The Elmsford (NY) Fire Department�s annual training seminar and exhibition has been renamed in memory of LIEUTENANT ANDY FREDERICKS, one of the 343 Fire Department of New York members who perished in the 9-11 attacks on the World Trade Center. Henceforth, the event will be called the Lieutenant Andy Fredericks, FDNY, Memorial Seminar and Exhibits. Fredericks was the guest speaker for the first seminar held in January 2001. Elmsford Chief John Reynolds, Sr. presented Frederick’s widow Michelle with a plaque commemorating the official seminar name change. Also present were members of Frederick�s company, Squad 18; and Diane Feldman, managing editor of Fire Engineering, for which Fredericks was a contributor and editorial advisor. The seminar�s proceeds will be donated to the FDNY Squad 18 Family Fund, The Firemen�s Home, and Burn Care Everywhere.
This year’s speaker was Deputy Assistant Chief John Norman of the Fire Department of New York, author of the best-selling Fire Officer�s Handbook of Tactics, Second Edition, published by Fire Engineering, who spoke on fires in garden apartments and townhouses.
LILA GILLESPIE, an exhibit account manager for the Fire Department Instructors Conference (FDIC), was named recipient of the 2005 Joe Fishelson Award by the award �s board of directors. The annual award is presented for excellence in customer service to the fire service through the fire protection industry. Action Coupling Equipment, Inc. funds the award, named in memory of Joe Fishelson, a pioneer in fire equipment manufacturing and a proponent of customer service.
According to Sam Goldwater, board chair and past award recipient, �If you look at the past recipients of the award and specifically at Lila Gillespie�s career, you will see people that have devoted their entire career to supporting the fire service and either by choice, birth, or for some other reason, bring that support through excellence in customer service.� The award will be presented at the 2005 FDIC, held in Indianapolis, Indiana, April 11-16.
THOMAS WEST CARR JR. was named fire chief of the Montgomery County (MD) Fire and Rescue Service (MCFRS). In 2004, Montgomery County approved the creation of a more unified command and control structure for the fire and rescue service, establishing for the first time the position of a uniformed county fire chief with authority to administer, direct, and originate fire and rescue operations for the entire county service, career and volunteer. MCFRS protects almost one million people in a 500-square-mile area, employing 1,000 career uniformed and civilian staff and an equal number of volunteers. It operates 40 fire and rescue facilities, a 56-acre training academy, a state-of-the-art communication facility, and 33 community fire and rescue stations. Carr began his career in Montgomery County in 1978 as a paramedic/ firefighter.
ROGER WILLIAM CURTIS, chairman of the board of fire equipment supplier L.N. Curtis & Sons, passed away. Curtis served as secretary of the corporation since its founding in 1929 and was its the chief executive officer for more than 60 years.
