News in Brief

St. Louis Firefighter Derek D. Martin recipient of 2003 Ray Downey Courage and Valor Award

The late Firefighter Derek D. Martin of the St. Louis (MO) Fire Department was named the recipient of the 2003 Ray Dow-ney Courage and Valor Award. His widow, Angela Jeanine Martin, accepted the award at FDIC 2003.

Firefighter Martin, 38, died of injuries sustained while attempting to rescue his colleague, 38-year-old Captain Robert Bruce Morrison of Rescue Company 1, during a fire at the Gravois Refrigeration Company in St. Louis on May 3, 2002.

In accepting the Courage and Valor Medal and cash award of $25,000 on behalf of her husband, Mrs. Martin noted: “Derek loved the fire department and his job, but he loved the Lord and his family more. We miss him so much. Each day is a struggle.” Firefighter Martin left behind also three children: 14-year-old Jordan, 12-year-old Denzel, and 4-year-old Kayla.

Robert F. Biolchini, chief executive officer of PennWell Corporation and founder of the Ray Downey Courage and Valor Award and the not-for-profit Courage and Valor Foundation, which funds the award, and Battalion Chief Joe Downey and Captain Chuck Downey of the Fire Department of New York (FDNY), sons of Ray Downey, whom the award honors, presented the award to Mrs. Martin.

Chief Downey and Captain Downey were among the members of the committee that selected the award winner. Choosing a winner was difficult, they said, because “there were many nominees who displayed great courage and valor in the line of duty.” On behalf of the Downey family, and especially his mother, Rosalie, Captain Downey thanked PennWell, Fire Engineering, and the fire service members in the audience “for keeping my father’s memory alive.”

“As you know, acts of courage and bravery happen every day in the fire service. It is part of what defines your greatness,” Biolchini told the audience. “But as far as you push yourselves to protect and rescue people in trouble, you accept no limits when it comes to protecting and rescuing one of your own; it is indeed an extraordinary, special act.”

The Ray Downey Courage and Valor Award was established in 2001, after the terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center (WTC), to honor firefighters for meritorious service in the line of duty. The award, presented annually at the FDIC, honors the memory of Deputy Chief Ray Downey of FDNY, who perished along with 342 other FDNY firefighters at the WTC. Downey was the most highly decorated firefighter in FDNY’s history and an internationally renowned rescue expert.

Other Selection Committee members included representatives from the National Fallen Firefighters Foundation and the National Fire Academy Alumni Association.

“Don” Manno Fire Engineering 2003 Lifetime Achievement award choice

Anthony “Don” Manno was awarded the Fire Engineering 2003 Lifetime Achievement Award posthumously at FDIC 2003. Manno’s widow, Eilene, and son, Damien DeVille, accepted the award.

Manno, who referred to himself as “the Danny DeVito of the fire service,” was honored for his many contributions to the fire service, especially in the areas of fire prevention and training. “For Manno, it was always about training,” said FE Editor in Chief/Associate Publisher Bill Manning. “He carried it in his heart wherever he went. He was an impassioned, dynamic, and wonderful man. He left his mark on the fire service and is sorely missed.”

DeVille urged the audience “to carry on my father’s legacy and continue to make a difference in your communities.”

Fire Engineering 2003 Training Achievement award to Scott Millsap

The late Scott Millsap was named as the recipient of the 2003 Fire Engineering Training Achievement Award at FDIC 2003. His wife, Dixcee, accepted the award.

Millsap, president of ESE Training Associates, a global emergency response training firm in Dalton, Georgia, was cited for “the innovation and energy he brought to fire service education and training worldwide.”

He and several ESE instructors developed the “Axioms of Leadership” program, which combined “servant leadership” methodology and Marine Corps Warrior Stations. Each obstacle course-like station represents fire service heroes who lost their lives in the line of duty. Students must work cooperatively, using management skills, strength, ingenuity, common sense, leadership, and sometimes self-sacrifice, to overcome the obstacles.

Millsap’s fire service career included more than 25 years of service as a firefighter-paramedic. He was training officer for the Dalton (GA) Fire Department for more than 13 years. He was the incident commander in memoriam for the 2003 FDIC and FDIC West H.O.T. programs and was an editorial advisory board member of Fire Engineering.

IAFC urges code changes to prevent future public assembly tragedies

The International Association of Fire Chiefs (IAFC) has challenged national code organizations to review “a number of underlying fire safety issues” in the wake of the recent nightclub disasters in Rhode Island and Chicago and a rehabilitation center fire in Connecticut.

“We should all be saying, ‘Enough is enough; we’re mad as hell and we’re not going to take it anymore,’ ” stated Chief Jackie Gibbs of Marietta, Georgia, chairman of the IAFC Fire and Life Safety Section, speaking on behalf of the IAFC and its executive board. The recent tragedies, he said, are “a clear indication of the need for the code development process to change the way it looks at fire and life safety in the United States.”

Gibbs made these remarks at a specially convened review meeting of the National Fire Protection Association (NFPA) Technical Committee on Assembly Occupancies in Quincy, Massachusetts. Chief Bob DiPoli, IAFC second vice president; Chief Roger Bradley, IAFC director of the New England division; and Garry Briese, IAFC executive director, were also present at the meeting.

Among the IAFC recommendations—directed at the NFPA and the International Code Council (ICC), as well as municipal leaders, the building industry, the public, and the fire service itself—were the following:

• Codes must address the requirement that new commercial buildings, particularly places of assembly, be equipped with fire sprinklers and monitored alarm systems—no exceptions.
• The concept of “grandfathering” should be eliminated from the codes entirely. All “noncompliant, preexisting” occupancies should be required to come into full compliance with the most current fire and building codes within a specified phase-in time frame.
• The partial sprinklering of residential occupancies in the areas most likely to experience a fire, such as kitchens, heating systems, and garages, should be allowed.
• Local governments must reexamine policies that create obstacles that serve as disincentives to building owners’ installing or retrofitting buildings with fire sprinkler systems.
• Local jurisdictions must provide adequate funding and staffing for the fire inspection function.
• The use of indoor fireworks and pyrotechnics must be prohibited entirely—under any circumstance.
• The IAFC also challenged the fire service to “rigorously, uniformly, and fairly enforce codes; establish policies and protective systems that will hold local politicians publicly accountable for any interference with the enforcement process; and ensure that every fire inspector is trained and certified.”

The IAFC explains that all parties can have a positive impact on survivability by applying basic technology to control how a building will react in an emergency event, having adequate exiting and built-in protection in higher-risk commercial and residential occupancies, and educating individuals in what to do in preparation for and in reaction to such emergencies.

National Public Safety Medal of Valor awarded

On February 14, Attorney General John Ashcroft and Vice President Dick Cheney presented the 2002 Public Safety Officer Medal of Valor to 10 individuals. The medal, awarded for the first time, is the highest national award for valor for public safety officers and was authorized by the Public Safety Officer Medal of Valor Act of 2001. It acknowledges outstanding heroic deeds above and beyond the call of duty. The public safety officers are nominated by their chiefs or the directors of their agencies and are recommended by an 11-member Medal of Valor Review Board.

Recipients of the 2002 Public Safety Officer Medal of Valor are the following: Volunteer Firefighter Eric Svihovec, Miller Place (NY) Fire Department; Keith N. Borders, Las Vegas (NV) Metropolitan Police Department; Firefighters Robert Borer, Jeremy Hosek, Guy Jones, Ron Kennett, Rick Klein, and Mike Wright, Lincoln (NE) Fire and Rescue; Chief Robert Giorgio, Cherry Hill (NJ) Fire Department; and Firefighter Sean VanAtter, Florida Fire Rescue, Hillsborough County.

Svihovec rescued a mother and her infant daughter from their car, which had fallen off a boat ramp into Mount Sinai Harbor during a heavy rainstorm.

Borders responded to a 9-1-1 call for a domestic disturbance. While removing an endangered woman from the house to his police cruiser, he was hit in the head by a shot fired by the man in the house and lost a significant amount of blood. He nevertheless fired back at the suspect and killed him.

Borer, Hosek, Jones, Kennett, Klein, and Wright set out to rescue a worker who was accidentally struck in the head by a cable at the top of a 1,523-foot television communications tower. The seriously injured worker was hanging by his harness about 1,200 feet above the ground. He died as the rescuers were ascending the tower; they recovered his body and brought it to the ground.

Giorgio freed a woman trapped inside a vehicle suspended about five feet aboveground. The car, with its engine on fire, was held in place by a small tree. Giorgio safely freed the woman despite the spreading fire and melting car parts.

VanAtter, riding in a taxi, came upon an accident involving a tanker truck and a car. The car, which had slammed into a concrete barrier, was on fire. A family of five was inside. VanAtter had the cab stop and forced his way into the car and pulled the family out safely.

Synopses of the acts of valor and information about the award are at http://www.ojp. usdoj.gov/medalofvalor.

USFA alliance focus: lightweight construction performance in fires

The United States Fire Administration (USFA) and the American Forest & Paper Association (AF&PA) (http://www. afandpa.org/) have joined efforts to develop a national information and demonstration project intended to increase the fire service’s awareness of the actual performance of lightweight construction components during fires.

The project objectives would include the following:

• Assess the awareness of the fire service pertaining to how lightweight construction performs during fires and how it impacts fireground safety.
• Expand the current body of knowledge from past “collapse incidents.”
• Review USFA course materials offered through the National Fire Academy (NFA) to ensure that they have the most current information regarding building performance from a fire-safety perspective.
• Produce print and Web-based information that will increase firefighter awareness and effectiveness on the fireground; the information would cover components such as trusses, glued laminated beams, structural composite lumber, and wood structural panels.

The AF&PA trade association represents more than 80 percent of the paper, wood, and forest products produced in the United States.

Additional information on this initiative is available at the USFA Web site at: www. usfa.fema.gov/dhtml/inside-usfa/construction.cfm.

Allbaugh retires from FEMA

Joe M. Allbaugh retired as director of the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) in March. He had served for two years.

“I have been a long-time advocate for the Department of Homeland Security, and now that it is a reality and the President has a great team in place, I feel I can move on to my next challenge,” said Allbaugh. “For the past two years, my family has been extraordinarily patient and supportive as I responded to numerous disasters across the country. Now I am going to take the opportunity to spend some time with my wife and children.”

ICC, IAFC to develop strategies for improving nightclub safety

The International Code CouncilT (ICC) and the International Association of Fire Chiefs (IAFC) have joined efforts to develop an effective strategy for addressing safety concerns raised by the recent nightclub tragedies. The groups will examine particularly the circumstances of the tragedies that occurred in Chicago, Illinois, and West Warwick, Rhode Island, in February and review building codes and fire safety concerns pertaining to facilities for public assembly.

The ICC is also assisting local, state, and federal agencies with their investigations.

IAFF urges White House “to stop bickering on homeland security”

“It is time to end the blame game, the political posturing, and the petty bickering that have crippled the efforts of the nation’s firefighters and other first responders to prepare to handle the next terrorist attack on American soil,” International Association of Fire Fighters (IAFF) President Harold A. Schaitberger said in recent letters to President Bush, White House Chief of Staff Andrew Card, House Appropriations Committee Chairman C.W. Bill Young, and House Speaker Dennis Hastert. Schaitberger called the finger pointing engaged in by the Bush administration and the House Appropriations Committee chairman relative to who is to blame for not providing adequate Homeland Security funds to first responders “counterproductive” to the fire service’s efforts to protect the American people from terrorism.

Among the other points made in Schaitberger’s letters were the following:

• “The Iraq war will be fought on two fronts: one in the Middle East by our armed forces, and the other here at home by firefighters and other first responders.” He noted that the federal government “has taken the necessary steps to properly train, equip, and staff our military forces for action in Iraq, but it has failed to provide the same level of support for our first responders across the nation.”
• The nation’s firefighters need “specialized training, appropriate equipment and protective clothing, and adequate staffing to maximize their own protection as they put themselves in harm’s way to protect the public.”
• It makes no difference who is to blame for the lack of funding. What is important is to secure the funding before it is too late. The IAFF can provide information that will help determine the greatest needs of first responders.

Schaitberger concluded by saying “The stakes are too high” to continue with the “fruitless name calling and political squabbling.”

The IAFF letters were in response to recent comments by President Bush blaming Congress for underfunding first responder programs and Committee Chairman Young’s letter of March 6 to White House Chief of Staff Card refuting the President’s claim.

UL panel to study why some children do not awaken to smoke alarms

An Underwriters Laboratories Inc. (UL) Standards Technical Panel (STP) met on March 7 to consider why some children may not awaken to the sound of a smoke alarm and has established two ad hoc working groups.

The smoke alarm issue came to light in November when fire department-local family fire safety exercises involving fire evacuation plans were televised in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, and Fort Worth, Texas. The fact that some sleeping children did not hear the activated alarms surprised some reporters and others involved in the exercises.

One UL working group, comprised of pediatric sleep experts, safety engineers, government officials, and manufacturers, will conduct research and make proposals for future research designs that will define the physiological and technical aspects of the issue. New research projects will be based on this new information.

The second working group, comprised of members from UL, the National Fire Protection Association (NFPA), fire prevention and education specialists, and manufacturers, will develop educational and publicity campaigns to raise public awareness of smoke alarm and fire safety issues.

Both groups were expected to report back to the STP by May 30 (after press time).

According to John Drengenberg, UL’s manager of consumer affairs, “Based on what we heard from pediatric sleep experts and fire prevention officials, there might not be a single answer to this complicated issue. It seems clear, however, that some children, especially young children, may at times sleep so deeply that it may not be possible for the alarm alone to arouse them to the point where they can reliably evacuate a house on their own. If, and until, a technological solution can be found, public education on the issue will be a pressing concern for the fire safety community.”

Drengenberg and fire officials at the STP meeting emphasized that properly maintained smoke alarms save lives every day and that consumers should consider them a reliable “front-line defense” against fire.

Among other participants in the March 7 STP meeting were representatives from the Consumer Product Safety Commission; NFPA; National Institute of Standards and Technology; Illinois Fire Safety Alliance; state fire marshals and firefighters; manufacturers; consumer advocates; regulatory authorities; and pediatric sleep experts from Toronto’s Hospital for Sick Children, the Sleep Medicine Center at Children’s Memorial Hospital in Chicago, and The Johns Hopkins Pediatric Sleep Center in Baltimore.

Reintroduced bill would expand line-of-duty death benefit eligibility

The Hometown Heroes Survivors Benefits Act (H.R. 919/S. 459) was reintroduced in the House and Senate at the end of February. It would extend the Public Safety Officers Benefits (PSOB) Program to families of public safety officers who die as a result of a heart attack or stroke while on duty. Heart attacks and strokes account for nearly half of firefighter deaths each year. The legislation was passed in the House during the previous Congress, but the Senate did not have time to consider it prior to adjournment.

Representatives Bob Etheridge (D-NC), Steny Hoyer (D-MD), Curt Weldon (R-PA), and Michael Oxley (R-OH) introduced the bill in the House. Senators Patrick Leahy (D-VT), Lindsey Graham (R-SC), Susan Collins (R-ME), and Jim Jeffords (I-VT) introduced it in the Senate.

The PSOB Program currently provides a one-time death benefit payment of $262,100, which is administered by the U.S. Department of Justice, to families of public safety officers (fire, police, and EMS) killed in the line of duty, as well as to officers permanently disabled while on the job. The death benefit is payable to the survivors of a public safety officer who “has died as the direct and proximate result of a personal injury sustained in the line of duty.”

Unfortunately, points out the National Volunteer Fire Council (NVFC), in almost every incidence of death by heart attack or stroke, it is ruled that the heart attack or stroke was not a direct result of an injury sustained in the line of duty, and the family receives no benefits even though the deaths were clearly triggered by the rigors of the job. The Hometown Heroes Survivor Benefit Act would correct that deficiency in the law.

The NVFC urges that members of the fire service contact their representatives and senators and ask them to cosponsor the Hometown Heroes Survivor Benefit Act. Information on how to contact the legislators is available at www.congress.org/congressorg/dbq/officials, or call the U.S. Capitol Switchboard at (202) 224-3121.

Task force would draft legislation to facilitate sprinkler system installation

Congressmen Curt Weldon (R-PA) and James Langevin (D-RI) have introduced a resolution that would create a task force to draft “commonsense legislation” that may result in tax incentives or changes in depreciation guidelines for owners of older buildings who install sprinkler systems. (Many buildings constructed before 1974 are exempt from installing expensive sprinkler systems.) The announcement was made at a press conference in March. Representatives from the Congressional Fire Services Institute, the National Fire Sprinkler Association, the American Fire Sprinkler Association, the International Association of Fire Chiefs, the National Fire Protection Association, the International Association of Arson Investigators, and the National Volunteer Fire Council were present.

The congressmen also asked states and owners of concert halls and other public attraction venues to voluntarily adopt new safety policies that inform patrons about safety behaviors in emergencies and the locations of all exits before the public events begin.

The resolution passed the House of Representatives by a vote of 421-0 on March 12. The Senate approved the resolution by unanimous consent on March 13.

Schaitberger addresses IAFF U.S. Legislative Conference

In addressing attendees at the International Association of Fire Fighters (IAFF) 21st U.S. Legislative Conference, held March 16-19 in Washington, D.C., IAFF General President Harold Schaitberger voiced support for the men and women who would be fighting in Iraq, many of whom, he noted, are firefighters and IAFF members. He also cited the recent USA Today headline that quoted a captured Al Qaeda leader, who said: “If Bush Attacks Iraq … America Will Burn.” God forbid that this happen, Schaitberger said.

However, if the Al Qaeda leader is correct, Schaitberger noted, “our nation’s domestic warriors” would be fighting those fires and confronting those attacks on our home soil while facing many of the same resource needs we have had since 9-11-01.

Billions of dollars are needed to fully prepare our members to deal with the next terrorist attack on our nation, he said …. And our members will respond even if they are left without the adequate equipment, training, and staffing they so desperately need. They will not hesitate to respond, because that’s who they are, always ready to place themselves in harm’s way, doing their job for their communities.

Among other points Schaitberger made were the following:

• The IAFF will continue to give to Congress the message, “Help us protect the firefighters, who are always on the front lines for America.” He urged the attendees to take that message home to their legislators.
• Staffing is no longer just a local government responsibility. Efforts must be made to push the SAFER bill and to convince legislators of the importance of providing federal funds to help communities to hire additional firefighters.
• The IAFF must make sure that federal money keeps flowing from the FIRE Act directly into fire departments.
• Attention must also be given to “big picture” issues such as the economy and health care reform. The health care problem “is pressuring the entire system.” Uninsured health care has to be paid for from government resources. The only way the uninsured can get health care now is to call 9-1-1, call an ambulance, and seek high-cost treatment at emergency rooms, which by law can’t turn them away. “We must get more involved in the debate over health care reform. We must take an active role in developing the solutions for ourselves and for our nation.”
• The economic crisis in our states and municipalities threatens members’ ability to protect their communities effectively, jeopardizes firefighter safety and jobs, and puts the public at risk. Virtually every state is facing substantial budget deficits.

For the first time in decades, many IAFF affiliates are facing the prospect of significant layoffs in their departments, most of which are already understaffed, Schaitberger noted. His full remarks are at www.iaff.org.

NENA president tells Congress of need for 9-1-1 system modernization

“There is much to applaud in the many broad-based efforts to implement E9-1-1, however the goal of E9-1-1—’anywhere and everywhere’—remains elusive. We must move past the rhetoric and truly address the systemic issues of E9-1-1 implementation,” John Melcher, president of the National Emergency Number Association (NENA), told the Senate Communications Subcommittee recently. “The system,” he added, “needs a new, long-term vision that guarantees public safety for the future.”

The “E” in E9-1-1 stands for enhanced 9 -1-1 services, which would automatically provide a callback number and location of the caller. The implementation and deployment of E9-1-1 is critical to the future of emergency communications and the emergency services they access.

NENA has launched the Strategic Wireless Action Team (SWAT), which includes representatives of wireless and wireline telecommunications companies, state and local organizations, and public safety groups, to identify priorities and determine the changes needed to improve the country’s 9-1-1 system. Melcher anticipates that “a proactive, consensus-driven plan” will be announced later this spring.

One of the issues SWAT will address is how to expand the current one percent of the nation’s emergency jurisdictions that can identify the location of calls made from wireless phones. Ninety-nine percent of the U.S. population is covered by the current 9-1-1 system.

Melcher also commended the recent formation of the bipartisan, bicameral Congressional E9-1-1 Caucus. The caucus was formed by Senators Conrad Burns (R-MT) and Hillary Clinton (D-NY) and Reps. Anna Eshoo (D-CA) and John Shimkus (R-IL) to educate lawmakers, constituents, and communities about the importance of citizen-activated emergency response systems.

The four cochairs outlined goals for the caucus ranging from emergency service parity in rural America to more rapid deployment of up-to-date technologies.

Visit www.nena.org for more information.

APCO opposes discarding phase II E9-1-1 deployment deadlines

The Association of Public-Safety Communications Officials (APCO) International, Inc. has announced its opposition to extend the December 31, 2005, deadline established by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) for deploying Phase II Enhanced 9-1-1 (E9-1-1) services. APCO points to an “apparent attempt by Nextel to work with other wireless carriers and public safety answering points (PSAPs) to convince the FCC to remove the deadline.”

According to APCO, Nextel publicized its intent to urge PSAPs and carriers to ignore the FCC’s mandate at the Cellular Telecommunications and Internet Association’s annual conference in March. Nextel Senior Vice President and Chief Regulatory Officer Robert Foosaner’s cited “changing industry conditions and the difficulties PSAPs are having implementing the technology” as reasons for its position.

APCO International Acting President Vincent Stile countered that E 9-1-1 deployment may be difficult, but “PSAPs are working hard to implement the technology because this is a matter of life and death.”

Foosaner said that any deadline should “coincide with the industry’s growth rate, which would delay it approximately three years.”

According to APCO, some major carriers had already received waivers increasing the time they had for Phase II deployment and, at the time they were granted the waivers, vowed not to seek extension of the Dec. 31, 2005, deadline. So far, with increasing pressure from PSAPs, APCO, other wireless carriers, and congressional leaders, the FCC has held to the final Phase II deadline.

Line-of-Duty Deaths

February 20. Captain Larry Allen Brown, 53, of the Kingsley Field Fire Department, Klamath Falls, Oregon: Apparent heart attack while performing routine station duties.

February 26. Firefighter/EMT Curtis Walters, 52, of the Northwest Arkansas Regional Airport Fire Department, Bentonville, Arkansas: Apparent heart attack while performing routine station duties.

March 9. Firefighter Bruce H. Young, 60, of the Middlebury (VT) Fire Department: Apparent heart attack while preparing to respond to an alarm.

March 15. Firefighter Mike Stanley, 52, of the Salisbury (MO) Fire Department: Probable heart attack at the scene of a grass fire.

March 18. Firefighter Lance Mathew, 20, of the La Belle-Fannett Volunteer Fire Department, Beaumont, Texas: Killed by a tractor-trailer at the scene of a motor vehicle accident.

March 19. Captain Tom Kistler, 53, of Polk County Fire District #1, Independence, Oregon: Injuries sustained when the fire apparatus in which he was riding crashed into a ditch while en route to a training exercise.

March 21. Firefighter Oscar Armstrong, III, 25, of the Cincinnati (OH) Fire Department: Burn injuries received in a flashover while working a residential fire.

March 22. Firefighter James Smith, 63, of the Troy (IN) Fire Department: Apparent heart attack while working a residential fire.

Source: National Fallen Firefighters Memorial Database, United States Fire Administration.