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History of the Kenton County Fire Chiefs Association
1975-1994
History Provided By Jack Scheben
The origin of the Association called KCFCA started January 24th, 1975 at the Fort Mitchell fire station on Dixie Highway. It was decided that the primary goal of the association would be to demonstrate better cooperation amongst the various departments and improve emergency services to the residents of Kenton County.
Ken Kallmeyer was appointed Chairman; Ron Becker Vice Chairman and Sam Ishmeal Secretary. Annual dues were set at $5.00; the meetings were to be held on the 4th Friday of each month and they were to last no longer than 90 minutes. Other items that were considered on the first night were the establishment of a Constitution/By-Laws Committee, to be headed by Bill Leslie and Bill Vogelphol; also committees to address Squad Licensing- Rules and Regulations; Communications; and Boundaries.
On May 13th, 1975 a letter was received from Judge Executive James A. Dressman and the Kenton County Fiscal Court stated that $25,000 would be available from Revenue Sharing Funds for radio communications improvements. This initial money provided the incentive to proceed with a general radio communications program that would include new radios at the county dispatching center, mobiles, portables, and pagers for each department in the county plus requesting additional frequencies for the entire county. It proved to be a good start for the KCFCA. In 1976 the original 16 departments dropped to 16 after Oak Ridge was annexed by ____________.
A move-up committee was established in 1977 and their initial goal was to have a county wide move-up system on Rolladex cards for dispatcher usage. This proved to be a monumental job, but well worth the effort.
With excellent advances in the communication area, we turned our attention to procuring a truck having a portable air compressor to refill SCBA cylinders. In 1979 Air 1 was put in service and soon proved to be a valuable asset to the whole county. During the early 1980’s the KCFCA requested monies for radio improvements, additional equipment for Air 1. The KCFCA started talking about a water tanker for Kenton County. A 2,000 gallon water tanker, Tanker 1 was put in service in 1982. It was equipped with a portable water pump, portable water pond, and other miscellaneous equipment for shuttling water.
On July 1, 1982, through the efforts of many, The City of Covington, Kenton County Fiscal Court, Kenton County Fire Chiefs Association signed an agreement whereby the Covington Training Facility would become the responsibility of the Kenton County Fire Chiefs Association.
A goal was set to make this the best training facility in Northern Kentucky and available to all departments. Initially the area was fenced, blacktopped, shortly after that the original classroom building was rebuilt and the burn building was equipped with fans and temperature monitors.
With additional financial support front he Governor’s Commission on Training, it allowed for considerable improvements to be made each year. A pump test pit, a 4 story training tower, liquid burn pits, and propane props were added over a period of a few years. With financial help from Sanitation District 1, a confined space module was assembled and can be used by anyone for safety training in confined space operations.
Microwave technology came into use around 1985 and was instrumental in improving our emergency communications systems. Air 1 was being highly used (filling 640 SCBA cylinders and 32 cascade systems in 1987). The need arised for some sort of county wide first response to Hazmat Incidents around 1987 as well. The Hazmat System start small and allowed for the gradual buildup of some basic equipment in each fire station. Foam for fighting petroleum and other chemical fires was strategically stock pilled around the county, each department was also stocked with several hundred pounds of soda ash to neutralize chemical spills. “Zip-Zorb”, cell dry were also supplied to each department, along with pads, pillows, booms, culvert plugs, drain stoppers, emergency spill kits, and PH Paper. Other Hazmat supplies such as Special Protective Clothing including booties and gloves, absorbents for removing body fluids and contaminated victim body bags, various sizes of salvage drums for over packing leaking containers. Also at this time the KCFCA association was to purchase incident command vests, and accountability systems for each department.
In 1989 Air 1 was 10 years old. It was decided to discuss the need for a replacement Air Truck immediately with the Fiscal Court, safety considerations that were not even guidelines in 1979 were now written into the new Air Truck Specifications. A “High Tech” Air 1 came into service in 1990 and performed to expectations. In 1991 the attention of the KCFCA was devoted to rebuilding the training tower at the Training Center. A much Need Fire Investigation Team was established in 1992 when Erlanger Fire Department donated an old ambulance for a Fire Investigation Unit. Personnel from many departments became active in the cause and origin determination of fires. The teams have been busy since that day. A good rapport was established with many police departments; several cases have been taken to court.
The EMS committee can in to full swing in the early 90’s (1990 to 1994). Paramedic service was being established in Kenton County, EMT classes were being sponsored, CEU’s were made available on a routine basis and specialized equipment was being purchased for each department. Likely the most significant achievement for this committee was the suggestion to purchase a defibrillator for each Fire/EMS department in Kenton County. To convince the Fiscal Court to proceed with this purchase was not an easy task. However, the merits of systems with defibrillators in use was already proven. This fact coupled with some resourceful presentations convinced the Fiscal Court of the value. In 1994 after just four months of usage the defibrillators save four lives in Kenton County.
None of the above could have been accomplished without the financial and in-kind support of many. The KCFCA is particularly grateful to the Kenton County Fiscal Court for the continued financial support. From 1-24-1975 to 12-31-1994 the amount was approximately $890,000 and without the aid of the Governor’s Commission on Training the Training Center would not be among the best in the state. The support of each individual city in Kenton County should not be overlooked and is vital for continued progress of the KCFCA.
Also the Officer and members of the KCFCA who put countless hours each month to keep the numerous projects ongoing and support the operations.
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