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BAUCUS WORKS ALONGSIDE MISSOULA FIREFIGHTERS

Senator Spends Signature "Work Day" With Fire Truck #111

(Washington, D.C.) – Montana senior U.S. Senator Max Baucus was in Missoula on Monday, working alongside Missoula Firefighters as one of his signature "work days". Baucus participated in land fire training, and went out on emergency calls with firefighters from Fire Truck #111.

"It was great to work alongside the firefighters today,” Baucus said. “I got to see firsthand their top notch operation and to participate in some simulations."

Baucus is committed to finding funding for Montana firefighters. He has supported funding for programs that provide funding to local fire departments, including the Assistance for Firefighters Grants (AFG) program and the Staffing for Adequate Fire and Emergency Response (SAFER) program. Since 2008, those programs have provided over 90 grants for over $12.5 million to Montana communities to address firefighting equipment and staffing needs.

In addition to these programs, Baucus is a strong supporter for funding to fight wildland fires across the West and in Montana. He introduced the Stable Fire Funding Act in 2008 that would set up a new trust fund that the Forest Service and Bureau of Land Management could tap during extraordinary fire seasons. The Stable Fire Funding Act also later served as the basis for the Federal Land Assistance Management and Enhancement (FLAME) Act, which passed last year.

Baucus has done work days ranging from driving an 18-wheeler to working in a pharmacy to building houses. He started doing the works days more than 16 years ago and says the days give him valuable insight into the challenges Montanans face every day.

IAFF RSS News Service

• • 9/11 Health and Compensation Bill Defeated by Narrow Margin in House

  • July 30, 2010 -- Legislation to establish health treatment and monitoring programs for World Trade Center responders was narrowly defeated in the U.S. House of Representatives. The James Zadroga 9/11 Health and Compensation Act, H.R. 847, failed by a vote of 255-159 July 29.

• • California Fire Fighters Work 24/7 to Contain Wildfires

  • July 28, 2010 – Members of Kern County, CA Local 1301, CDF Fire Fighters Local 2881 and strike teams from around the state of California are working in 12-hour shifts, 24 hours a day to contain two wildfires burning

• • Friday Services Scheduled for Fallen Connecticut Fire Fighters

  • July 28, 2010 – Thousands of fire fighters, family and friends are expected to travel to Bridgeport, Connecticut, to pay their respects to two fallen Bridgeport Local 834 fire fighters on Friday, July 30. Steven Velasquez, 40, and Michel Baik, 49, made the ultimate sacrifice Saturday, July 24, while fighting a house fire.

• • Fire Departments Awarded $3 Million in SAFER Grants

  • July 23, 2010 -- The Department of Homeland Security’s (DHS) Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) has awarded another round of Staffing for Adequate Fire and Emergency Response (SAFER) grants, this time totaling $3,010,741. All six of the awards in this 13th round of SAFER grants will help bring IAFF members back to work.

• • Bridgeport Fire Fighters Killed Battling Residential Fire

  • July 25, 2010 -- The IAFF regrets to report the deaths of two Bridgeport, CT Local 834, fire fighters July 24. Lieutenant Steven Velazquez and Fire Fighter Michel Baik were killed while fighting a residential fire. General President Harold Schaitberger has been in contact with 3rd District Vice President Mike Mullane and Bridgeport Local 834 President Bob Whitbread. Further details will be provided as they become available.

• • Budget Cuts Take Their Toll on Essential City Services

  • July 19, 2010 -- For fire fighter Mark Kovach, the reality of municipal budget cuts hit home when he was tumbling down the staircase of a burning building in Flint, Michigan, after failing to rescue a man trapped on the second floor. After cutbacks last year, Kovach's crew had only a small vehicle with basic equipment to respond to fires, not the usual ladder and pumping trucks. Absent water to beat back the flames, the blaze at a single-family home in late April of last year turned into an inferno that left Kovach with severe burns. Events are not always so dramatic as that night in Flint, but the most searing economic downturn since the Great Depression is relentlessly transforming the type and quantity of municipal services that citizens can expect from their local governments.

• • Publishing Error Leads to Policy Change

  • July 19, 2010 -- The list of suspended locals published on page 5 of the May-June issue of the International Fire Fighter incorrectly identified the following locals by the names of the cities in their mailing addresses -- not by their official names. This was a publishing error, as our membership records accurately reflect the official names of each of these locals. We apologize for the error.

• • FEMA Awards $11 Million More in SAFER Grants

  • July 16, 2010 -- The Department of Homeland Security’s (DHS) Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) has awarded another round of Staffing for Adequate Fire and Emergency Response (SAFER) grants, this time totaling $10,923,018 to help bring fire fighters back to work. These grants come at a critical time for IAFF affiliates as they struggle to prevent layoffs and maintain staffing levels in the face of tight budgets.

• • Virginia IAFF Leader D. Duane Dixon Passes

  • July 13, 2010 -- The IAFF has lost one of its most dedicated leaders, former Virginia Professional Fire Fighters (VPFF) Secretary-Treasurer and Roanoke Local 1132 President Emeritus D. Duane Dixon. Duane passed away July 10, 2010, after a courageous battle with cancer.

• • SAFER Grants Bring More Fire Fighters Back to Work

  • July 9, 2010 -- The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has awarded a fresh round of grants totaling $2,659,554 to fire department through the Staffing for Adequate Fire Emergency Response (SAFER) program for Fiscal Year 2009.

• • U.S. House of Representatives Gives Fire Fighters Collective Bargaining Rights

  • July 1, 2010 -- The U.S. House of Representatives has approved a bill to give collective bargaining rights to fire fighters and other public safety officers. The Public Safety Employer-Employee Cooperation Act assures that fire fighters in every state will have the right to talk to their employer about how to improve public safety and do their jobs more safely. The initiative was included in a supplemental appropriation bill adopted by a vote of 239-182.

• • Seven NLC Graduates Make Good Use of Union Skills

  • July 1, 2010 -- Seven IAFF members have graduates this year from the National Labor College (NLC) in Silver Spring, Maryland. Each of the seven –all in the middle of their fire fighter careers – are taking all that they learned and putting it to good use back in their locals. The seven graduates represent the largest class of IAFF members to graduate from the NLC in a single year.

• • FEMA Announces $25 Million in SAFER Grants for Fire Fighters

  • June 25, 2010 -- The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has awarded another round of grants – totaling $25,786,555 -- to IAFF affiliates through the Staffing for Adequate Fire Emergency Response (SAFER) program for Fiscal Year 2009.

• • New Fair Labor Standards Act Manual Available to Affiliates

  • June 22, 2010 -- The IAFF General Counsel’s Office and the General Counsel’s firm, Woodley & McGillivary, have completed a review and thorough update of the IAFF Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) Manual. That Manual was last reviewed and updated by Woodley & McGillivary attorneys in 1996. It has long provided IAFF affiliate leaders detailed analysis on various FLSA issues and principles.

• • IAFF Testifies to Improve Public Safety Communications

  • June 18, 2010 -- The IAFF testified June 17 at a hearing before the House Subcommittee on Communications, Technology and the Internet on the need to improve basic communications within the fire service. Although the hearing was called to discuss a plan by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to establish a nationwide public safety broadband network, IAFF Director of Fire and EMS Operations and GIS Services Jonathan Moore explained to Subcommittee members that the real dilemma facing many local fire departments is the need to improve communications operability.

• • Remembering the Charleston Nine, Three Years Later

  • June 18, 2010 -- Three years ago today, Charleston, South Carolina, fire fighters responded to a fire at the Sofa Super Store. Nine of them were tragically killed after a flashover and partial structural collapse. “We will never forget Louis Mulkey, Mike Benke, Melven Champaign, Billy Hutchinson, Brad Baity, Earl Drayton, Mark Kelsey, Michael French and Brandon Thompson,” says IAFF General President Harold Schaitberger. “They were all taken from us too early and will be forever missed.”

• • Leadership Changes Hands in Florida

  • June 10, 2010 – After Florida Professional Firefighters (FPF) President Bob Carver announced he would be retiring after 30 years in office, delegates assembled at the 66th annual Florida Professional Firefighters Convention to welcome a new leader. By acclamation and with Carver’s support, the presidential baton was passed to FPF Vice President Gary Rainey.

• • Latest Round of SAFER Grants Puts More Fire Fighters Back to Work

  • June 4, 2010 -- The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has awarded more than $1.2 million in grants to IAFF affiliates through the Staffing for Adequate Fire Emergency Response (SAFER) program for Fiscal Year 2009. The grant awards announced today will help some fire departments bring back fire fighters lost to layoffs or attrition.

• • FDNY Fire Fighters' Training Helps Foil Times Square Terror Attack

  • June 2, 2010 -- The call that came in on the evening of May 1 appeared routine for Local 854 fire fighters who responded: a car fire a few blocks away requesting one engine and one truck. But the responding fire fighters were trained to expect the unexpected. “Whenever we get a call coming from Times Square, we know to be on extra alert,” says Lieutenant Mike Barvels, who with Lieutenant John Kazan, both members of Uniformed Fire Officers Association (UFOA) Local 854, responded to the call.

• • DHS Announces Round Six of SAFER Grant Awards

  • May 28, 2010 -- The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has announced several more grant awards through the Staffing for Adequate Fire Emergency Response (SAFER) program for Fiscal Year 2009. The awards will help fire departments bring back laid-off fire fighters, retain current staffing levels and make new hires.

IAFF 7th District What's New Feed

• • AGP Lori Merrell-Moore Presents Deployment Study to I-Chiefs
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• • 6th Annual "7th District Benevolent Fund" Ride a Success
  • Over 50 riders came together in Marysville, Washington to ride and enjoy Snohomish County.  This event is aways in conjunction with the WSCFF annual convention and continues to grow every years.
• • 7th District Benevolent Fund Scholarship Awards Announced
  • The 7th District Benevolent Fund has awarded six $500 scholarships to dependents for use in thier first post high school educational experience.  The applicants were asked to write an essay of no more than two pages, continuing the statement America Needs Unions Because.
• • Local 1805 Starting an Annual "Cruise In"
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• • Bellingham Establishing a List for Hiring
  • Bellingham Fire Fighters Local 106 is currently establishing a list for experienced fire fighters and fire fighter/paramedics.  This is a result of a successful grant application through SAFER.  As you know SAFER is a federal government program meant to put more hands on the street in the fire service, an IAFF inititiative from birth.

Fall mini-ed - October 8, 2010: Bozeman

Discipline: Your Rights and Responsibilities as a Union Officer

Employee Discipline: Before the Lawyer Gets Involved

Approaches to Workplace Discipline

We look forward to seeing you at these events!

Well, we made it through another great convention and we're already beginning the planning process of an action agenda on how we're going to tackle the issues passed at convention. We've been invited to attend the Career Chiefs meeting in late September and are planning a quarterly E-Board meeting at that time at which time we'll set our agenda for the next few months in prepartion for the legislative session. We are also going to have a planning meeting in Helena around the time of our last mini-ed seminar in Bozeman for the purpose of planning for our first Legislative Conference. So we're off and running and looking forward to another great and productive two years.

District 7 Mini Education Seminars

USFA Firefighter Fatalities

• • Notice of Firefighter Fatality: Rocky Mount, VA
  • Posey Dillon of the Rocky Mount Fire Department #1 in Rocky Mount, VA has died as the result of an on-duty incident that occurred on 2010-07-26 00:00:00.0.
• • Notice of Firefighter Fatality: Rocky Mount, VA
  • William Daniel "Danny" Altice of the Rocky Mount Fire Department #1 in Rocky Mount, VA has died as the result of an on-duty incident that occurred on 2010-07-26 00:00:00.0.
• • Notice of Firefighter Fatality: Otis, MA
  • David Sullivan of the Otis Fire Department in Otis, MA has died as the result of an on-duty incident that occurred on 2010-07-24 00:00:00.0.
• • Notice of Firefighter Fatality: Bridgeport, CT
  • Michel Baik of the Bridgeport Fire Department in Bridgeport, CT has died as the result of an on-duty incident that occurred on 2010-07-24 00:00:00.0.
• • Notice of Firefighter Fatality: Bridgeport, CT
  • Steven Velasquez of the Bridgeport Fire Department in Bridgeport, CT has died as the result of an on-duty incident that occurred on 2010-07-24 00:00:00.0.

USFA Press Releases

• • USFA Releases One- and Two-Family and Multifamily Residential Fires Topical Reports
  • Based on data from the National Fire Incident Reporting System (NFIRS) for 2005 to 2007, the reports document that cooking is, by far, the leading cause of fire in both building types, followed by heating.
• • New National Fire Incident Reporting System (NFIRS) Web-Based Data Entry Tool
  • USFA recently made available a new National Fire Incident Reporting System (NFIRS) web-based data entry tool known as the Data Entry Browser Interface (DEBI). The new DEBI enables total web-based data entry into NFIRS, eliminating the need to download and install client software on the NFIRS user's computer.
• • Focus on Fire Safety: Residential Hazardous Materials Safety
  • Residential hazardous materials (hazmat) safety is important in preventing fires in and around your home. Hazmat safety involves the proper handling and storage of combustibles and flammable liquids such as gasoline, kerosene, propane, oil, aerosols, certain household cleaning products, and painting supplies.
• • Statement from FEMA Administrator Fugate on USFA Administrator Cochran's Announced Departure
  • Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) Administrator Craig Fugate issued a statement today regarding the announcement that U.S. Fire Administrator Kelvin Cochran will become the next Fire Chief for the City of Atlanta.
• • Nonresidential Building Fires
  • This report analyzes nonresidential building fires over the 3-year period from 2004 to 2006, with a focus on 2006 data.
• • U.S. Fire Administrator Receives the Metropolitan Fire Chiefs Association 2010 Life Time Achievement Award
  • The Metropolitan Fire Chiefs Life Time Achievement Award is given to individuals based on an their history of fire service accomplishments, contributions to the Metro Fire Chiefs Association, contributions to fire safety, demonstrated leadership, challenges overcome or other considerations deemed of great interest by the Fire Chiefs of Metropolitan departments.
• • Deputy U.S. Fire Administrator Receives Metropolitan Fire Chiefs Award
  • At the 2010 Metropolitan Fire Chiefs Association Annual Conference, Deputy U.S. Fire Administrator Glenn A. Gaines was awarded the prestigious Metropolitan Fire Chiefs President's Award of Distinction.
• • Tech Talk: Problem Drywall in Homes
  • This issue of Tech Talk looks at problem drywall in homes and encourages homeowners to test life safety alarms (smoke/carbon monoxide/gas) that may be adversely impacted by the presence of drywall imported from China.
• • Grill Fires on Residential Properties
  • This report examines the characteristics of the 5,700 grill fires that occur on residential properties each year in the United States, resulting in an estimated average of 10 deaths, 100 injuries, and $37 million in property loss.
• • USFA Announces Arson Awareness Week Theme for 2010
  • The United States Fire Administration announces the theme for the 2010 Arson Awareness Week (AAW): Community Arson Prevention. USFA and its partners will use the week of May 2nd to the 8th to focus public attention on the value of community arson prevention and the resources and support necessary to reduce this crime.
• • USFA and NIOSH Initiate Study of Cancer among Firefighters
  • The United States Fire Administration and the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health are partnering on a study to examine the potential for increased risk of cancer among firefighters due to exposures from smoke, soot, and other contaminants in the line of duty.
• • Selections Announced for Harvard Senior Executives in State and Local Government Program
  • Fellowships to attend the Harvard University's Senior Executives in State and Local Government Program at the John F. Kennedy School of Government have been awarded to six senior fire officials.