On March 9, fire service leaders testified at the House Appropriations Committee’s Homeland Security Subcommittee hearing on “Preparing for Disasters, Natural and Otherwise.” This hearing was a first step in the process of appropriating funding for the Department of Homeland Security in the upcoming fiscal year.

The purpose of the hearing was to discuss the federal government’s role in the preparing for disasters. The fire service panel included Chief Jim Harmes, president of the International Association of Fire Chiefs; Harold Schaitberger, president of the International Association of Fire Fighters; Mike Selves, president of International Association of Emergency Managers; Bruce Baughman, immediate past president of National Emergency Management Association; and Chief Jeff Cash, North Carolina state director to the National Volunteer Fire Council.

Federal Emergency Management Agency Director R. David Paulison also testified at this hearing on a panel with William O. Jenkins, Jr., director for Homeland and Security and Justice Issues with the U.S. Government Accountability Office.

The panel discussed a number of issues important to America’s fire service and called for the U.S Fire Administration’s budget to be increased from $46.8 million in FY 2007 to $50 million in FY 2008. The USFA has begun a number of new initiatives that need funding, and recently it to staff a desk at the DHS’s National Operations Center.

The panel also urged Congress and the Bush administration to hire more policy staff at USFA to ensure the fire service has greater input in a new credentialing system, training doctrine and other new programs.

The panel further called for increased funding for the FIRE and SAFER grant programs, citing a number of examples from the USFA/National Fire Protection Association’s October 2006 report Four Years Later—A Second Needs Assessment of the U.S. Fire Service to show that there is still a demonstrated need for these programs.

For example, an estimated 65% of fire departments don’t have enough portable radios to equip all emergency responders on a shift. An estimated 60% don’t have enough SCBA to equip all firefighters on a shift and about half (48%) of fire departments don’t have enough PASS devices to equip all emergency responders on a shift.

Finally the panel urged the committee to support Paulison’s efforts to reform the FEMA by hiring a cadre of experienced emergency managers and improving the agency’s logistical operations. Last year, Congress passed legislation to move the USFA and the Office of Grants and Training into the FEMA and protect the FEMA’s budget and mission from the DHS’ constant reorganizations.

“It was a great opportunity to educate Congress on the important role of the fire service in promoting preparedness for all hazards,” said Harmes.