(LISTEN): Boone County Fire Protection District Chief Westhoff and assistant chief Blomenkamp appear on 939 the Eagle

About this episode

Chief Doug Westhoff and assistant chief Gale Blomenkamp discuss the Boone County Fire Protection District and its operations on 939 the Eagle.

The Boone County Fire Protection District is known nationwide as a world-class organization. Missouri Task Force One (MOTF-1) is part of it and is one of 28 urban search and rescue team across the nation. Boone County Fire Protection District Chief Doug Westhoff and assistant chief Gale Blomenkamp appeared in-studio this weekend on 939 the Eagle's "CEO Roundtable". The district was formed in 1970 by the voters. The district's annual budget is about $5.5 million. Chief Westhoff says it has about 175 volunteers. “The predominance of our field operations is conducted by volunteer members. Though we compensate them of some nominal fees and some of those sorts of perks, it’s a volunteer resource," the chief says. Assistant chief Blomenkamp tells listeners that to fully fund the department with a paid staff would require about a $40-million budget. Both men praise the professionalism or the volunteers and of their entire staff:

People in this episode

Guests: Doug Westhoff, Gale Blomenkamp

Topics covered

• fire protection
• volunteer services
• urban search and rescue
• local government
• budgeting

Keywords

• Boone County
• fire protection
• volunteers
• urban search and rescue
• budget

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: Boone County Fire Protection District, Missouri Task Force One, 939 the Eagle

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