Hope Fire Department Brings Lions Program

By Staff, 09/27/21 2:11 PM

The Hope Fire Department brought the program to the Hope Noon Lions on Monday.  Shift Commander Joe Mac Raschke, Firefighter Isaiah Mayo, Firefighter Andrew Washington, and Captain Cole Wibbelsman were on hand to represent the department with Capt. Wibbelsman handling most of the program.

Captain Wibbelsman noted the #1 station (on east 2nd) keeps 3 firefighters and 2 firefighters at station 2.  There are 3 shifts.  Firefighters work 24 hours on, 24 hours off.  There are 16 full-time firefighters.  He gave details on the fire vehicles including their reserve truck and the ladder truck.  Captain Wibbelsman noted the city’s current ISO rating is 3.

The department started running medical calls this past year in conjunction with Pafford.  Last year the department did 195 calls and to date they have over 600 this year.  These calls don’t just help the public and Pafford, it helps the firemen to keep their medical training up.

All the firefighters at the Hope Firefighter are certified firefighters and emergency medical responders.  Captain Wibbelsman noted they have a new employee coming on who will be finished at the academy in two weeks.

Captain Wibbelsman noted the department likes to interact with the public.  He said they attended the Watermelon Festival and passed out water and also participate in school programs.  Also, some of the firefighters participated in a 110 story “stairclimb” to commemorate 9/11.

October is Fire Awareness Month and the department will be visiting local schools to let the students know what they do and to view the fire trucks.  The department also installs smoke detectors free for any residents in the Hope city limits.

The department also responds to fires on I-30 between the weight station and the Emmet exit.

The firefighters answered questions from the Lions and their informative program was very well received by the club.