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Charleston (SC) Fire Department Chief THOMAS CARR JR. announced his retirement effective March 1, 2012. Carr became chief in November 2008, taking over a department still rebuilding from the Sofa Super Store fire that killed nine city firefighters the year before. Carr is widely credited with adopting modern techniques and standards as well as charting a more coordinated, regional approach to firefighting. Last summer, Carr was awarded Career Fire Chief of the Year by the International Association of Fire Chiefs. |
J. MICHAEL STALLINGS, CFO, division chief of the Rocky Mount (NC) Fire Department received the Ronny Jack Coleman Leadership Legacy Award during the Center for Public Safety Excellence’s annual awards ceremony. Stallings has more than 29 years of fire service experience, including more than 14 years as a chief officer. Stallings successfully led his department through its first reaccreditation in 2008, and is guiding it toward a second reaccreditation in 2013. He organized the North Carolina Accreditation Support Consortium and received the Chief Fire Officer designation in 2009 and is a graduate of the Executive Fire Officer Program through the National Fire Academy. www.publicsafetyexcellence.org.
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Lieutenant ANNMARIE PICKETT, the first female fire officer in the history of the Worcester (MA) Fire Department (WFD), received the 2011 Fire and Life Safety Educator of the Year Award for her dedication to the WFD Public Education and Community Risk Reduction program. Pickett is a 10-year member of the WFD. Using fire data, Pickett identified a community risk location, developed a strategy to educate the at-risk population, and concluded with a follow-up evaluation of the results of her efforts to identify behavior change and to highlight any need for follow-up intervention. She has also made public fire education training a part of the required training of all new recruits in the WFD’s Recruit Firefighter Training Program. www.mass.gov/dfs. |
DAVID BINDER of Tanner Industries, Inc. was awarded the TRANSCAER® (Transportation Community Awareness and Emergency Response) Chairman’s Award at the Massachusetts Association of Hazardous Materials Technicians 19th annual training conference, in recognition of his dedication and support as Chair of TRANSCAER’s Anhydrous Ammonia training program. As director of Quality, Safety & Regulatory Affairs and Lead Trainer in the Ammonia Safety & Emergency Response Training program for Tanner Industries, Binder has facilitated ammonia safety and emergency response training programs throughout the world for industry, fire department, emergency response, and emergency management personnel. www.americanchemistry.com. www.transcaer.com.
The Fire Apparatus Manufacturers’ Association (FAMA) has awarded its 2011 Phillip L. Turner Fire Protection Scholarship to University of Maryland (UMD)—College Park student CHAD LANNON. Lannon, a sophomore majoring in fire protection engineering, received a $5,000 scholarship in recognition of his outstanding academic achievement and commitment to the fire service. The award is given annually by FAMA and is sponsored this year by FAMA member Akron Brass Co. Lannon is currently a Baltimore County firefighter/first responder at Bowley’s Quarters Volunteer Station and is in the process of joining the College Park Volunteer Station. www.fama.org.
Congressman STEVE ROTHMAN (NJ) and House Homeland Security Chairman PETER KING (NY) introduced the Help Emergency Responders Operate Emergency Systems (HEROES) Act, which will set up a Department of Homeland Security (DHS)-administered grant program for local municipalities to apply for funding for essential communications equipment that the federal government requires them to upgrade. The Act will establish a $400 million DHS-administered Narrowbanding Compliance Assistance Program to assist first responders in meeting the January 1, 2013 narrowband mandate, using the sale of federally owned spectrum to pay for the competitive grant program, and reallocating the D block to public safety and provide funding for the construction of a national interoperable public safety wireless broadband network.
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