Fire Chief

Saturday, May 17, 2008

DHS to Open FIRE Grants 

Beginning March 6 at 8 a.m. EST, the Department of Homeland Security will begin accepting applications for the Assistance to Firefighters Grants Program ...

Legal Matters 

By Janet Wilmoth, Editorial Director

Legal issues are like a fire; small ones are a nuisance, while big ones can consume the chief, the officers and the department. In fact, when we survey our readers, liability comes in just after money, personnel and training as an issue that keeps chiefs awake at night. Discrimination, sexual harassment and training accidents can complicate your job in a heartbeat. ...

Chertoff Announces Changes for FEMA 

DHS Secretary Michael Chertoff has announced plans designed to strengthen the essential functions of FEMA. In testimony before the Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs, he explained that the changes will enable more effective responses to manmade or natural disasters, particularly during catastrophic events.

The plans include improving FEMA’s logistics capabilities, strengthening its ability to register disaster victims eligible for assistance, protecting against fraud and abuse, and adjusting to the changing needs of disaster populations during significant recovery periods....

USFA Releases Fire Department Census Update 

Nearly 24,300 fire departments have registered with the National Fire Department Census — about 81% of the total number of fire departments estimated to be in the United States....

Harvard Program Applications Due 

Feb. 18 is the deadline to apply for the 2006 sessions of Harvard's annual Program for Senior Executives in State and Local Government....

Proposed Budget Slashes FIRE Grants 

President George W. Bush's proposed budget for 2007 cuts funding for the Assistance to Firefighters Grant program to a level barely half that of 2006....

VCOS Releases Combo Transition Report 

The report was researched and written by fire officers who have experienced transitions in their communities and fire departments in the United States. ...

Fire Service Improvement Tied to Rules of Evidence 

By Ronny J. Coleman

We don't look at the data we collect as evidence, even though it's needed to justify many of the things that we want the public to invest in, such as staffing, apparatus, fire stations and other infrastructure components that build a community's fire defense system....

Staffing Tops Chiefs' Worries 

Staffing, funding and increased demands for service are three common and resounding challenges facing fire departments across the United States....

Many Masters 

By Robert L. Ridgeway

As chiefs, we need to work for the city, our firefighters and our customers. Balancing those interests is the key to gaining credibility....

Burning Personalities 

By Paul J. Antonellis Jr.

Conventional wisdom says firefighters have a distinct personality that's considered a very important ingredient in the performance of their emergency duties....

Put the Fun Back into Functional Recruiting 

By Mike Chiaramonte

Every member of the department is responsible for a successful operation, and that includes recruitment and retention. It takes the combined effort of personnel, good leaders and active members to make a winning team. Good, clean fun goes a long way to promote such involvement....

DHS Schedules FIRE Grant Workshops 

DHS will hold 10 regional workshops between now and March....

DHS Awards 22nd Round of FIRE Grants 

Ten departments receive $2.65 million in most recent round of grants. ...

Where There's a Way, There's a Will 

Janet Wilmoth, Editorial Director

VCOS Releases Department Transition Report 

Lighting The Path of Evolution, Leading The Transition In Volunteer and Combination Fire Departmentcovers the need for organizational change, the role of strategic planning and the design a combination system. ...

Survey Shows Staffing, Budget Cuts are Chiefs' Top Concerns 

Volunteer departments listed staffing as their most common challenge, while career departments listed financial problems as their top issue. ...

Plano's Peterson Announces Retirement 

The former international president of the IFE will become director of FEMA Region VI beginning Jan. 30....

Construction Advocate Francis Brannigan Passes Away 

The author of Building Construction for the Fire Service was 87....

Out Where the Rubber Meets the Rural Road 

Ronny J. Coleman

If we are to move together as a profession — small-town America and Gotham U.S.A. — we should aim to get on the same sheet of music as quickly as we can....

The Glass Partition 

By B. E. “Bernie” Williams, Ph.D.

It's time to ease tensions between front-line firefighters and chiefs in the administrative office....

Stepped-Up Staffing 

By Karen Daines & Amanda Garfield

If beauty is in the eye of the beholder, then this fire department has changed an ugly duckling staffing process into an elegant automated scheduling swan. ...

Urban Grants to See Risk-Based Formula 

According to the Department of Homeland Security, $765 million in direct funding will be available as part of the FY 2006 Urban Areas Security Initiative....

Intent is Key in Willful, Malicious Conduct Claims 

Philip Stittleburg

The court went on to state that recklessness is a state of consciousness with reference to the consequences of one’s acts; it’s more than negligence or even gross negligence....

DHS Releases FY 2006 Homeland Security Grant Guidance 

Under the new “risk and need” approach, the states must identify the risks they face and their need for particular funding. DHS will determine risk according to a formula that takes into account three variables: the consequences of a specified attack to a particular asset; the vulnerability of that asset to that particular threat; and threat to that asset. ...

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