The International Association of Fire Chiefs issued its endorsement of Chief Kelvin Cochran, President Obama's nominee for U.S. Fire Administrator. In a letter to Sens. Joseph Lieberman (I/D-Conn.) and Susan Collins (R-Maine), the chairman and the ranking member of the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee, respectively, IAFC President Chief Larry Grorud praised Cochran's experience as fire chief in both Atlanta and Shreveport, La., and his leadership positions with the IAFC and the Metropolitan Fire Chiefs Association. It also described Cochran's role in helping Shreveport respond to Hurricane Katrina and the sheltering of evacuees and in rebuilding the New Orleans Fire Department.

The USFA and the National Institute of Standards and Technology are studying the thermal performance of SCBA face pieces. The initial phase of the study will examine documented on-duty firefighter injuries and fatalities caused by thermal exposure of SCBA face pieces. Also during this phase, USFA and NIST will work with the NFPA 1981, Open-Circuit Self-Contained Breathing Apparatus, Technical Committee to identify ways to enhance the operational effectiveness of SCBA face pieces. Finally, initial laboratory thermal testing of commercially available SCBA face pieces will be conducted.