Saturday, May 17, 2008
In Praise of Abroad Perspective
Dick Mangan
In late March, the head of the National Park Service faced a contentious Congressional hearing. It seems the NPS was shutting down facilities on some...
A Personal Tribute
Janet Wilmoth jwilmoth@primediabusiness.com
My family has a history of being drawn to fires and to helping others. Perhaps it started back in the late 1920s when Dad and his siblings hung around...
Bill Proposes FIRE Act Changes
The House reauthorization bill implements several changes to the FIRE Grants program recommended in a position paper from all the major national fire...
Volunteer Numbers Strong in Fire Department Census
Pat West, Senior Editor
About 75% of America's fire departments have registered their information with the ongoing U.S. Fire Administration’s National Fire Department Census. So far volunteer or mostly volunteer departments are making a strong showing -- about 87%....
Spring into Action
Janet Wilmoth jwilmoth@primediabusiness.com
For a few years now, Fire Chief has reported on the National Fire Incident Reporting System and its lack of timely statistical support for the fire service....
Excuse Me, You Want to Search My What?
[ John Rukavina ]
A new firefighter career or volunteer walks into a firehouse where computers, desks, chairs, turnout gear, lockers and other workplace tools are most...
Lower-Case Leadership Is First Step of Journey
[ Ronny J. Coleman ]
One of the ways we give words a sense of importance is by capitalizing them. For example, if I write I'm implying a sense of importance. However, just...
IAFC: Funding, Staffing Top List of Priorities
According to the results of a survey of International Association of Fire Chiefs members, budget and staffing shortfalls are the top problems facing fire...
Fess Up, Step Up
By Ronald Richmond
Firefighters are fiercely proud of their occupation and their ability to deliver emergency service. Departments are exceptional at maintaining and managing...
Hometown Hero
To recognize his work on behalf of firefighters and first responders, Rep. Bob Etheridge (N.C.) has been named Legislator of the Year by the Congressional...
Not-So-Easy Money
By Pat West
Before 2001, federal money and fire departments were pretty much strangers to each other. Unless they happened to be affected by a federally declared...
CHANGE IN THE AIR
By Robert R. Rielage
The historical effects of the military on the U.S. fire service are hard to deny. Several years ago in the two-part Wave of the Future, my son Dale (currently...
Rethink How You Spend Other People's Money
[ Ronny J. Coleman ]
How much money do you make? How much money do you get to keep? How much money do you need? How much money do you want? These are all the kinds of questions...
Ties That Bind
Think of the International Association of Fire Chiefs as a very strong rope that stretches to thousands of fire department chief officers across America...
Battered System
By Portia Rawles
Typical discussions of workplace violence conjure up images of a disgruntled employee who acted out his or her hostility on other co-workers and/or supervisors....
New Survivor Benefits Mean Changes to SOPs
[ Lawrence Bennett ]
Last December, President George W. Bush signed into law the Hometown Heroes Survivors Benefit Act of 2003, which extends the federal death benefits under...
Deployment Matters
By Russ Johnson
If an analysis of your fire department's deployment of resources consists of sitting down with pencil, paper and a calculator, heads up. Today's complex...
New Priorities, Process Changes for Grants
This year's Assistance to Firefighter program mostly mirrors the general management of previous years, despite new administration under the Office of...
CFSI Urges Chiefs to Come to Capitol Hill
Bill Webb, Executive Director
Each spring for more than a decade, Capitol Hill abounds with fire service officials, some in their dress uniforms and others wearing lapel pins identifying...
Ridge Meets With IAFC Board
Secretary of Homeland Security Tom Ridge met informally in Fairfax, Va., with the International Association of Fire Chiefs board of directors on Jan....
Feds Issue Healthy Forests Implementation Guide
The U.S. Department of Agriculture and the Interior Department issued field guidelines March 3 to help land managers begin implementing the Healthy Forests...
Survey Finds Fire Chiefs Plagued by Budget Shortfalls
By Pat West, Senior Editor
According to the results of an electronic survey of members of the International Association of Fire Chiefs, budget and staffing shortfalls are the top problems facing fire chiefs in 2004, with more than 68% of responding fire officials citing budget and 58% citing staffing on their list of problems this year. “Fire departments around the nation are in trouble,” said IAFC President Chief Ernest Mitchell....
NVFC Seeks Information on Sucessful Trash Burning Ban Initiatives
The National Volunteer Fire Council is seeking information from local rural communities as part of a study of successful campaigns discouraging the open burning of residential waste....
WTC Memorial Pleases Families
A revised design for the World Trade Center memorial accommodates many of the wishes of organizations representing surviving families of first responders....
Self-Assessment More Than a Means to an End
[ Ronny J. Coleman ]
We in the fire service face hundreds, if not thousands, of decisions every year. Some must be made at the time of a crisis, such as those an incident...
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