Don Logslett retiring as Colfax fire chief

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By LeAnn R. Ralph

COLFAX  — After serving as the Colfax fire chief for 13 years, Don Logslett says it’s time for some “new blood” at the helm of the Colfax Community Fire Department.

Logslett told the Colfax Community Fire District Board at the October 14 meeting that he planned to step down as fire chief when his terms ends in January.

Gary Hill, who has been serving as the assistant fire chief this year, will take over from Logslett.

Although Logslett said he is beginning to suffer from a bit of “burn out” serving as the fire chief, he still plans to serve on the fire department as a firefighter.

Logslett joined the Colfax Community Fire Department in 1979.

He took over as fire chief in 2008 from retiring Colfax Fire Chief Rick Hainstock.

During his tenure as fire chief, Logslett has been around for some big changes in the fire department.

In February of 2011, for example, he recommended that the fire board increase the run rates for the fire department.

From the time Logslett started on the fire department in 1979 until February of 2011, the Colfax fire department had charged $10 per hour for fire engines, tankers and brush trucks.

In 2011, the Boyceville fire department was charging $500 per fire, while Elk Mound was charging $150 per hour for engines and tankers and $75 for brush trucks, and the Menomonie rural fire department was charging $150 per truck.

Logslett recommended that the fire department charge $150 per hour for engines and $75 per hour for

tankers, brush trucks and the rescue truck, and the Colfax Community Fire District Board subsequently approved his recommendation.

New fire station

During Logslett’s tenure, the Colfax fire board also built a new fire station in 2012 on county Highway  M.

The old fire station in downtown Colfax was too small to accommodate the increasing size of firefighting equipment and the amount of equipment needed.

The total construction cost was $768,998.42.

Cedar Country Cooperative purchased the old fire station and rescue squad property for $240,000 at auction in April of 2012, which offset the cost for each of the municipalities in the fire district: Village of Colfax, Town of Colfax, Town of Grant and Town of Otter Creek.

The municipalities pay the fire district tax levy according to their equalized value.

After the Colfax fire department moved from the fire station downtown to the new fire station on Highway M, Logslett told the fire board about the positive impact of the new fire station.

In addition to having room for all of the equipment and adequate room for firefighters to store their gear, there was also now room for the firefighters to sit at tables during their meetings, where they could see and hear each other, he said.

The new fire station also helped to attract new members to join the fire department, Logslett said.

Budget 

While Logslett has been fire chief, the budget for the Colfax fire department has not changed over the past 10 years and has stayed right around $112,000, with a property tax levy of $94,700, give or take a few hundred dollars, depending upon the year.

Each year when he presents the budget, Logslett says he does not see a need to increase the budget and the tax levy when all of the fire department’s expenses are already being covered.

Every year for the past number of years, after the budget is closed out from the previous year, the fire department budget has about $20,000 left over, which the fire board has been transferring into the equipment replacement account in addition to the $20,000 included in the property tax levy for the equipment replacement account.

As of October 14, the equipment replacement account had a balance of $209,000. The current balance does not include the $20,000 from the tax levy in the 2021 budget.

The Colfax fire department is anticipating the purchase of a new fire engine within the next couple of years.

Several years ago, Logslett told the fire board that he wanted to continue as fire chief until the Colfax fire department purchased a new fire engine.

The purchase of a new fire engine most likely will now be accomplished on Gary Hill’s watch.

A new fire engine is expected to cost around $400,000.

High-pressure system

During Logslett’s time as fire chief, the Colfax fire department has acquired an ultra high-pressure system for fighting fires.

The ultra-high-pressure system condenses a stream of water to the size of a BB that works to cool a fire fast using very little water and has a reach of about 35 feet.

The advantage in a rural fire district is that an ultra-high-pressure system mounted on a pickup truck would be able to reach a fire faster than the regular fire trucks and could start to fight the fire before the other equipment arrives, Logslett says.

The Colfax Community Fire Department received a $25,000 grant from the Otto Bremer Foundation in the fall of 2019 to purchase an ultra-high-pressure system.

Logslett had written the grant application for $45,000 all together, $25,000 for the fire suppression system and $20,000 for a used pickup truck to carry the fire suppression system, but the Bremer Foundation changed how they consider grants and wanted applicants to have “skin in the game.”

Earlier in 2019, when Logslett told the fire board he was planning to apply for the grant, the fire board had approved spending $20,000 for a pickup truck.

Logslett has always expressed deep appreciation for the firefighters who serve on the Colfax fire department because “they know trucks” and will spend as much time as necessary to research used vehicles that will serve the fire department — and the Colfax community — very well.

The firefighters looked for pickup trucks and discovered they could buy used trucks 10 or 12 years old for about $20,000, while the cost of a brand-new three-quarter-ton four-wheel-drive pickup truck with a government discount applied would be $31,000 to $33,000.

The Colfax Firefighters’ Association agreed to make up the difference between the $20,000 approved by the fire board and the cost of a new pickup truck with a municipal discount.

Much of the money in the Colfax Fire Fighters’ Association bank account has come from the annual Firefighters’ Ball held every September.

On more than once occasion, Logslett has expressed the opinion that because people in the Colfax community are so supportive of the fire department and of the Firefighters’ Ball and other fund raisers, that the Colfax Firefighters’ Association should spend the money in such a way that it brings the most benefit to the community.

Perhaps the most publicly-visible use of the ultra-high-pressure system after it was purchased involved a semi-tractor on Main Street in Colfax across from The Outhouse Bar.

The semi-tractor’s cab went from raging inferno to smoke and steam in about a minute.

Side-by-side

Along with the other improvements to the Colfax fire department while Logslett has been fire chief, the fire department has obtained a utility terrain vehicle on tracks to help firefighters reach areas inaccessible by trucks.

The Tainter Trail Tamers, the Colfax Sno-drifters, Dunn Energy and the Colfax Firefighters Association all contributed money toward the purchase of the UTV following a fatal snowmobile accident outside Colfax in early February of 2019 that claimed the life of 29-year-old Brenden Shutts.

Logslett reported to the fire board at the October of 2019 meeting that in addition to the pledges from the other groups for the UTV, the Colfax fire department had been awarded a $6,900 grant from the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources and a $2,500 grant from Dunn Energy.