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Recently, eight members of West Pend Oreille Fire and one member of West Priest Lake Fire completed an intense three-month Essentials of Firefighting course, hosted by West Pend Oreille Fire and sponsored by the Emergency Services Training department at the College of Eastern Idaho, which handles all of the fire service training in the state.

There are a couple of local businesses and individuals who made generous donations to make this course a success. If possible, with your help, I would like to thank them publicly for their contributions.

AJ’s Cafe teamed up with Debbie Low to offer a free meal at AJ’s to any student who scored a 100% on any quiz or exam. This was a great motivator, and quite a few students earned themselves a free meal.

Albeni Falls Building Supply donated a huge amount of supplies for us to build a roof prop for vertical ventilation training. A roof prop is a training device that simulates the roof of a typical residential structure, allowing students to learn how to strategically cut ventilation holes in a roof. During a fire, these holes allow heat and toxic smoke to escape the building, leading to less fire damage and more survivable conditions for anyone who may be trapped inside. This is a critical skill for firefighters to learn, so having the prop available was a great experience for the class. Plus we can continue to use it for other department trainings going forward.

We are so fortunate to live in a community that supports its volunteer firefighters!

LT. CATHY COYLE FRECHETTE

Priest River

State fire service instructor

West Pend Oreille Fire District