House committee issues report that calls for greater attention to volunteer firefighters
DEPARTMENTS
Dispatches
A recent report issued by the Committee on Science and Technology of the U.S. House of Representatives has called for greater federal attention to the nation’s volunteer fire service.
The report contained the Committee’s deliberation on proposals to authorize funding of the U.S. Fire Administration (USFA) and the National I ire Academy (NFA) for the fiscal year 1987.
Citing testimony by E. James Monihan, chairman of the National Volunteer Fire Council, the report pointed out the Committee’s concern “…that the volunteer firefighting community may have insufficient access to both the USFA and the NFA.”
In the report, the Committee called for the USFA and NFA to “make a particular effort to communicate” with the volunteer fire service. It also directed the NFA to “give first priority to volunteer firefighters in making course allocations and allotting travel stipends” and urged the NFA to “continue to strengthen its field training program which is more accessible to volunteer firefighters.”
After these sessions, the Committee passed legislation authorizing appropriations of $18.3-million for USFA and NFA programs. This restored funding for travel stipends to the NFA, which had been eliminated from the Reagan Administration proposal.
