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The Nugget Newspaper
Sisters, Oregon
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The contents of the on-line edition of The Nugget represent a selection among the stories that appear in the weekly print edition.

Fire district hires training officer
By Jim Cornelius

Training officer John Thomas.

John Thomas has hired on as the new full-time training officer for the Cloverdale Rural Fire Protection District.

In his new role, Thomas will oversee training programs, develop personnel to instruct in drills, and handle the vital record-keeping that keeps volunteers certified.

"As the district grows, the need grows greater," Thomas said. "Training is the biggest aspect of a firefighter's life -- especially in a volunteer organization."

According to Fire Chief Chuck Cable, the district took five years to streamline expenditures and use growth in the district to fund the training position without adding an extra financial cost to the taxpayers of the district.

Over the past few years, the district has added 32 homes; the number of volunteers has increased to 22 members (up from 11 in 1994); and the volume of calls has increased by 10 to 14 percent each year.

Thomas is uniquely qualified for the position. He has been an active volunteer with the Cloverdale district for eight years, and he has a background in training and teaching for business management.

Thomas said the biggest challenge for a training director is to keep the material interesting. There is a danger of training becoming routine. That makes it less effective and can lead to boredom. In a volunteer organization, that can also mean the loss of volunteers.

"It's kind of like a preacher giving a sermon," Thomas said. "He's going to tell you the same thing several times, but he's going to find different ways to deliver it."

For Thomas, the critical emphasis is on hands-on training. For firefighting, realistic experience is critical. It also helps keep volunteers engaged and excited about their drills.

"The reason people volunteer is to be doing something," Thomas said.

According to Cable, the district will continue to fund its apparatus replacement program to ensure up-to-date fire suppression capability.

The Cloverdale Rural Fire Protection District covers approximately 50 square miles of territory with two fire stations and 10 pieces of fire apparatus. The district also provides mutual aid support to the Sisters-Camp Sherman Rural Fire Protection District and other departments.

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