A REPORT FROM THE FIRE CHIEF

Russ Maguire is Chief of the Treynor Fire Department. He is one of twenty five volunteers who work hard to provide excellent fire protection to Treynor and the surrounding community. Maguire explained their district territory is essentially four townships, about 100 square miles, around Treynor. He noted that when there is a fire there is excellent mutual aid form nearby fire departments. This was demonstrated recently at the fire at St. Paul’s Lutheran Church ! when the early morning fire was put out in time to minimize damage to the structure. Maguire noted there is a good breadth of experience among fire department members. There are fourteen EMTs, one EMTI, and 3 Paramedics. Eleven have Fire Fighter One ratings, the same as Council Bluffs firemen. The volunteers are very committed to being well trained and performing in a safe manner. Last year, Maguire stated, there were 130 calls to the department. Eighty percent were rescue calls and the rest were for fires. According to Maguire the Treynor Fire Department is independently funded by tax levy, grants, donations, solicitations, memorials, and emergency service billings.  Their most recent large purchase was a new tanker truck in 2003. An upcoming challenge is to upgrade all the radio communication so there is better communication between various law and fire protection services.