Congratulations to this week’s KKBN Goodie Award Winner: Groveland Fire Chief Shane Werner
Shane Warner
The entire staff of the Groveland Community Services District would like to nominate Groveland Fire Chief Shane Warner for the Goodie of the week award. Shane serves our community day in and day out by responding to emergency medical calls and fires, and is often found comforting distraught family members suffering from shock or the loss of a loved one. He is relentless in his mission to make efficient and cost-effective emergency services possible for our tiny community, and has managed to find creative solutions to the difficult problems we face.
It is precisely this innovative approach to solving difficult problems that is responsible for the enormously successful Groveland Fire Department Reserve Program. Facing a drastic decline in volunteer firefighter participation, mainly due to increasingly demanding training requirements and low pay, the Groveland Fire Department began employing skilled fire fighters on a part time basis to help cover single shifts. This has allowed the department to staff an extra trained firefighter for each shift without the costs associated with a full-time employee. This program has given many aspiring firefighters a chance to gain departmental experience and has allowed professionals from surrounding areas an opportunity to bring in extra income. Shane is also currently overseeing the implementation of a mapping project, which uses aerial photographs of our District to evaluate fuel breaks, identify inaccessible areas, and reveal new potential emergency routes. Using this mapping syst!
em, Shane works with SWIFT (SouthWest Interface Team) to identify areas in need of clearing. These programs, along with Shane’s leadership, have helped the Groveland Fire Department to become one of the most successful in the county.
Shane is also extremely civically minded, and gives much of his time to community causes. His fire department sponsors the Santa Sleigh for the Groveland/Big Oak Flat area and actively participates in the Tuolumne County Relay for Life and the Annual Memorial Day Barbecue for the Groveland Volunteer Fire Association. He spends the majority of his time away from the station volunteering his time as a coach, fundraising coordinator and Board member for the 49er Little League Association. Shane can always be counted on to motivate members of the community to get involved and donate money to little league, and you can often find him and his wife Wendy in the snack bar working hard to generate funds to benefit the youth.
He is a wonderful family man, who enjoys hunting, fishing, and participating in all of his son’s activities. He is a BBQ master, who can often be found cooking up tri-tip at fire department events, fundraisers, weddings and just about anywhere he is called upon to cook. He is always generous with his time and his humor, and exemplifies the community spirit that makes living in a small town so wonderful
Groveland Fire Department