Charlie Dickinson, acting U.S. fire administrator, is probably one of the most passionate speakers we have in the fire service. He speaks straight from the heart, and you can always count on him to tell it like it is — no flowery political stuff here. If you need a kick in the butt, he'll give it, but ever the gentleman, he does it without profanity.

Dickinson recently brought his straight-from-the-hip style to the Illinois Mutual Aid Box Alarm System's annual conference. There he talked about disaster preparedness for both communities and firefighter families, particularly in the shadow of Hurricane Katrina.

"We need to get people to read the entire page when they get a request," he said of the firefighters who reported to Atlanta. "It was the first time in the history of the fire service [that] firefighters were used as humanitarians. What we asked was go and be assigned to a [joint operations center]." Dickinson said that Congress and FEMA were so pleased with the work done by the firefighters who helped in and communicated with communities, and that the JOC program will continue.

"There is no 'federal' incident," he said. "Every incident starts in somebody's back yard."

Dickinson also stressed the need for firefighters to make sure their own families are prepared in the event of a disaster. "How many people in this room left your own families at risk when you went off to Katrina?" he asked. "Are they prepared? How can we expect our work force to stay at work when their families are at risk?"

Disaster preparedness obviously also requires that firefighters be properly trained. Dickinson cautioned that changes to the officer training programs could trigger rumors that costs are being cut at the National Emergency Training Center. The NETC is trying to respond to the demand for more training that requires less time away by using The Preparedness Network, an Internet- and satellite-based distance learning and information system.

The NETC is "more than just the National Fire Academy," he reminds us.

Dickinson, a retired fire chief, sees no room for excuses in the fire service. He doesn't hesitate to tell a room full of chiefs who can't enforce the rules: "If you'd rather be a friend, get in the jump seat, not in the front seat!"

The acting administrator isn't acting when it comes to seatbelt enforcement. This past week, he endorsed the National Seat Belt Campaign and challenged America's one million firefighters to pledge to wear their seatbelts.

Charlie Dickinson is a remarkable leader who is passionate about firefighter safety. To him, I say thank you.