Ronald Siarnicki began as a volunteer firefighter in a small Pennsylvania town. In 1978 he moved to Prince George's County (Md.) Fire and EMS Department where he was chief for his last five years. In 2001 he became executive director of the National Fallen Firefighters Foundation. When Fire Chief magazine caught up with him, he was in Charleston, S.C., helping that community recover from the June 18 fire that killed nine firefighters.

What can a fire chief do to protect firefighters from line-of-duty deaths?

The primary cause of line-of-duty deaths is heart attacks. It is important to ensure that firefighters are physically fit, have the methodology to deal with cardiovascular conditions, and are rehabbed when they are involved in operations. The second leading cause of firefighter deaths is vehicle accidents. Have good equipment, policies and procedures on how to operate and respond in those vehicles. There are other areas where firefighters die, such as in training incidents. Have a good training program, policies and procedures about live burns. You have firefighters who die from traumatic occurrences, which leads to tactics and prevention, building construction and all aspects related to codes and standards in the city. They are all intertwined. Every department has to assess where it is in those fields to see where there are vulnerabilities. Some departments have great physical fitness programs, but their issue might be training or operating vehicles.

Where have the greatest strides to reduce LODDs been made recently?

There is a true awareness that line-of-duty deaths can be prevented. There's always been a commitment in the fire service to safety. But that's been increased across the board. You hear of more organizations, associations and departments pushing the envelope to ensure that everything is being done to reduce line-of-duty deaths. That's a really significant change from where we were five years ago.

What vexes you because it should be an easy fix to reduce LODDs, yet remains a problem?

It is the two leading causes. In a lot of situations the potential for heart attacks can be predicted, steps can be taken to reduce their occurrence, and with proper medical treatment a heart attack doesn't necessarily end in death. The other thing is vehicle accidents. We continue to see firefighters who are involved in accidents getting ejected from vehicles. They are getting thrown through windshields or thrown from fire trucks. The bottom line is if they are belted in, they are not going to get ejected. That's an easy fix, but getting firefighters to wear seatbelts sometimes is a major issue.

Are there any lessons already learned from the Charleston tragedy?

It is way too early for that. That has to take its normal course. The critical thing is to have all the facts laid out on the table before anyone jumps to any conclusions.

What is the most important thing chiefs can do after a LODD?

It is critical to have a plan to address the long-term well being of the fire service family. And that includes family members of the survivors and the [surviving] firefighters themselves and their family members. They are going to need things like health support, information, financial support and out reach. The National Fallen Firefighters Foundation was involved with the relief efforts in New York after Sept. 11, and we're still involved today. Long term really is, in some situations, forever. What we've seen help is if there is a plan in place before the tragedy. That is one of the major pieces to help a department get back on its feet quicker. There are several components that need to be put into place when a line-of-duty death occurs. One is as simple as having up-to-date beneficiary information, next-of-kin information, and burial requests by firefighters. That should be looked at on an annual basis and kept in a secure file. Also, have a list of available resources, people, organizations and entities that can help.

We have a program called LAST (local assistance state team). It was started less than a year ago and is being funded by the Department of Justice. It is designed to put a response team in every state that is available to help a fire department when a line-of-duty death occurs, and would only get engaged if invited to do so. It brings an array of professionals that can help: a fire service officer, fire service chaplain, a behavioral health specialist, and a survivor from a different incident. The South Carolina Firefighters Association had been to our training and was implementing its team. They had their first team meeting the Saturday before the fire. They were able to use a lot of what they learned in Charleston. As we begin to talk about Charleston and the lessons learned there, one of the biggest pieces is having a team in place.