CFSI Webinar Discusses Congress in 2012
(Posted: 1-23-12)

The Congressional Fire Services Institute (CFSI) conducted a webinar on 1-23-12.  Its purpose was to look at the coming year for Congress in Washington, DC.  CFSI Executive Director Bill Webb and Director of Government Affairs Sean Carroll said 2012 will be a very challenging year and it follows 2011 when little got accomplished in relation to fire and emergency service issues.  With 2012 being a Presidential election year, with also 33 Senatorial seats up and all Representative seats up for election, Webb said that will over-ride focusing on the issues.  Webb encourages all fire service members to watch the State of the Union speech by President Obama on Tuesday, 1-24-12 if they want some insight on what the Administration plans ahead.  Of key importance to the fire and emergency services will be the Fire Grants Re-Authorization Act (HR. 1473).  Webb said we are already seeing decreased funding for those grant programs and that could continue with a focus on controlling Federal spending.  Another hot subject will be the D-Block bill (S. 911) for increased radio spectrum allocation for first responders.  Other bills to watch include HR. 86 that would fund the Volunteer Emergency Services Responder and Retention Act.; HR. 1066 – the Federal Firefighter Fairness Act; HR. 1099 Campus Fire Safety bill and HR. 3250 the College Fire Protection Act.  Other bills of interest include HR. 1792 the Fire Sprinkler Incentive Act.  Both Webb and Carroll reminded those on the webcast that “all politics are local”, meaning fire chiefs and their department members need to contact their Federal legislators to support bills favorable to the fire service.  You can learn more at the CFSI website at www.cfsi.org.

Billy Goldfedder and The Secret List:
GAS LEAK RESPONSE & REMINDERS:  While the cause, actions and operations of what happened at a gas leak and explosion in New York state recently are certainly not yet known, this incident is yet another reminder of how GAS LEAK incidents - that we all respond to daily - can turn ugly in an instant. 

Here are some links to refresh your knowledge about handling gas leaks  . . .
NIOSH REPORT AND RECOMMENDATIONS:
Gas Leak  http://www.cdc.gov/niosh/fire/reports/face200913.html
GAS LEAK EMERGENCIES:  http://tinyurl.com/86qby4c  and  http://phoenix.gov/FIRE/20405.pdf

No firefighter LODD's in Idaho in 2011!  Let's do it again in 2012!

The United States Fire Administration (USFA) has announced there were 81 on-duty firefighter fatalities in the United States as a result of incidents that occurred in 2011. This represents an almost seven percent decrease from the 87 fatalities reported for 2010. The 81 fatalities occurred in 33 states, one U.S. territory, and one overseas U.S. military facility. Texas experienced the highest number of fatalities (seven). North Carolina experienced six firefighter deaths and was the only other state with five or more firefighter fatalities.

"In 2004 at the initial Life Safety Summit, a number of fire service leaders did not believe we would complete a calendar year with less than 100 firefighter on-duty deaths," U.S. Fire Administrator Ernest Mitchell said. "We broke through that perceived barrier in 2009, 2010, and now in 2011! We salute and congratulate our fire service family and pledge to continue working closely with the entire fire service community and its partners to maintain and even accelerate this downward trend in on-duty firefighter deaths."

Heart attacks were responsible for the deaths of 48 firefighters (59%) in 2011, nearly the same proportion of firefighter deaths from heart attack or stroke (60%) in 2010. Ten on-duty firefighters died in association with wildland fires, the lowest number of annual firefighter deaths associated with wildland fires since 1996. Fifty-four percent of all firefighter fatalities occurred while performing emergency duties. Only three firefighters were killed in vehicle collisions.

2011 firefighter fatality statistics are provisional and may change as the USFA contacts State Fire Marshals to verify the names of firefighters reported to have died on duty during 2011. The final number of firefighter fatalities will be reported in USFA's annual firefighter fatality report, expected to be available by July 2012.

For additional information on firefighter fatalities, including the annual fatality reports from 1986 through 2010 and the Firefighter Fatality Retrospective Study 1990?2000, please visit the http://www.usfa.fema.gov.

The United States Fire Administration has released an outstanding video called “Everyone Goes Home.”  This is a film produced by the National Fallen Firefighters Foundation in cooperation with the Chicago Fire Department.  See or download it at this link:  http://community.fireengineering.com/video/video/show?id=1219672%3AVideo%3A513861 This video should be required viewing by all firefighters.

Membership Renewal Continues
(Revised: 01-03-12)

The 2012 IFCA Membership Renewal campaign continues. IFCA membership renewals were due January 1st.  Current and potential members received membership application information by email and snail-mail in December.  A membership renewal form is available below and in the Membership link. If you have forgotten to renew, now is the time to do so.
2012 Membership Application and Renewal form: 
/Assets/dept_1/PM/pdf/MembershipForms2012.doc  
(Download, printout, complete and mail with dues payment.)

NLFD's D/C Bob Maines Retires
(Posted: 11-30-11)

After more than 30 years of dedicated service, Northern Lakes Fire Protection District wants to wish Division Chief Bob Maines good luck and good health in retirement. A retirement ceremony was held on Dec 2 in the conference room at Northern Lakes Fire Station 1, 125 West Hayden Ave., Hayden, Idaho. Bob started as a volunteer with the Rathdrum Rural Fire Protection District in 1981 as an entry\level Firefighter. Working his way through the ranks, he was promoted to Assistant Chief in 1987. Bob was hired as a fulltime Deputy Chief in 1994. In 2001 Rathdrum Rural and Hayden Lake Fire merged to form Northern Lakes Fire Protection District. Bob continued in his position of Deputy Chief working under 4 different chiefs. In 2004 Bob started working in his current position of Division Chief of Training. Along with training, Bob supervises the purchasing and maintenance of apparatus and equipment, communication equipment, PPE and uniforms. Bob responds as a Duty Chief on a 3 week rotation period. Bob is certified in many levels of fire service training and provides classroom and hands-on training throughout Idaho. Bob serves on many training committees and is currently the President of the Kootenai County Fire Chiefs Assoc. Prior to his career in the fire service, Bob served several years in law enforcement. His combined years in public safety are a great testament and display of committed service to the citizens of Kootenai County. Chief Maines is a longtime IFCA member and the IFCA wishes him the best on his retirement! God bless you Bob!

---

Castenada Named New Chief in Payette
(Posted: 12-5-11)

Payette city officials named Steve Castenada as the city’s new fire chief at the grand opening of the new Payette Fire Department facility Friday.  Castenada has been serving as interim chief since former Fire Chief Tracy Carleton resigned after less than two months of starting the new position.  Castenada has been serving the city and rural fire departments since 1997.

The grand opening coincided with the fire department’s annual chili feed. The department donates the chili and cinnamon rolls to guests but asks for donations of unwrapped toys to give to Help Them to Hope. The new station has been in construction since October 2010.

The previous location on South Seventh Street was too small to house the firefighters, their equipment and the vehicles that were needed. This new building is more than 15,000 square feet, compared with the previous 4,500 square feet. The funding for the new building came from a grant from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 and totaled more than $1.9 million. The building comes with a meeting room, open for public use, a kitchen, several living quarters, weight room, equipment room, office space and enough room for all of the department’s vehicles.  The new location is on US Highway 95.

The IFCA entends its congratulations to Chief Castenada!

Cherise Kaechele is a reporter at the Independent-Enterprise and Argus Observer. She can be reached at (208) 642-3357 or by emailing cherisek@qwestoffice.net. To comment on this story, go to www.argusobserver.com