It's prime hurricane season in New Orleans. I'm not sure about tropical depressions brewing in the Gulf -- nor about the cool but potent drink the city is famous for -- but I do know that nearly 16,000 fire service officials from around the world are about to blow into town for Fire-Rescue International next week.

As always, the International Association of Fire Chiefs' annual conference and exposition will showcase the fire service to the nation, but given the recently raised Department of Homeland Security alerts, the sense of urgency over the level of protection for our homeland will be heightened as well. Our preview of new products to be shown in the exhibit hall Friday and Saturday, points to an emphasis this year on all-hazards response. (See our July issue.)

What else? According to IAFC Executive Director Garry Briese, the "strongest-ever push for firefighter safety" will be launched at this conference. A more-than-$1 million firefighter safety initiative involving the IAFC, the U.S. Fire Administration and the private sector will be announced at the show on Friday.

Annex D. Have you've seen the ads about Annex D in Fire Chief? If you still think all this talk about NFPA 1901's Annex D is just a ploy to pitch new trucks, you've missed its impact on safety. Fire Chief magazine and the Fire Emergency Training Network worked together to produce a 40-minute program explaining Annex D that was recently aired on FETN. We asked fire service leaders involved in apparatus to help explain Annex D. Kirk Owen of Plano (Texas) Fire Department, Robert Tutterow of Charlotte (N.C.) Fire Department, Homer Robertson of Fort Worth Fire Department; Chief Bruce Varner (currently) of Santa Rosa (Calif.) Fire Department, Jim Faulkner of Special Equipment Services and Jim Juneau, an attorney, weighed in on the pros and cons of refurbishing, replacing or doing nothing at all about aging fire apparatus. Look for a workshop at FRI on Annex D from 7:30 a.m. to 9:30 a.m. Thursday.

Don't want to wade through reading Annex D? That's why we created a compact disc with a seven-minute synopsis of the FETN program that we will give away in our booth at FRI. This condensed version of Annex D can be shown to your commissioner, city manager or mayor to help them understand the safety issues involved with older apparatus. Order forms for the full 40-minute FETN program will be in the booth and on our Web site at the end of August. So stop by Booth 3413 and pick up a copy of the "bite-size" Annex D.

We'll announce the winners of the ninth annual Fire Chief Magazine Career and Volunteer Fire Chief of the Year Awards at FRI. John Randjelovic, president of Pierce Manufacturing Inc., this year's sponsor of the awards, and I will present the awards during Thursday morning's general session. These two winners represent the leadership and commitment of all the nominees, as well as that of fire service leaders across North America and around the world. Please join us in congratulating this year's winners.

Busy times! If you're at Fire-Rescue International, please stop by our booth and say hi. In addition to myself, Managing Editor Kevin Daniels, Associate Editor Lisa Allegretti and Senior Editor Pat West will be at the show, looking for news and story ideas for upcoming issues. Let us know how we can help you in your role as leader in the rapidly changing world of emergency services.

Janet Wilmoth, Editor