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Deadline for Fire Station Construction Grant Applications Is July 10
July 1, 2009 -- The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Assistance to Firefighters Fire Station Construction grant application period will end at 5:00 p.m. Eastern Time on July 10, 2009. Fire Station Construction grants will provide funding directly to fire departments on a competitive basis to build new or modify existing fire stations in order to enhance response capabilities and better protect communities from fire and fire-related hazards. The Fire Station Construction grants were derived from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009. Congress appropriated a total of $210 million for Fiscal Year 2009 for this program.
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| House Approves Doubling SAFER Funding
July 1, 2009 -- The U.S. House of Representatives has approved a Homeland Security Appropriation bill that doubles funding for the Staffing for Adequate Fire and Emergency Response (SAFER) grant program. The bill calls for spending $420 million on the program, which provides grants to help communities hire fire fighters. The bill also provides funding for a variety of other fire service programs, including $390 million for the Assistance Firefighters Grant (AFG) program, commonly known as FIRE Act grants. Read More...
| New Haven Fire Fighters Prevail
June 29, 2009 -- Eighteen New Haven, Connecticut, fire fighters who filed suit in federal court against the city of New Haven after the city threw out the results of promotional exams prevailed over the City today when the United States Supreme Court, by a 5-4 vote, reversed a lower court’s decision. In the case, Ricci v. DeStefano, the Supreme Court ruled that the City of New Haven could not throw out the results of a promotional exam simply because it feared the outcome of a test could potentially leave it vulnerable to lawsuits from minority fire fighters who did not qualify for promotion as a result of a test, in violation of Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. Read More...
| President Obama Approves New SAFER Rules
June 24, 2009 -- President Barack Obama has approved new rules that govern how fire departments can use funding from the Staffing for Adequate Fire and Emergency Response (SAFER) grant program, an important change during the economic crisis that has caused widespread layoffs of fire fighters throughout the country. The new guidelines will apply to the $210 million that Congress approved for SAFER for Fiscal Year 2009. The IAFF wrote and lobbied for the new provision that was included in HR 2346, the Supplemental Appropriation bill – which was initiated and supported by President Obama – to allow the use of SAFER grant funding to rehire laid-off fire fighters and prevent fire department staffing reductions that occurred as a result of the current financial crisis. Read More...
| IAFF Mourns the Loss of Ed McMahon
June 23, 2009 -- International Association of Fire Fighters General President and Vice President of the Muscular Dystrophy Association Harold Schaitberger issued a statement on the death of Ed McMahon. MDA has also released a statement. Read More...
| Governor Nixon Grants Death Benefits to Families of First Responders
June 22, 2009 -- Standing inside a Kansas City fire station, Missouri Governor Jay Nixon signed a bill to benefit the families of Missouri emergency personnel killed in the line of duty. House Bill 580, which establishes the Line of Duty Compensation Act, allows a claim to be filed with the Division of Workers' Compensation on behalf of a law enforcement officer, fire fighter, emergency medical technician, air ambulance pilot or air ambulance registered nurse for a benefit of $25,000. Read More...
|  IAFF Members Respond to Deadly Train Collision
June 22, 2009 -- More than 200 fire fighters from the District of Columbia, Maryland and Virginia responded to a deadly Metro train collision that killed at least six people and injuring scores of others, including two fire fighters. One Metro transit train smashed into the rear of another during the Monday rush hour. Cars of both trains were ripped open and smashed together, and a District of Columbia fire spokesperson said crews had to cut some people out of what he described as a "mass casualty event." Rescue workers treated 70 people at the scene. Officials have no explanation for the accident. The National Transportation Safety Board took charge of the investigation and sent a team to the site of the worst accident in the Metro system's 33-year history.
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| Watch Schaitberger Live From Denver Firehouse
June 19, 2009 -- IAFF General President Harold Schaitberger and Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) Administrator Craig Fugate will conduct an online roundtable on emergency preparedness on Monday, June 22 at 11:00 a.m. Mountain Time. Read More...
| Senate Panel Matches SAFER, FIRE Funding Levels in House
June 19, 2009 -- A U.S. Senate panel has provided $420 million for the Staffing for Adequate Fire and Emergency Response (SAFER) grant program and $380 million for Assistance to Firefighters (FIRE) grants in 2010. The funding was approved by the Senate Appropriations Committee in its draft Homeland Security Appropriations Act for Fiscal Year 2010 on a unanimous vote. Read More...
| USA Today: Fire Fighters See Cuts Eroding Safety
June 19, 2009 -- Thousands of fire fighters across the country face possible layoffs this year, prompting concern that deep local government budget cuts will delay emergency response times. Since late last year, cities have been forced to shutter local fire stations, reduce services at others and cut the number of fire fighters dispatched on emergency calls. Fire fighting positions have been eliminated or are on the chopping block in cities such as Orlando, Atlanta, Flint, Michigan, and Columbus, Ohio. "Whatever you do that results in increasing response times (to fires), you are absolutely playing Russian roulette," says Harold Schaitberger.
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| New Rules Allow SAFER Grants to Prevent Layoffs, Restore Cuts
June 18, 2009 -- Congress has voted to allow the use of federal funding to rehire laid off fire fighters and prevent fire department staffing reductions. The new rules for Staffing for Adequate Fire and Emergency Response (SAFER) grants make funding available to help keep IAFF members safe and on the job and bring back those who have been laid off as a result of the current financial crisis. The bill is now on its way to the White House. Read More...
|  Two Years Later, Charleston Tragedy Still Fresh for Fire Fighters
June 18, 2009 -- Charleston, SC Local 61 and the city of Charleston, South Carolina, are marking the two-year anniversary of the Sofa Super Store fire, the inferno that killed nine fire fighters who were trapped inside the building. The nine deaths made it the deadliest fire in the fire service since September 11, 2001. Although the Sofa Super Store occurred two years ago, the tragedy remains fresh in the memories of Charleston fire fighters, Charleston Local 61 President Bill Haigler says. “Everybody here still does something everyday to remember the guys who died,” he says. “Moving forward is great. That’s important. But we need to remember these guys.” Read More...
|  Providence Fire Fighters Picket U.S. Conference of Mayors
June 15, 2009 -- Picket lines in Providence, Rhode Island began June 12 at the U.S. Conference of Mayors Annual Meeting, culminating a week in which Vice President Joe Biden and more than 25 members of the Obama administration canceled plans to attend the U.S. Conference of Mayors’ event in Providence rather than cross a picket line protesting Mayor David Cicilline’s treatment of Providence Local 799 fire fighters. The Conference, which began June 12, runs through June 16. Read More...
| IAFF Response to H1N1 (swine) Flu Outbreak
May 12, 2009 -- The H1N1 (Swine flu) virus continues to infect. Since first detected in April 2009, it has continued to spread from person-to-person and has sparked a growing outbreak of illness in the United States and Canada, with an increasing number of cases reported internationally as well. The U.S. government, through the Centers for Disease Control (CDC), is cautioning that there will be more cases, more hospitalizations and more deaths associated with this new virus in the coming weeks because the population has little to no immunity against it. In less than three weeks, and as of May 12, 2009, there are 3,009 laboratory confirmed human cases, including three deaths in the United States. Canada has reported 330 laboratory confirmed human cases in nine provinces and territories, including one death. The IAFF will continue to maintain this online resource. All guidance will remain posted and new applicable information will be added as it becomes available. Read More...
| Surviving the Economic Crisis Toolkit
To ensure you are taking the right steps towards fixing the economic shortfalls in your city, county, state or province, the IAFF has developed this online resource to help you help yourself to the tools and resources available from the IAFF.
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| Economic Crisis News Headlines
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| CHARLESTON: City Releases Final Results of Investigation
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