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Seasonal bell-ringing began at 7:30 when President Maureen Merrill began the meeting.
Heros was the theme of Susan Cole’s inspiration, “A hero is no braver than an ordinary man, but he is brave five minutes longer.”
Wooly Bully was all the rage as Sam the Sham and the Pharaohs’ brought out the best in the Windsor Rotary choir.
Recorded imagery for the day was provided by the talented Sue Nelson, and the words were brought to you by Tom Boylan.
No visiting Rotarians, but guests were aplenty:
JB Leep introduced our speakers, Fire Chief Mark Heine and Deputy Chief Matt Gustafson with Sonoma County Fire District
Mark Hansen with owner of Bricoleur winery on Starr road was introduced by Alison Huber.
David Carr and Bill Adams of Northbay Met High School were introduced by alumni Jose Diego.
Marcos Flores, town Barber with Gentleman’s Barber Shop was introduced by Bill Conklin. Marcos is here for his second meeting and we are hoping to see him on a regular basis.
Ken Moulton introduced Vittoria, our student exchange student all the way from Italy. Ken bragged about his newfound daughter and her being recognized as a scholar-athlete with a 4.0-grade point average to go along with a mean volleyball spike.
Jean Hackenburg was enthusiastically introduced by her husband John Hackenburg.
Sue Nelson introduced John Nelson.
Rene Hyde introduced our newest member, Lamar Collins who was emblazoned with a Rotary pin and asked to make a commitment to waking up early on Tuesday mornings.
Lamar shared his motto, “Strong Schools, Strong Community” and then shared an invitation for Windsor Rotarians to introduce themselves to students at the High School through a new program called Community Circles. This is an opportunity for students at Windsor High School to meet and greet with the leaders of the community. Just be yourself when you get the opportunity.
Michael Juric clarified the new membership program called community membership, which gives community organizations, including schools, the fire department, and families an opportunity to become one with Windsor Rotary. Ask Michael for more information on how easy the process is to go from partner to Rotarian.
We raised some money for Amber, our weekly server. She received a cash donation of $361. Tears of joy swept over her as she shared how much she enjoys being with us even if she has to wake up early on Tuesdays.
The club displayed some aggressive bell ringing the past couple of weeks as they brought in donations to the Salvation Army thanks to Bill Bolster and the Dick Bishop Holiday Bell Ringing team.
Program:
Steve Klick introduced Mark Heine and Deputy Chief Matt Gustafson (a Windsor resident) with a warm welcome. Chief Heine spent 30 years with the Novato Fire Department prior to joining the Sonoma County Fire District, which is a combination of Rincon Valley, Windsor, and assorted other departments, both paid and volunteer.
The Tubbs Fire gave the Chief a good overview of how to trim the costs of providing fire services by consolidating departments to have one unified administration. The movement is growing with the expansion to include the Bodega Bay Fire District and the Russian River Fire District is underway.
The District serves 175 square miles with 75K residents in Urban, Suburban and rural communities. There are five staffed fire stations, and three volunteer and firefighter staffed stations. The District also is responsible for the Sonoma County Airport EMS and crash / fire rescue.
Deputy Chief Matt shared the perspective of Windsor firefighters giving up the name and history associated with the Windsor Fire Department. It is a heartfelt transition, but one for the better of the department personnel and the community they serve.
Chief Mark then shared the efforts to define the mission of the consolidated department. We found out there are many facilities in the district that are in need of rebuilding due to earthquake concerns. Windsor is an island of newer facilities and we were told these are in good shape.
One of the major steps forward is to build out the personnel. Currently, there are fire crews, but there is a need to include an EMT member of the teams.
The Chief went on to explain the Kincade Fire and the impact it had on fire personnel and the community. The 2017 fire gave a lot of understanding of what to look for and how to respond to the first report of a fire. Fire spotter cameras installed after the 2017 fires gave him insight into the beginnings of the Kincade Fire, which destroyed close to 500 buildings.
We had an opportunity to see what the Chief saw the night the fire started. The fire spotter camera showed the Geyser fire from its beginning at 9:24 PM. Within a very short amount of time, there was a surge in the spread and within two hours the fire had consumed 1000 acres.
According to Mark, this fire was enough to bring in 150 strike teams which entail five engines per team. By the early morning, there were 75 more strike teams added to the call for help. We were fortunate that there were no other fires in the State when the fire started. More than 5000 firefighters came to the Sonoma Fairgrounds and the fight was on.
It was Friday morning when the fire was beginning to move toward local neighborhoods. Computer modeling showed the path of the fire was going to roll through Windsor. The smoke trails showed the path that was due to take over the entire West County. We were told the importance of leaving the area when the evacuation was ordered meant that the firefighters could fight the fire rather than provide resources to individuals who would not leave.
Credit was given to Sherriff Mark Essick for his decision to make the evacuation order mandatory, and the people of Sonoma County get the credit for leaving, in an orderly fashion.
We were given an opportunity to see videos of the path of the fire. The firefight was compared to a chess game. Chief Heine spent his time traveling the Windsor community to check on spot fires, which were many. The fire advanced on Foothill neighborhood on four different fronts. The dramatic images brought us were concerning because they looked like they were taken from President Maureen’s front porch. She shared it was not her home, although her home did sustain damage because of the fire.
The fire cost 88 million dollars to fight. There will be a tax measure in the upcoming election, which would generate $50 million in revenues to allow for hiring 200 new firefighters in the District.