Published: March 04, 2009 09:08 am      

JFPD trustee receives advanced training

By KANDACE MCCOY

kandace.mccoy@register-news.com

MT. VERNON — A fire protection district trustee will soon be the first to have completed a certified program through the Illinois Association of Fire Protection Districts.

Frank Moore, one of three trustees for the Jefferson Fire Protection District, has completed the first part of the Advanced Trustee Training administered by the IAFPD. He has one more course to complete and when he does so, Moore will become the first trustee for JFPD to have received training.

“The training allows him better service to help run the district,” explained JFPD Chief Mike Huntman. “Topics in the training include budgetary items, ordering equipment, working with personnel — it gives him management skills to run a district.”

Moore, who worked as a paid fireman in the 70s and also served as a volunteer for 12 years with the district, said the training so far has been “very informational.”

“At first when I went, I didn’t know want to expect,” he said. “But they discussed some things I didn’t know about. Fire districts have different rules and regulations than municipalities.”

Moore has been a trustee since 2003, when he was appointed to the position by the Jefferson County Board. In addition to his 30 years of experience with the district, the trustee training gives him a more rounded knowledge of a working fire district, Huntman says.

“He knows both sides of the district,” Huntman added. “The fireman’s side with the equipment and the district’s side as a trustee.”

Jefferson Fire Protection District covers 200 square miles of the county and has three substations, located at Ina, Dix and Opdyke.