Shelburne Fire Department

Several surrounding fire departments are currently operating at a fire in Ferrisburgh. In the meantime, Williston Fire Department is standing by at our station to provide coverage for any calls in Hinesburg, Charlotte, or Shelburne. We’re so grateful to have partners like this who go the extra mile to take care of our communities.

Happy Independence Day from all of us at the Shelburne Fire Department! Have a safe and fun weekend. 🇺🇸🇺🇸

Fireboat 1, alongside several other agencies, was out for a standby at the Burlington Waterfront for the fireworks last night!

FROM OUR ANNUAL AWARDS BANQUET EARLIER THIS MONTH:

Years of Service Recognition:

First service milestone of 3 years of service: Steve Giles, 5 years of service: Garrett Gruendling, 10 years of service: Lee Krohn, and 15 years of service represented by more than four thousand one hundred hours of logged training and nearly 1000 incident responses and have held nearly every position in the ranks, Engineer Dwight Mazur

Other recent, important accomplishments during 2023 and thus far in 2024:
Firefighter Deavitt, and Lieutenants Rivard and Major completed their Pumper Apparatus Driver Operator Certification. Firefighters Jones and Lawton and Captain Kozlowski completed their Rope Rescue Technician Certification. Firefighter Steve Giles successfully completed Firefighter 1 certification. Similarly, Firefighters, Jones, Fisher, Schmidt, and Trono have completed their Firefighter 2 certification. Lastly, Senior Firefighter Preis completed his Fire Instructor 1 Certification.

Promotions:

Zander Preis was promoted to Senior Firefighter, and was also recently promoted to Captain of the St. Michael's College Fire Department. Ben Rivard was promoted to Lieutenant. Matt Kozlowski was Promoted to Captain. Lastly, Josh Estey was promoted to Assistant Chief.

Rookie of the Year and Firefighter of the Year: Firefighter Charlie Jones as the 2023 Rookie & Firefighter of the Year".

Fire Officer of the Year: Lieutenant Ben Rivard

Chief Dickerson also noted and thanked all members of the Fire Department, stating in part that, "...if I were to pinpoint our [Department's] success to one thing, it would be [our Firefighters'] positive attitude. The fact that you all show up with a smile on, work with a smile on, and go home with a smile on. You all care for each other and strive to be professionals for no reason other than the pride in the team you have chosen to be a part of. This is all nothing short of remarkable.

Photos from a recent marine training with our neighbors South Burlington Fire - IAFF Local 3671 ! A great opportunity for team building and familiarization of each other's equipment and capabilities!

Yesterday morning, we joined Colchester Technical Rescue in Malletts Bay to have their dive team familiarize themselves with Fire Boat 1 as a platform to dive off of in an actual incident. It was also a great time for our personnel to familiarize themselves with how the dive team operates and the different roles in making a dive go smoothly.

With temperatures rising above 90 degrees for most of this week, it is important to stay safe in the extreme heat. These are some simple tips to stay cool and healthy!

This past week, crews from Shelburne Fire, joined by , , , , , , VT HazMat Team, UVM Spatial Analysis Lab, and Nuka Research & Enviromental Restoration LLC conducted a training on the Lake Champlain Geographic Response Strategy.

This was a fantastic opportunity to work with partners on the local, state, and federal level. Roughly six hundred feet of floating "boom" was deployed to practice containing a spill before it contaminated the lake at large.

Photos by Lee Krohn

We are honored; thank you!

Another great day for some training!

Yesterday evening, we trained with Hinesburg Fire Department on multiple fundamental fireground operations. The point of this training was to reinforce basic skills for both newer and experienced members alike. Each "skill station" was taught by company officers or a more senior member of both departments. This style of training is fantastic for continuing interoperability between our departments! Stay tuned for more photos from this weekend when we have a "part two" training with live fire to put it all together!

At 01:34 this morning, Shelburne Fire was dispatched to a motor vehicle accident. Upon arrival, a vehicle was located resting in a ditch with a significant amount of water. With help from Burlington Fire - IAFF Local 3671 as mutual aid, we were able to extricate one patient from the vehicle. The deep water that quickly filled our boots and the steep incline from the ditch were particularly challenging conditions for this incident.

Yesterday evening, we conducted a live-fire training for first-due residential operations. Training with real smoke, flames, and heat is perhaps the best way to keep our skills sharp. This is made possible because of our small training site on the old Rice Lumber lot off of Route 7, which enables us to train with real fire. This lot will be the future home of Shelburne Fire and Shelburne Rescue. While a finished station may be years down the line, in the meantime, the site itself is an invaluable resource for us to train on fireground skills, vehicle extrication and stabilization, or even host classes to continue to grow our department.

Members of Shelburne Fire joined by officers from Shelburne Police Department recently took part in a training for Amtrak familiarization. Amtrak has trains running through Shelburne on their way to Burlington, so it is critical we are prepared in the event of a rail emergency!

We’re looking forward to seeing all of you tomorrow! (Saturday May 11th 9:00am-1:00pm)

Today, we trained with South Burlington Fire - IAFF Local 3671 on some basic marine operations. Our primary marine asset, Fireboat 1, is a unique platform for rescue swimmers (or divers not seen here) to work off of. It was a great opportunity to continue our relationship and also ensure solid interoperability between our departments for water-related emergencies.

We were recently dispatched to a small roadside fire. Given the extremely low risk of danger, we let Shelburne Rescue get some time on the nozzle! It’s always a great thing to work together to improve our teamwork!

It's that time of year again! We are excited to announce we will again be hosting a recruitment open house, along with several other fire departments across the state, on May 11th! We can't wait to see you all there!

Meet the fleet! Here‘s a look at Engine 1. Let us know if you have questions in the comment section.

Typo: *extrication, *complement

Yesterday, Fireboat 1 responded to Charlotte to assist with a water rescue incident. One individual was rescued by Charlotte Fire and Rescue Services and brought to awaiting EMS crews on shore.

Please remember:
1. The water temperature is still extremely cold.
2. Personal flotation devices save lives.
3. If you are a bystander and witness a water emergency, remembering a "last seen" position is vital information for us when we arrive on scene.

This morning, our own FF Burlacu became a United States Citizen. Some members of Shelburne Fire attended to honor her in this special occasion. Congratulations! 🇺🇸

📸 Lee Krohn

Despite rising air temperatures as we move into spring weather, we want to remind you that Lake Champlain's water temperature is still roughly 40 degrees. Water at this temperature can cause difficulty breathing and a fast onset of hypothermia, which decreases your chances of survival.

While hopefully you won't need us, Fire Boat 1 is in service at Shelburne Shipyard for the season and Marine 4 is available for our inland bodies of water, should an emergency arise.

Thank you to the amazing team of dispatchers at Shelburne Communications Center who keep us and our community members safe behind the scenes. We're so appreciative of your dedicated work!

Meet the fleet! We’ll be posting a bit about our apparatus over the next few weeks. If you have questions, feel free to drop them in the comments section! Today, here’s a look at Ladder 1.

Given the significant increase of people visiting the state for the total solar eclipse, several of our dedicated firefighters, as well as members of Shelburne Rescue, have been standing by at our station for most of today. They will continue to do so into the evening to answer any calls that should arise.

While the eclipse itself may be over, our department dog "Moose" wants to remind you to be safe and smart!

Last week, we had a training on hose line operations. It's good to refresh on the fundamentals in an open space like this before moving to a more confined area that would simulate operating in a house fire.

Photos by Lee Krohn

If you have a little one, it may be worthwhile to stop by our fire station next Saturday to have your car seat checked by Shelburne Police!

As a part of several annual mandatory trainings, here you can see firefighters being fit-tested to ensure a safe seal when wearing SCBA (self-contained breathing apparatus). Our face pieces keep the IDLH (immediately dangerous to life and health) environment out of our respiratory system and allow us to breathe clean air instead. This is also why firefighters are only allowed to have facial hair that does not impede the seal of the face piece… ie: small goatees or mustaches and not full beards.

📸 Lee Krohn

Recently, Shelburne Fire was dispatched for a motor vehicle accident at the Shelburne Post Office. Shelburne firefighters arrived to find that a motor vehicle had driven into the parking lot-side entrance, causing damage to the building. This is the 2nd recent “car v. building” call — both times, the Post Office was the location of the incident. Thanks to Shelburne Rescue for assisting with this call, however no injuries were reported.

Shelburne Fire was dispatched for a rollover with entrapment on Route 7 in Charlotte earlier this morning. We responded with Ladder 1 and Engine 1 as mutual aid. Shelburne firefighters worked alongside Charlotte Fire and Rescue Services to quickly stabilize the vehicle and extricate the patient.

This is the third extrication in about a month on Route 7 in Charlotte. This serves as a reminder to always stay alert and drive safely. However, we are also proud to assist our mutual aid partners whom we too depend on for critical incidents.

Route 7 is back to the normal flow of traffic at this time.

It’s wildfire season! While spring may seem like a low-risk time of year for wildfires — given the runoff from snow and rain showers — it’s actually quite the opposite. Stay vigilant if doing any outside burning and always an obtain a burn permit from Shelburne Dispatch if you are burning anything larger than a bonfire contained to a fire pit.

Last night, we were out training on wildland fire suppression. We conducted a controlled burn to help refresh on several different tactics.

📸 T. Fisher