Welcome to the IAFF Frontline News Brief, distributed twice a month to IAFF affiliate leaders and IAFF members. We encourage you to forward this news to your members and others in the fire service.

The Frontline News Brief is delivered directly by email and is also published on the IAFF web site. You can view past issues at http://www.iaff.org/Comm/frontline/news.htm.

Your feedback is also welcome - email pr@iaff.org with questions and comments.
 

"Two California Fire Fighters Killed in House Fire" (International Association of Fire Fighters)
"House Passes Collective Bargaining Bill" (International Association of Fire Fighters)
"Vice President Emeritus Jack Bostick Passes Away " (International Association of Fire Fighters)
"Experts Question Hose Choice in Charleston Fire" (Post and Courier)
"Forest Service Cited in Calif. Blaze" (Associated Press)
"Omaha Local Thwarts Layoffs " (International Association of Fire Fighters )
"IAFF Calls for Hometown Heroes Implementation " (International Association of Fire Fighters)
"Fire Fighters Ink Largest Contract in Local Union History " (International Association of Fire Fighters)
"Income tax, anger rising in Indianapolis" (Indianapolis Star)
"Smoke, fire and Lou Gehrig's disease" (Globe and Mail)
"Teen girls fight fires, stoke the one inside" (The News Tribune)
"Oakville Local's Efforts to Save Family Pays Off " (International Association of Fire Fighters)
"Fire captain's penalty cheapens Pasco image" (St. Petersburg Times)
"Kansas Local Campaigns to Improve Safety " (International Association of Fire Fighters)
"San Jose Fire Official Defends High Disability Rate" (San Jose Mercury News (CA))
"Fire Prevention and Safety Grants Announced" (Firehouse.com)
"Records Issue Puts Fire Fighter's Pension at Risk" (SavannahNow.com)
"Firefighters Still Paying Price for 9/11" (Jerusalem Post)
"Officials fill 200 backpacks with school supplies for needy children" (The Arizona Republic)
"Cities Competing for Fire Fighters" (Arizona Republic)
"Foreign firefighters visit Reno" (Reno Gazette Journal)

 

Two California Fire Fighters Killed in House Fire
International Association of Fire Fighters (07/22/07)

The IAFF and California Professional Firefighters are mourning the loss of two Contra Costa County, CA Local 1230 members who died July 21 in the line of duty. Captain Matt Burton, 35, and Engineer Scott Desmond, 37, were killed while attempting to rescue two people from a destructive house fire in San Pablo, California. A memorial service is scheduled for Friday, July 27, 2007 at 11:00 a.m. at the Sleep Train Pavilion at Concord, 2000 Kirker Pass Road, Concord, CA 94521; (925) 676-8742.
(Web Link)
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House Passes Collective Bargaining Bill
International Association of Fire Fighters (07/17/07)

The U.S. House of Representatives has overwhelmingly passed HR 980, the Public Safety Employer-Employee Cooperation Act of 2007, which guarantees collective bargaining rights for every fire fighter in the nation. The measure received widespread, bipartisan support, prompting leaders from both parties to consider the bill under an expedited procedure usually reserved for non-controversial legislation. HR 980, which cleared the House by a margin of 314-97, is the IAFF's single most important legislative initiative.
(Web Link)
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Vice President Emeritus Jack Bostick Passes Away
International Association of Fire Fighters (07/24/07)

The IAFF lost one of its longest-serving and greatest leaders last week when 11th District Vice President Emeritus Jack Bostick passed away at the age of 97. "Jack was a great trade unionist and one of the most influential leaders in the history of this IAFF," says General President Harold Schaitberger. "A one-of-a-kind, thoughtful gentleman, who was also tough as nails and could bring clashing sides together for the good of our union." Bostick became a fire fighter in 1931, during the Great Depression.
(Web Link)
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Experts Question Hose Choice in Charleston Fire
Post and Courier (07/17/07) Menchaca, Ron and Smith, Glenn

When photos and video footage of the June 18 Sofa Super Store fire beamed around the world, some fire fighters and fire safety experts were troubled by what they saw: small red hoses snaking through the front door of the burning furniture store.These rubber hoses, known as booster lines, were commonplace on fire trucks 20 years ago. They have since been phased out in many departments because they proved ineffective at fighting structure fires and can place fire fighters at risk.
(Web Link)
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Forest Service Cited in Calif. Blaze
Associated Press (07/19/07); Glazer, Andrew

The U.S. Forest Service committed safety violations that contributed to the deaths of five of its fire fighters in a Southern California blaze last year, according to workplace safety regulators. The Occupational Safety and Health Administration cited the Forest Service for nine safety violations, including failing to provide the fire fighters with maps and crucial information about potentially hazardous weather conditions.OSHA ordered the Forest Service to fix the unsafe working conditions within 15 days.
(Web Link)
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Omaha Local Thwarts Layoffs
International Association of Fire Fighters (07/24/07)

Because of the swift actions of the IAFF and Omaha, NE Local 385, more than 100 fire fighter jobs are safe after an Omaha City Council-mandated public safety efficiency study conducted by the Matrix Consulting Group found the fire department would be just as effective with three fire fighters as four fire fighters per apparatus. "The International was quick to get involved in this case because any threat to safe staffing levels is serious," says IAFF General President Harold Schaitberger. "Without enough fire fighters on-the-job, the lives of our members and the citizens they are sworn to protect are put at unnecessary risk. With two-thirds of the nation's fire departments still below safety standards, staffing must remain a top priority for this union." "It was clear from the beginning that the study was going to attack staffing," says Darren Bates, president of Local 385.
(Web Link)
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IAFF Calls for Hometown Heroes Implementation
International Association of Fire Fighters (07/12/07)

At a press conference on Capitol Hill, the IAFF, several members of Congress and many fire and police organizations called on Congress to step in to implement the provisions of the the Hometown Heroes Act, a law passed nearly four years ago that makes families of fallen fire fighters and police officers who die in the line of duty from a heart attack or stroke eligible for the Public Safety Officers Benefit (PSOB). To date, of the 264 applications, seven families have received the benefit and 46 families have been denied.
(Web Link)
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Fire Fighters Ink Largest Contract in Local Union History
International Association of Fire Fighters (07/18/07)

The Howard County, Maryland Council has voted in favor of a new four-year deal with Howard County, MD Local 2000 that gives fire fighters a 6 percent increase each July 1 and an additional $250 annual physical fitness allowance. The agreement was ratified in May by 93 percent of voting members. "County Executive Ken Ulman has been a true friend of the fire fighters and all public safety employees," says Richard Ruehl, president of Local 2000. "He learned about our lagging salaries and work hours while serving a term as councilman before he was elected Executive last November. He vowed to take the necessary steps towards making us competitive again, and he followed through on that promise. He is a man of his word, and we are grateful."
(Web Link)
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Income tax, anger rising in Indianapolis
Indianapolis Star (07/24/07); O'Shaughnessy, Brendan

Amid interruptions, chants of "no new taxes" and an emotional debate, the Indianapolis City-County Council increased the county income tax by 65 percent for Mayor Bart Peterson's $90 million crime-fighting plan. The council voted 15-13 to pass the proposal. The new rate will take effect Oct. 1 and will apply only to people who live in Marion County . The revenue will be used to hire 100 new police officers, pay for contract raises and past pension obligations, and continue court system improvements that stopped the early release of criminals from crowded jails. The measure's passage did not come without drama. After the vote, Peterson thanked the council members he said had the "courage to do the right thing," even if it was unpopular. He said the timing was bad, but the city had no other choice to fund its public safety budget.One of the most heated arguments focused on whether police officers and fire fighters on the council faced a conflict of interest in voting for the funding source of their own raises. Republican Lance Langsford, a fire fighter and Indiana Guard member who served in Afghanistan, said, "Freedom isn't free. To be safe and secure in this community, I think everybody should pony up and pay the price."
(Web Link)
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Smoke, fire and Lou Gehrig's disease
Globe and Mail (07/21/07); Leeder, Jessica

At least seven out of [Ontario's]10,500 full-time fire fighters have recently developed ALS, including two pairs from the same stations. One of the pairs, who worked most of their lives together at Mississauga's 500-person fire force, are in the midst of losing their battles with ALS. The other pair, from a 30-person fire hall in Owen Sound, have already succumbed to the disease. There's no medical consensus on what causes ALS. But the fact that so many fire fighters have contracted it - and that their relationships overlap - is a contravention of incredible odds: Statistically, only one or two people in 100,000 get the disease.
(Web Link)
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Teen girls fight fires, stoke the one inside
The News Tribune (07/18/07); Santos, Melissa

Camp Blaze, a fire fighting camp for 16-to-19-year-old females took place at fire training centers in Washington state. The camp is run by female professional fire fighters with the goal of helping young women into similar careers. It teaches girls specific fire fighting skills, including how to lower oneself from upper-story windows using a rope, how to handle a hose and how to climb an aerial ladder on a fire engine.
(Web Link)
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Oakville Local's Efforts to Save Family Pays Off
International Association of Fire Fighters (07/16/07)

Retired and active members of Oakville, ON Local 1582 took their mission to serve and protect the citizens of their community to a higher level to help a local family get back on its feet. Moses Han, a Korean immigrant who lost his eyesight when a tooth infection spread to his brain, was forced to sell the family business - a convenience store - to pay his medical bills. The store had been the family's only source of income.
(Web Link)
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Fire captain's penalty cheapens Pasco image
St. Petersburg Times (07/24/07)

Charleston, South Carolina continues to mourn for its Fire Department after a devastating June 18 furniture warehouse fire. Still, the department rummaged through the memorials from around the country for its nine deceased fire fighters because it believed it had to help save the job of a 10th: Pasco County, Florida, Captain David Garofalo.Garofalo's impulsive gesture of leaving his department polo shirt as a memorial at the site of the deadly fire was understandable. Fire fighters from as many as 800 departments in the United States and Canada came to pay respects and left behind flowers, shirts, pictures and other items to honor the deceased. No matter. Pasco County was more concerned with the $23.95 shirt purchased with public money. Hardly a federal offense, it still resulted in an internal investigation.
(Web Link)
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Kansas Local Campaigns to Improve Safety
International Association of Fire Fighters (07/20/07)

Wichita, KS Local 135 is taking an aggressive approach to convince City officials to make public safety a top priority with its "Save Our Fire Fighters" campaign. Over the last 30 years, the City of Wichita, Kansas, has grown to become the largest city in the state, but the fire department has not grown with it. In fact, staffing has been reduced, making it nearly impossible for Wichita Local 135 fire fighters to respond quickly and safely. The "Save Our Fire Fighters" campaign's message that the fire department is too small to effectively protect the growing City if Wichita is splashed across television and newspaper advertisements, T-shirts, bumper stickers and on www.saveourfirefighters.org. Doug Pickard, president of Local 135, says. "We need to make sure that the public understands that everyone's safety is at risk because of our depleted resources, and especially the lack of fire fighters."
(Web Link)
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San Jose Fire Official Defends High Disability Rate
San Jose Mercury News (CA)(07/13/07) ; Woolfolk, John

The captain of the San Jose Fire Department is refuting a report that blames the department's high disability retirement rate on poor health and routine stationhouse chores rather than on hazardous working conditions and a staffing shortage. Fire Capt. Mark Skeen says the report discounts 20,000 non-emergency calls that wore on fire fighters over time and heightened their risk of sustaining injuries on the job. Skeen adds that the report may have violated medical privacy rules. Fire fighters have long complained that understaffing is the main reason behind the department's high disability retirement rate. Skeen says that the study sought to portray fire fighters in an unfavorable light. "The motivation is to show fire fighters don't do anything," he says, "and that's a bald-face lie."
(Web Link)
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Fire Prevention and Safety Grants Announced
Firehouse.com (07/13/07)

The Department of Homeland Security's Federal Emergency Management Agency has announced the next 16 Fire Prevention and Safety grants. The grants, worth over $1 million, are only a portion of the $27 million that will eventually be given out under the fiscal year 2006 program. Organizations or fire departments receiving these grants will use them to combat fire-related injuries including burns, encourage fire prevention and advance fire fighter health and safety.
(Web Link)
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Records Issue Puts Fire Fighter's Pension at Risk
SavannahNow.com(07/17/07)

Up to 80 Savannah, Georgia, fire fighters will be obligated to retake a state-approved fire fighting exam. Georgia law used to mandate that all fire fighters complete 120 hours of some form of training, but this changed in 2004 when the legislature passed a new law  requiring all fire fighters to complete a 24-hour course and an exam administered by the state. Any individual who fails the test or does not take it faces the possibility of losing one year of their pension. Many fire fighters have taken the course but have not received credit due to poor records management.
(Web Link)
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Firefighters Still Paying Price for 9/11
Jerusalem Post (07/14/07); Siegel-Itzkovich, Judy

A study into the lung disease of rescuers who responded to the September 11 terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center reveals that up to eight in 10 fire fighters have some form of respiratory disorder. "Sarcoid-like" granulomatous pulmonary disease is widespread, with an incidence rate five times higher among fire fighters than 15 years ago. Sarcoidosis is an inflammation that causes tiny lumps that resemble grains of sand or sugar, and the lung disease presents at an abnormally high rate among fire fighters. Twenty-six fire fighters were found to have developed the disease due to "dust" exposure from the collapse of the towers.
(Web Link)
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Officials fill 200 backpacks with school supplies for needy children
The Arizona Republic (07/25/07); N??ez, Dianna M.

About 30 Gilbert town employees gathered to fill 200 backpacks with school supplies for needy children. Mike Rudolph, a Gilbert fire captain and vice president of Gilbert fire fighters' union, said the backpacks stuffed with school supplies and water and fire safety information were delivered to the Gilbert Community Action Programs office. The Gilbert Employee Communication Committee started the school-supply drive, and in 2005 the East Valley Firefighters Charities Local 2260 took responsibility for the program.
(Web Link)
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Cities Competing for Fire Fighters
Arizona Republic (07/16/07); Pell, M.B.

Arizona's growing population is creating an extremely high demand for new fire departments. This phenomenon is making for stiff competition between departments looking for new recruits. Even more intense is the battle for trained fire fighters. 
(Web Link)
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Foreign firefighters visit Reno
Reno Gazette Journal (07/17/07); Cox, Don

Reno fire fighter John Kochergin spent part of the morning explaining techniques for handling hazardous materials to an audience of eight. It probably was a good briefing, if you could understand it. Kochergain spoke Russian; His listeners were fire fighters from Turkmenistan, an independent country that was part of the former Soviet Union. The visitors are part of an exchange program in which fire fighters from the United States and Turkmenistan visit each other.
(Web Link)
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