(Editor's Note:  The following commentary appeared on "FirefighterCloseCall.Com" and is worthy of posting on our site.  Please consider these valid points and then ask yourself how our regional fire departments response activities compare to the commentary below - And I will add a comment or two myself)

Here is a short commentary related to HEAVY 1st ALARM ASSIGNMENTS followed by updates and links re: yesterdays close call in Montgomery County, Maryland.   Good "HEAVY" 1st alarm assignments (and rapid transmission of the 2nd alarm) once again proves their value. We recently were told of one FD considering "reducing" 1st alarm assignments to reported structure fires to save fuel and related costs. TO SAVE FUEL?! WTF?!!!   (Sounds like something right out of the NDW playbook!)

There is NO MORE IMPORTANT of the most BASIC CORE SERVICES of any Government than to provide a well staffed, well trained, well lead HEAVY 1st alarm assignment when a citizen reports a fire. What is HEAVY? Enough FF’s, command and support officers to perform all POSSIBLE tasks in a simultaneous, coordinated manner, based upon the structure/occupancy type reported to be on fire by the caller (and related pre-plan information). Anything less is blatantly scr*wing the taxpayers (AMEN!!!)  ...as well as the 1st due Firefighters who themselves, may also be in need of the immediate rescue services of that HEAVY 1st alarm assignment.

MONTGOMERY COUNTY FIRE INFORMATION
STRUCTURAL INFORMATION: We have been advised that this was a 1960’s era wood frame, garden style, apartment building-this was not light weight truss, but did have a common attic.

RADIO TRAFFIC LINK: http://www.dcfirefeed.com/archives/12817twinbrook.wav

UPON THE MAYDAY: You will hear the IC (outstanding IC) transmit back to the MAYDAY: YOUR LUNAR!
L Location, U Unit number, N Name, A Assignment, R Resources.  (Where are you?, What radio ID are you?, Who are you?, What was your assignment?, What do you need?).

(What is the NDW MAYDAY policy & procedure?  Trick question because there isn't a region wide NDW F&ES MAYDAY policy!  Hell, the emergency identifiers on many radios are not even programed to work and a recently released SOG contained a "distress code" for F&ES personnel to use but the dispatchers were not even informed of the "secret" distress code - How is that supposed to work??? 

TO LEARN MORE ABOUT "MAYDAY" PROCEDURES CLICK HERE )

Our best wishes and prayers to the FF’s and their families in Montgomery County for a rapid and peaceful recovery.

• Chief Stillwell allows new and experienced fire fighters to answer emergency calls without the necessary up-to-date training;
• The chief has not ensured that all fire fighters have proper protective gear for dangerous incidents such as bomb searches;
• Chief Stillwell has failed to provide adequate communications equipment. Specifically, the radios NCPFFF fire fighters use are not interoperable among military installations. If a victim becomes trapped or injured in an emergency, radio unreliability puts the lives of fire fighters and citizens at risk;
• The chief has not taken steps to follow applicable National Fire Protection Agency (NFPA) and Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) standards.

National Capital Professional Federal Fire Fighters (NCPFFF) IAFF Local F-121 represents over 200 federal fire fighters who serve at US Navy facilities in the National Capital region.  NCPFFF’s mission is to provide the highest level of emergency service to the residents and employees within the National Capital region.

Admiral Earl Gay only arrived to lead NDW about a 8 months ago but he may already be on his way out.  The former commanding officer of Oceana Naval Air Station has been nominated for a flag officer post in Washington, D.C.

Capt. Patrick Lorge has been nominated for rear admiral, lower half and assignment as Commandant of Naval District Washington, the Department of Defense announced Wednesday. He currently serves as chief of staff for U.S. Naval Forces Central Command in Bahrain.

Lorge, a pilot, spent a year as executive officer and two years as commanding officer at Oceana before leaving last August.

Over six months ago as we began to roll out our region wide EMS program, Secretary/Treasurer Gray and I met with the Fire Chief and Labor Relations to discuss many issues related to the assumption of EMS duties.  Protecting you from exposure to Infectious Diseases was one of the topics discussed.  At that Sept 07 meeting it was agreed that we needed to take a proactive approach with our Infectious Disease Prevention program.  The cornerstone of that program was supposed to be education and PPE supplied by the employer.

On Oct 25, 2007 this was a topic of lengthy discussion at the Regional Safety Committee meeting.  Again, education was stressed along with waterless hand cleaner being made available on each apparatus and in each fire station.  Along with this was a request that an outside Infectious Disease expert be brought in to lead the training. 

Further, we asked that everyone watch an IAFF produced Infectious Disease DVD program supplied by the union at no cost to the employer.   Your Battalion VP provided each station within their respective Battalion with a copy of the DVD.

At the end of this topic discussion, it was promised that a regional directive on this matter would be issued shortly.

Today, over six months after the topic was initially discussed, the Regional Fire Chief finally took the time to issue the directive promised in Oct 2007.  While I am pleased that the Fire Chief has finally taken the time to consider this matter, I am not impressed with the priority he placed on this important safety topic.  Like you, I suspect this matter only received the attention it did because of the spotlight that has been focused on our feeble FD safety program.

You will find the Minutes from the Oct 07 Safety Committee Meeting and the latest Infectious Disease Memo from the RFC posted below.

I will continue in our efforts to draw real attention to improving the NDW FD's overall health & safety posture. 

Gregory Russell, 
President
IAFF F121

All members are encouraged to visit the secure member's only "Online Voting" section of this website to cast your ballot on the Censure Resolution of Fire Chief Edward G Stillwell.  All votes cast in this resolution remain secret, only the tally of the votes will be known.  We have no way of attaching a particular vote to a particular member.

The U.S. House of Representatives voted 412-0 last week to adopt legislation strengthening the U.S. Fire Administration (USFA). H.R. 4847, the United States Fire Administration Reauthorization Act of 2008, included key IAFF recommendations to expand and improve USFA’s training activities, improve fire fighter safety and better serve the needs of the modern fire service.

The vote came over the objections of the Bush administration, which sent an 11th hour letter opposing a provision crafted by the IAFF to improve delivery of USFA training programs. Under current law, USFA will pay for training offered at the U.S. Fire Academy in Emmitsburg, Maryland, or offered by a state training academy. But larger jurisdictions that have their own training facilities have been unable to take advantage of such federally funded training.

To address this concern, the IAFF drafted an amendment that will allow USFA to contract with a national training organization, such as the IAFF, to provide training in localities around the nation. The Bush administration argued that such training was unnecessary because the classes offered at Emmitsburg and state academies meet the needs of the nation’s fire service. House members swept aside such considerations, however, voting unanimously for the bill with the IAFF’s language intact.

The legislation was sponsored by Representative Harry Mitchell (D-AZ), and actively supported by Representative David Wu (D-OR), chair of the Subcommittee on Technology and Innovation. Testifying on behalf of the IAFF before Wu’s Subcommittee, Bob Livingston, a captain in the Salem, Oregon Fire Department, urged lawmakers to modernize the U.S. Fire Administration. “Today’s professional fire fighter is an all-purpose emergency responder, trained in such specialized disciplines as emergency medical care, hazardous /WMD materials response and high-angle, confined space and water rescue,” Livingtson explained. “But as fire fighters have expanded their duties, responsibilities and capabilities to meet the needs of their communities, so too must the USFA evolve to meet the needs of the 21st Century fire service.”

Based on Livingston’s recommendations, H.R. 4847 directs the Fire Administration to promote compliance with NFPA safety standards and advocate for the use of fire department-based EMS delivery systems. The legislation also authorizes additional federal resources for wildland fire fighting and to improve USFA’s data collection efforts to better identify fire safety trends.

Attention now turns to the Senate where a companion bill to H.R. 4847 is being considered. S. 2606, authored by Senators Chris Dodd (D-CT) and Susan Collins (R-ME), tracks the provisions of the House-passed bill and includes the provisions backed by the IAFF.

To read a copy of H.R. 4847 click here.

To read Captain Livingston’s testimony before the House, click here.

(Editor's Note:  The Executive Board of this Local is a strong proponent of Fire Fighter Safety issues.  To that end, President Russell has filed three grievances with the employer over safety issues since Monday.  It is the intent of this Local to provide our members with a safe and healthy workplace and then hold management accountable when they fail to meet the minimal standards set by NFPA)

IAFF priority legislation to enhance fire fighter safety and health has been introduced in the U.S. House of Representatives. On April 2, Representative Ed Perlmutter (D-CO) joined with 17 original cosponsors from both parties to introduce H.R. 5686, the Firefighter Fatality Reduction Act of 2008.

The legislation promotes the adoption of national consensus standards for safe fire department operations by fire departments to safeguard the lives and health of their members. H.R. 5686 would require the Department of Homeland Security to determine the level of compliance with such standards among fire departments nationwide, and establish a task force to explore ways that governments can promote the adoption of such standards by fire departments.

“The continued prevalence of avoidable fire fighter fatalities is the most serious problem facing the fire service today,” says IAFF General President Harold Schaitberger. “I applaud Representative Perlmutter for tackling this problem head-on, and am proud to join with him to ensure that fire fighters nationwide have the tools and resources they need to ensure their safety and the safety of those they protect.”

The IAFF featured the Firefighter Fatality Reduction Act as one of its key legislative priorities at the 2008 Alfred K. Whitehead Legislative Conference in March. More than 800 IAFF leaders lobbied their senators and representatives to support fire fighter safety standards and solicited congressional support for H.R. 5686.

Click here to learn more about the Firefighter Fatality Reduction Act.

A Navy firefighter, removed for failing a random drug test, could not convince the Merit Systems Protection Board to reverse his firing, and has now lost his bid to convince the appeals court. (Peterson v. Department of the Navy, C.A.F.C. No. 2007-3273 (nonprecedential), 3/7/08)

Peterson's position was designated for random testing under the agency's Drug-Free Workplace Program. He signed a document acknowledging this as well as the fact that the penalty for a first-time offense ranged from reprimand to removal. When he tested positive, he admitted that he had gone to a party, had too much to drink and smoked marijuana. It was his first offense. (Opinion, pp. 1-2)

The agency removed Peterson. The final decision letter spelled out how each of the Douglas factors was weighed and concluded that removal was the appropriate penalty. It pointed out that a firefighter's duties include providing emergency medical assistance as well as fighting fires and "that these duties require good judgment and a high level of public trust." (p. 3)

On appeal, the Merit Systems Protection Board sustained the agency's removal of Peterson. He took his case to the appeals court, but has fared no better there. The court now rules that removal "although harsh…is not grossly disproportionate to an offense of drug use by an emergency responder in the Naval Station's Department of Public Safety." (p. 3)

The court points out that its review of an agency's determination of penalty is "extremely limited….[and] left to the sound discretion of the agency." (p. 2)