From the fire chief

John VanGorkom has been chief of the Sni-Valley Fire
Protection District since April 2004.
1As chief, what does your job entail? Serves as
the district manager responsible for the budgeting and
management of a $2 million budget. Eighteen fulltime
employees, eight volunteers and four part-time employees.
We respond to over 1,400 calls per year as well as provide
inspection services and public education programs in
the School system. The district must be operated within the
guidelines set forth in State Statutes Chapter 321.
2How is your district funded? The district operates
on a levy that in 2009 will be 0.7288 cents with
0.1055 of the levy as debt service payment. The
District also receives proceeds from a 1/2 half cent sales tax.
3How many trucks do you have at your disposal?
We have two fire engines, 1 aerial ladder
truck, 2 advanced life support ambulances, two brush
firefighting vehicles, two 2,000-gallon tankers, three chief’s
vehicles and two pickup trucks.
4How many staff members does the fire protection
district have? How many work in
firefighting capacity, and how many work
in another aspect of district operations? The
District has three chief officers, three captains and 12 fire
personnel who are EMT or paramedic certified staff. All work
in fire operations.
5How large is the Sni-Valley territory? The Sni
Valley Fire Protection District encompasses 78 square
miles.
6Do you cooperate with other area fire districts,
and, if so, how and when? We have
mutual-aid agreements with all our surrounding
departments and with CJCFPD, Fort Osage FPD, Lone Jack
FPD, Odessa FPD, Lotawana FPD and Johnson County Fire.
We have automatic response agreements for tankers.
7What is the history of your department, and
how has it changed over the years it’s been
in existence? The department was started as a volunteer
department many years ago, and over the years has
changed from an all-volunteer force to the current combination
department. Over the years they have taken on the missions
of emergency medical service, technical rescue and
hazardous material response capabilities. The department is
now staffed 24 hours a day, year round with the ability to
respond to and assist our citizens.
8As a small fire district, what are your main
challenges? As a small district we are always challenged
by our funding level. The Sni Valley Fire
Protection District has one of the lowest tax levies in the
entire KC region. This means we have to make sure we
spend our funding in a way that we get the biggest bang
for our buck. We also have fewer people than our surrounding
counterparts which means we have to rely on our mutual-
aid partnerships to help us out when needed. Another
challenge we face is the large area that we cover and the
time that it takes to get to some areas of the district.