Washington, D.C. – On Thursday, August 1, U.S. Senator John McCain (R-AZ) introduced a bill to develop standards for new firefighting technology; improve coordination between federal, state and local fire officials; and authorize the National Fire Academy to train firefighters for responding to acts of terrorism.
“While we strive to prevent any future attack in the United States, it is our duty to ensure that we are adequately prepared for any future catastrophic act of terrorism. This bill will improve the response to national emergencies and will also prepare our firefighters for their everyday role in protecting our families and homes,” said McCain who serves as a Co-Chairman of the Congressional Fire Services Caucus.
S. 2862, the “Firefighting Research and Coordination Act,” co-sponsored with Sen. Ernest Hollings (D-SC), Sen. Maria Cantwell (D-WA) and Sen. Joe Biden (D-DE), addresses the need for new equipment standards by establishing a scientific basis for voluntary consensus standards. It authorizes the U.S. Fire Administrator to work with the National Institute of Standards and Technology, the Inter-Agency Board for Equipment Standardization and Inter-Operability, and other interested parties to establish measurement techniques and testing methodologies for new firefighting equipment.
The bill also:
- Directs the U.S. Fire Administrator to work with state and local fire service officials to establish nationwide and state mutual aid systems for responding to national emergencies. These mutual aid plans would include collection of accurate asset and resource information to ensure that local fire services could work together to deploy equipment and personnel effectively during an emergency.
- Establishes the U.S. Fire Administrator as the primary point of contact within the Federal government for state and local firefighting units, in order to ensure greater Federal coordination and interface with state and local officials in preparing and responding to terrorist attacks, hurricanes, earthquakes, or other national emergencies.
- Directs the U.S. Fire Administrator to report on the need for a strategy for deploying volunteers, including the use of a national credentialing system. Currently, there is a system for credentialing volunteers to fight wildfires that has proven effective, and the development of a similar system may prevent some of the confusion that occurred at the World Trade Center and Pentagon on Sept. 11.
- Improves training of state and local firefighters by authorizing the National Fire Academy to offer courses in building collapse rescue; the use of technology in response to fires caused by terrorist attacks and other national emergencies; leadership and strategic skills including integrated management systems operations; deployment of new technology for fighting forest and wild fires; fighting fires at ports; and other courses related to tactics and strategies for responding to terrorist incidents and other fire services’ needs.
- Directs the U.S. Fire Administrator to coordinate the National Fire Academy’s training programs with the Attorney General, Secretary of Health and Human Services, and other Federal agencies in order to prevent the duplication in training programs that has been identified by the General Accounting Office.
The “Firefighting Research and Coordination Act” is supported by the National Volunteer Fire Council; the Congressional Fire Services Institute; the National Fire Protection Association; the International Association of Fire Chiefs; the International Association of Fire Fighters; the International Association of Arson Investigators; and the International Fire Service Training Association.
