I'm hoping that he gives me at least 10 more.”
Chief Irwin said that Firefighter Rupe is well-liked. “He is the go-to guy for anything pertaining to operations on our fire trucks,” he noted.

The fire chief said that he's got Captain Deuschle for at least 10 more years before he retires.

“Nathan is a very well-rounded person. He just participated in our lieutenant testing promotion,” he said. “I'm very proud of these two individuals. Congratulations on 10 and 20 years.”

Council also approved a resolution to increase the City's budget and an ordinance to buy cameras to be located at railroad crossings that will livestream to Pettis County Joint Communications and the Sedalia Fire Department to show when crossings are clear of trains when emergency vehicles need to access the north side of town.

The cost is $8,536.98, which includes installation.

Chief Irwin explains:

"Fire purchased 1 camera, the rest are part of the SPD project. Our camera monitors engineer as it is the main crossing we use to NE Sedalia. We have an alert sent to us for the Main and Ohio crossing (there's)  just no camera there. They were purchased from flock safety that queued the PD camera earlier in the year," Iriwn told KSIS.

A purchase that was previously rejected by Council when prioritizing the City's budget was an expenditure for “Freddie the Fire Truck,” an educational tool, at a cost of $11,466.80 from Robotronics, Inc., Springville, Utah, for use by the Sedalia DARE program, as well as SFD and SPD.

A resolution to increase the City's budget and an ordinance to make the purchase was passed by Council to make it possible to buy “Freddie The Fire Truck,” which will have a voice modifier.

It should be noted that the City is not spending any of its own money on “Freddie” but rather using Sedalia DARE funds that have been raised, according to Sedalia DARE founder and Third Ward Councilman Bob Hiller.

“I thought this was a great way to increase our DARE program in teaching fire safety,” Hiller remarked. “I talked to the DARE officers, and they're going to try to implement some fire safety training, also. We have the money and I seen it turned down three times in the budget meeting, because there was no funds for it. This is a way to broaden our DARE program.”

Hiller went on to note that the Sedalia DARE program was the first in the state to offer scholarships. Now there are seven DARE programs in Missouri that copied that idea.

“This combines fire prevetion with keeping our kids off drugs,” Hiller said of Freddie.

During the Miscellaneous portion of the 75-minute Council meeting, Fire Chief Irwin announced that Sedalia recently received an ISO certification rating of 2, up from a 3.

“This improvement was only achieved by the men and women that took this goal head on and worked hard to get it done. I am very proud of every member's hard work and dedication to make the Sedalia Fire Department and the city as a whole better every day,” a facebook post from the SFD read Monday night.

The new classification doesn't take effect until Oct. 1, Iwrin noted. The City is graded on its ISO status every five years. Sedalia received an 80.97 score, with 80 being the break point between 2 and 3.

Later in his miscellaneous speech to Council, First Ward Councilman Tom Oldham made a motion for the City to move forward with a three-station model for the SFD.

Councilman Chris Marshall seconded the motion.

The vote failed 6-1, with Oldham casting the only yes vote (Boggess was absent).

Councilwoman Rhiannon Foster asked Fire Chief Irwin if the ISO 2 rating would be in jeopardy due to annexation, and Irwin said that “we scored low on our station deployment. It is what it is,” he said, adding that the SFD scored 6 out of 10. Training, pre-planning and flow testing helped revive the overall score, he noted. “We made up a number of points in those categories.”

Chief Irwin said that “we took a hit for annexing Clover Dell and the Missouri State Fairgrounds (additional land was purchased), because there's no hydrants out there.”

He noted that one scoring point was lost due to the City still using the 2015 Building Codes at the time (before later adopting the 2021 Codes). “It's a very tricky thing, it's very fluid,” Irwin told Foster.

Adding a third fire station would cost about $5 million for the building, and close to $1 million per year to fund the payroll for 12 firefighters to staff the facility, the fire chief said.

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“I have gone on record saying I would love to have a third station. I just don't know how we're going to pay for it,” Irwin said.

Councilwoman Foster commented that "we are maxed out on taxation."

Councilman Hiller stated that a new fire station needs to go south as the city grows.

Not only will Sedalia need more firefighters as Sedalia increases, but more police, water department employees, sanitation workers, public works, etc.

"Last night, the motion to develop a plan to add a third fire station did not pass. This change would need 12 new employees, costing about $900,000 each year, plus $5 million to build the new station. To cover these costs, we would need to raise taxes. With many people struggling to pay for food, gas, and other essentials due to inflation, I do not think it’s right to ask for a tax increase. Our priority should be finding other ways to improve services while reducing financial stress on our residents. Our goal should be trying to reduce taxes so people can keep more of their hard-earned paycheck in their pocket," Mayor Dawson commented on Tuesday morning.