NAMES IN THE NEWS
LUCY, the newest recruit at the Redmond (WA) Fire Department, has made a name for herself as that state’s first accelerant-detecting dog. A two-year-old chocolate Labrador retriever, Lucy and her handler, Fire Chief RANDY COGGAN, to date have worked together at three suspicious fire scenes, Coggan, who had to help rewrite state law to work with Lucy, has invested $ 5,500 of his own money into the public-service dog, which is capable of recognizing a half-dozen accelerants. Eventually, she will be able to recognize up to 16 accelerants.
■ At the National Fire Protection Association’s (NFPA’s) 97th annual meeting last year, the following individuals were recognized for their contributions to the fire service: DONALD J. KEIGHER. a fire protection engineer from the Los Alamos ScientificLaboratory, who received the Paul C. Lamb Award, the highest honor bestowed by the NFPA; and PATRICK E. PHILLIPS, P.E., of AntiFire/ P.E. Phillips and Associates, who received the Standards Medal, given in recognition of outstanding contributions to fire safety in the development of standards prepared by NFPA’s technical committees.
■ This past September, Oceanport, New Jersey, resident and Long Branch Fire Department member JOSEPH VALENTINO was named the national winner of the Janies Cash Penney Award for Community Service. Valentino, a 26-year fire department veteran (who served three years as chief), developed the city’s 911 plan and currently serves as the chairperson of the 911 committee and as assistant director of emergency services.
■ FRANK J. FANTINO has succeeded James M. Reed as Fire Chief of the City of Costa Mesa, California. Fantino, who has served in nearly every rank in the department, joined the department in 1972 and was among the first in the department to be certified as an EMT.
■ The International Society of Fire Service Instructors has honored two of its members for demonstrating service above expectation GORDON W. HARRIS, JR., northeastern regional sales manager for Elkhart Brass Manufacturing Company, and DOMINIC J. COLLETTI, foam systems product manager for Hale Fire Pump, have been recognized for their instrumental roles in planning and conducting ISFSI’s live training evolutionsover the past several years.
■ LAWRENCE W. DAVIS, senior loss prevention training consultant with Industrial Risk Insurers, has been named chairperson of the International Society of Fire Service Instructors (ISFSI). Davis is a specialist in fire department and fire brigade training and currently serves as IRI’s representative on the National Fire Protection Association’s technical committee on industrial fire brigade standards. He is a 25-year veteran of the fire service.
■ In September, Chief RICHARD P. SACC0MANNO of the City of New York (NY) Fire Department was awarded the Zumwalt Community Award by the National Marrow Donor Program, in recognition of his commitment to the recruitment efforts of the New York Blood Center (NYBC) at the Fire Training Academy on Randall’s Island. Saccomanno played a role in recruiting the more than 1,000 firefighters registered as bone marrow donors with NYCB.
■ HAL BRUNO of ABC News was honored last year with the Carl F. Hawyer Award by the Public Relations Society of America/National Capital Chapter (PRSA/NCC) for exceptional use of communications in the public interest. The award was for his work in educating the public about fire safety. Bruno, who has been a volunteer firefighter for three decades, has helped ABC News cover fire safety problems and hosted a graphic demonstration of fire safety for community leaders during the 1993 annual conference of the National Association of Broadcasters.
■ ROBERT B. WHITEMORE of Prior lake, Minnesota, has been installed as president of the International Association of Arson Investigators (LAAI). Whitemore has been associated with the IAAI since 1976, is a life member of the IAAI’s Nebraska chapter, and has served on numerous IAAI committees. He currently is chief fire investigator with the lawfirm of Robins, Kaplan, Miller, and Ciresi in Minne-‘ apolis, Minnesota.
■ Indiana Chief Deputy Fire Marshal R. DANIEL LEE was awarded the Colleague of the Council Certificate from the Hoosier Safety Council. The award, presented at the Council’s 1993 convention in Indianapolis, was in recognition for Lee’s work in developing regional response teams to deal with hazardous materials incidents. Before achieving his current position, Lee was the owner of F I R E. Inc., a haz-mat specialist for the state Fire Marshal’s Office, and chief of the Warren Township Fire Department.
■ THE SIERRA FRONT WILDFIRE COOPERATORShas received a special commendation from Nevada Secretary of State Cheryl Lau for its efforts toward reducing the threat of wildland fires. The commendation was presented to Chairperson Bob Butler, following the Sierra Front’s Fire Awareness Day held last year. The Sierra Front was organized in response to the disastrous 1981 wildland fire season, and a continuing migration of residences in wildland setting throughout the Sierra Front region.
■ Trevor Pateman, Secretary/Manager of Western Australia Inc.’s World Firefighters Games, has announced that the games are ‘’now owned and controlled by firefighters for firefighters. The entire organization and all of its activities will be set up under appropriate bylaws for nonprofit legislation, allowing the organization to ensure that proceeds from its events go back into the host agencies’ communities. The next World Firefighters Games is scheduled to be held in Perth, Australia, from March 20th to 26th, 1994.
■ Sixteen students in Worcester Polytechnic Institute’s graduate degree program in fire protection engineering have been inducted into the Salamander Honorary Fire Protection Engineering Society. They are
SANJAY AGGARWAL, JACK CRANEFIELD, MICHAEL FERREIRA, GREGORY GHOSH, CRAIG HOFMEISTER, SEAN HUNT, THOMAS JUSTRAS, ALEX MARANGHTDES, WILLIAM PUCCI, ANTHONY PURTORTI, DAVID SHEPPARD, JOHN SLEIGHTS, ROBERT TILL, JOHN VALIULIS, CHRISTOPHER WOOD, and ZHENG PING t YUAN.
