The examination of gas leaks reveals more violations

Christopher Kelley

Nederland – While the Nederland Fire Protection District (NFPD) experienced fewer calls than the average in the last month, the board of directors on Wednesday, February 19, 2025, learned from the report of the fire brigade marshal that an increase in local companies has increased, which have received a fine and decreased.

For the first time, the board received an overview of the monthly report by fire chief Charlie Schmidtmann, in which the requirements that have been taken since January 15 have been described.

NFPD -requested took care of a patient who suffered from a stroke, another ax wound, and a man who had sprayed pepper after he reported “drove around the bonnet of a car in the city”. The staff of the Fire District also helped a man whose wheelchair was in the snow, reacted to a car accident on the Sugarlaaf Road – where no one was injured – and answered a call to Eldora.

The NFPD firefighter Andrew Joslin provided his monthly report, in which some important inspections of existing companies in Nederland were highlighted. Joslin reported that some of the inspections led to “several compliance problems” in which three stop work orders were issued, as well as several fines of over 4,000 US dollars.

Many of the violations found in Joslin's report were attributed to a multi-purpose trade/residential building in Nederland. Captain Wheelock reacted to a report on a smell of gas that discovered several violations within the building, including a gas leak.

Chief Schmidtmann and Fire Brigade Marshal Joslin were also at the scene; They contacted the construction manager and helped the repetition and resettlement of the evacuated residents. Joslin noted that building management and the owner were cooperative to tackle the situation.

Joslin reported that in the past month there were several houses in the district near their final certification of the occupancy, three sprinkler systems had final inspections, two sprinkler systems were adopted their rough inspections and three solar projects were inspected and approved.

Joslin's report stated that his work with the city of Nederland, which identified and prioritized water and sewage infrastructure improvement projects, and advised the Board of Trustees (BOT) for the introduction of the International Fire Brigade Act 2024.

During the Bot meeting on Tuesday, February 18, the board instructed the city's employees to design a regulation that accepted the Codes 2024, which was the recommendation of the NFPD.

Also at this meeting, Andrew Bliss, head of the city department, presented the proposed improvements in the water and sewage infrastructure, which included the priority of the district in the installation of new fire hydrants in and around the Nederland Community Center.

The State of Colorado's Waldfire Resilience Code created in 2023 is responsible for the introduction of model codes. Joslin said he took part in the meetings of this board and is updated by the NFPD.

The code is expected to be released on July 1, 2025 and, after the founding of the city of Nederland and the NFPD, require the new requirements for the takeover and compliance with the new requirements.

Joslin will also visit the Colorado Chapter of the International Code Council, which will take place in Loveland in early March. Among other things, he will take part in one about the International Fire Code 2024.

During the freezing temperatures that Nederland experienced at the end of January, the fire station's main stove failed, which led to offices on the first floor without warmth. After the oven had been repaired, the second oven of the station was also failed, which required part of Denver to be back into operation.

It was reported that the staff worked on the general snow maintenance, updated standard operating processes, replaced light covers and repaired the dry stone wall. The NFPD received several sets of new bunker equipment and was donated four 35-liter backpacks, four avalanche receivers, four avalanche probes and four shovels.

Chief Schmidtmann also informed the board that the district of Boulder County was awarded a grant of 96,000 US dollars. These funds will provide two new radio in each of the district vehicles, which are to be installed by the new personnel mechanic of the district.

Many of the vehicles in the district received repairs and maintenance. This included the installation of a new distributor and the new lenses for a light bar, the repair of a fuel tank, the replacement of an actuator in front of the front axis and changing an air filter.

The concept builds out drawings for the new ambulance of the NFPD, which Schmidtmann described as “material progress in the acquisition of the vehicle”. The ambulance is expected to be delivered in April 2026.

Captain Glen Wheelock trained training for civil servants who take command of larger operations. Wheelock also taught the self -evaporation and the Rapid Intervention Team Training. Captain Nick Faes organized the respiratory removal and conductor training, and captain Conor Moran led the training for Gear and radiocommunication.

In preparation for the fire academy, the latest recruits of the NFPD received self -contained breathing apparatus. Firefighters also visited courses from regional partners about traffic control and trauma scenarios.

Chief Schmidtmann took part in a 40-hour section of the Compost Operations Training Course, a five-day commitment offered by the Compost Research and Education Foundation in Grand Junction.

Captain Faes has completed his fire teacher certification, and the fire brigade marshal Andrew Joslin has joined the Colorado Firefighting Officers Association. After participating in his first meeting of the association, Joslin found that “a network of training officers in the entire state” was present.

Elektra Greer received special thanks in the report of the boss for her work with the Chief, who wrote the application for the Colorado Division of Fire Prevention and Control's Fire Fighter Disease and Safety Grant. Firefighter Larissa Briscombe was also thanks for the correction of the application.

Captain Moran was also highlighted in Schmidtmann's report for his work in the Ems department of the district. Last month, Moran began to organize an EMT Skills meeting on a hybrid course program called Cocera.

Two candidates for the available PRN (Pro -Re -Nata) with the district of Jason Blumen and PJ Moon were interviewed and offered the positions.

The Nederland fire protection district meets on the third Wednesday of the month. Meetings can be visited online via Microsoft teams. The next meeting will take place on Wednesday, March 19, 2025, at 7 p.m.

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