As I am sure you are aware, we made the difficult decision to cancel this year's Annual LPP VFD Fish Fry.  The Fish Fry is normally the highlight of our year as we get to have some great fellowship with nearly every family in our district. 

We felt that it would simply be unwise to invite our entire community to pack into the Fire Station not knowing what level of COVID infection might still be going on by that weekend. 

In addition to the great community fellowship, the Fish Fry is also normally our major fund raiser. 

Although we will not be serving up fish and fellowship this year, we hope you will continue the generosity you have shown toward the department.  Donations may be made by cash, check, or on-line transaction.

For more information, see the attached file.  In the mean time, we look forward to continuing to serve your fire protection and first responder needs this year, and serving up better-than-ever fried catfish next year!

Want to make a DONATION to Lake Palo Pinto VFD? Donations are critical to our ability to serve our area, and are deductible under IRS regulations. Two ways to donate:
Mail - Lake Palo Pinto VFD, 7830 FM 2692, Gordon, TX 76453
OnLine - https://lakepalopintovfd.org/Make-A-Donation!#Donate

LPP VFD is now using Call-Em-All for our district automated calling alert system. We will send a text message to all registered residents if we become aware of any emergency conditions affecting our area.

To enroll, text the words Join Alert to 888 344 0904

Call-Em-All is a Texas based company used by over 40,000 groups. Since 2005 they have sent over 1.5 billion messages.

We have just established our goals for this year and beyond:

Short Term Goals

1. Maintain an ISO rating of 9 for our district, including focus on Fire Wise Community efforts.

2. Formalize departmental SOP's relative to administration, operations, safety, and vehicle use.

3. Continue to focus on WUI (wild land urban interface) training to include wild land and structure.

4. Expand training and use of fire boat to provide better suppression coverage as well as assistance in lake incidents.

5. Pursue automatic aid agreements with Gordon and Santo Districts in consonance with ESD 1 policy.

6. Increase First Responder capabilities, and support area EMS initiatives.

Long Term Goals

7. Increase recruiting efforts through internal recruitment initiatives.

8. Increase/expand water supply capability within our district.

9. Maintain long term view of achieving ISO 8B rating when making strategic planning decisions.

10. Continue to broaden and expand the capabilities of LPPVFD.

11. Strengthen and expand our involvement with our community involvement.

Happy New Year from the LPP VFD!  I wanted to share some of our key goals for 2017 :

•  We have prepared a first responder Emergency Care Attendant (ECA) Program implementation plan for our district and are moving forward.  The first step is identifying the volunteers who will serve our district in the capacity and we have a great first class shaping up.
  
• We are strongly committed to community involvement. Norman and Gary will head up an on-going Adopt-a-Family effort. They will present a plan at February meeting.
• Last year's budget was very capital intensive. This year we will focus on Command & Control, Training, and Operations. We will have a goal to complete a set of Standard Operating Procedures by the end of 2017.
• Our By-Laws were updated last year to increase the requirements for Training, Attendance, and Response. This year we will put an increased focus on delivering on these commitments.
• Our incident occurrence rate has been thankfully low, but we must not be complacent. We must remain vigilant and prepared to respond to emergency events!
• As always, all individuals should remain vigilant to ensure our district safety and your own personal safety.  Please be especially vigilant regarding the potential for arson as seen recently in California and Tennessee. Report any suspicious activity via 911.  And personally  always identify alternative evacuation paths when attending public events/locations. In the event of an emergency, be prepared to leave through a lower traffic exit than the entry you came through.