If you were looking for a fire chief position today, could you get your job? Could you get it, that is, if you had to meet the advertised qualifications and experience?

In 1995 and again in 2000, Ronny Coleman described how many ads for fire chiefs looked like the town or city or county was looking to hire Superman. Have you looked at such ads today? Not much has changed.

I‘m currently in the job search process, a journey that‘s been aided considerably the wealth of information available on the Internet. Along the way, I‘ve been amazed at the wide variety of ads I‘ve seen posted on sites such as the IAFC, FIRE CHIEF Job Zone, and municipal sites like the North Carolina League of Municipalities. (Trust me, you can go crazy trying to keep up with more than three or four sites!) Some have very sketchy requirements or desired qualifications listed. Others have those Superman skills: Ph.D. in interpersonal and organizational dynamics, 29 years of experience ranging from supervision of personnel to negotiating peace in the Middle East.

So what‘s my point? I think that how you advertise for the fire chief position needs to be part of the organizational succession plan. You want the organization that you‘ve helped lead pass into good hands after you‘re gone, don‘t you? Well that‘s not likely to happen if the job ads for your successor are:

A) so simplistic and vague that good candidates don‘t bother to apply and bad ones do, or

B) the posted ad is so lengthy and daunting in scope that only psychopaths apply.

Another perspective that I‘d like to offer is that it seems like many communities advertise nationally and spend taxpayers’ money — and staff resources, which is also taxpayers’ money — only to find the best candidate was right under their noses. If an organization has a succession plan in place, it would know what the status is of the internal talent, right? Wouldn‘t that be more fiscally responsible than conducting a nationwide search and interview process, only to promote from within?

A fire service organization needs a succession plan for many reasons, one of which is to ensure that has the internal leadership to continue meeting its mission. The organizations that do that best are the ones that ensure continuity of leadership beginning at the top. So whether you promote from within or hire from outside, part of your succession plan needs to include accurate and realistic and necessary job competencies for every position in the organization, including the fire chief. Any advertisement for vacant positions, regardless of whether those ads are internal to the organization or outside, should draw upon those competencies as the stated requirements for prospective candidates.

Are you going to be part of the process to hire your successor? You should be. If you‘re not, I would suggest that you begin that dialogue with your boss today. The future of your organization depends on it.

Firefighting often attracts members of the same family. Similarly, many small companies within the fire industry also pass down through families. One of the first families to enter the international market with its pumps and fire trucks was the Darleys and they are proud of their second and third generation members who are actively involved in the business.

Last weekend, more than 300 “Darley Disciples” gathered outside Chicago to celebrate the 100th anniversary of the W.S. Darley Co. and it’s move into a new facility. The founder’s son, Bill Darley and his wife, Fran, greeted guests as they arrived. Dressed in bowler hat and walking stick, the “ghost” of founder W.S. Darley also welcomed attendees and spoke of the early days in his business.

“There are 16 of us in the third generation of Darleys and we see ourselves as stewards of this business,” said Paul Darley. “With that stewardship comes a sense of pride and passion in what we do and that sense of family permeates what we do.”

Darley‘s advertising campaigns have always promoted the family aspect of the company. “You can always talk to a Darley when you call W.S. Darley,” one ad campaign offered. A more recent campaign offered a Darley family cell or home phone number for customers to call. When the ad featured 4-year old Gabe Darley, I called the phone number and spoke with his dad, Jim.

Sure it‘s a business, but it’s one of the few that still delivers old-fashioned care and commitment.

“One things that makes Darley different is that we have existed for a hundred years not just as a company, but as a family company, and that doesn‘t just happen,” Peter Darley said. “No matter how successful we are as a company, if the family doesn’t work together right, then that success won‘t last. So while we know that customer relationships are king, strong family relations are also vital — and luckily the importance of this value has been passed down from generation to generation.”

Last month, I worked with Paul Darley on Illinois Home Day, an extension of the fire service awareness program held annually in Washington, D.C. Paul answered every e-mail and phone call promptly. When I asked him what his secret was for keeping up with everything, Paul replied, “Passion for what I do … I have never worked a day in my life.”

When you treat your customers, partners and colleagues like friends, it‘s not work, is it?

Over the years, the Darleys have generously supported many fire service associations and organizations across the country, often without publicity.

While FIRE CHIEF congratulates the entire Darley family on this 100th anniversary, we should also acknowledge the North American and global fire service for recognizing the Darley‘s commitment and dedication to the fire and emergency services for 100 years.

“We do a lot of market research,” Paul Darley said. “[The customers] really are what makes Darley what we are.”

Here‘s to another 100 years!

Four years ago, Congress authorized up to $1.25 billion over a five-year period to fund upgrades to public safety answering points across the country to bring them into compliance with the FCC‘s Phase 2 requirements. So far, only $43.5 million of that money — 3.5% — has been appropriated. But the legislation recently passed by the Senate, which is expected to easily pass through the House and be signed into law by President Bush, could be the tool that‘s been needed to open the spigot.

The bill would allow federal grant money to be used for purposes other than Phase 2 upgrades, something the ENHANCE 911 Act doesn‘t allow and which this new bill would change. Specifically, its language refers to “the migration to an IP-enabled emergency network,” an important distinction, said Patrick Halley, governmental affairs director for the National Emergency Number Association.

“The fact that the money can be used for broader purposes, we hope, will help us,” he said. “Maybe we can … get people to open up their minds and their coffers.”

Specifically, if NENA can successfully demonstrate that the future of emergency communications whether it‘s data sharing between first responders in the field or the delivery of voice, video and text to 911 call centers — will rely on IP-based emergency networks and that the funding made possible by the current bill can be used to enable all of that, there‘s a better chance that the money finally will flow, Halley said.

Halley believes the Department of Transportation‘s $11 million project to develop a prototype for an IP-based, next-generation enhanced 911 network architecture — work begun at Texas A&M University under a National Telecommunications & Information Administration grant — will provide the needed ammunition, because it will deliver real-world, proof-of-concept examples. “It will show that this isn‘t just an idea — it‘s real,” he said.

But first things first. Before the PSAP community can begin to think about how it might spend the money, NENA first must get Congress to reauthorize the ENHANCE 911 Act, which expires next year. While nothing in Washington is a slam-dunk, particularly when it comes to money, Halley feels good about the prospect of reauthorization, precisely because NENA now has a much better story to tell. “Bills have a finite life and they get reauthorized all the time,” he said. “A lot of people already are lined up to work on this.”

One of those is Brian Fontes, NENA‘s new CEO, who previously served as vice president for federal relations for both AT&T Services and Cingular Wireless. He also served as the senior vice president for policy and administration at the Cellular Telecommunications & Internet Association, as FCC chief of staff and as senior adviser to FCC Commissioner James Quello.

While Fontes‘ experience is more on the regulatory than legislative side of the equation, he is “an influential and intelligent person who will help with this process,” Halley said.

One thing Fontes isn‘t is a miracle worker, and Halley acknowledged that getting Congress to reauthorize the ENHANCE 911 Act at the previous $1.25 billion level “might be a little unrealistic,” given the current economic climate. But it won‘t matter if the money actually starts to flow, especially since it now can be used to fund exciting, forward-looking technology upgrades that will makes PSAPs —the nerve center of public-safety communications — exponentially more effective.

So the picture has brightened considerably for NENA and the PSAP community it serves. But the new bill creates a new hurdle, pointed out to me by MRT senior writer Donny Jackson this week, which bears watching. One of the reasons that Congress has failed to appropriate the money it promised four years ago is that the more populated states already have finished their Phase 2 upgrades. Which meant that they would be ineligible for any federal grants stemming from ENHANCE 911 Act appropriations.

It‘s very difficult to get members of Congress to appropriate money when none of it can flow to their states. The bill currently working its way through Congress fixes that by ensuring that there will be something for everybody, but creates another concern: Will the states that have the most votes also get most of the money when it finally does begin to flow? If that happens, it‘s not unreasonable to think that the country‘s most densely populated states will have NG E911 services before some of their much more rural brethren even have Phase 1 service. Consider that today much of the rural West still lacks Phase 1 service, which only identifies the cell tower that handled the wireless 911 call.

It‘s imperative that Congress gets the language of this bill right, so that those who eventually will write the grant guidance for the appropriations that will follow will do so in a way that ensures the funds are distributed equitably. Everyone in America should get the best 911 service possible — and it shouldn‘t matter whether they live in Manhattan, New York, or Manhattan, Kan.

All fire departments respond to natural-gas line cuts, leaks and ruptures throughout the year. In most cases, workers hit the lines, even though the lines previously have been located and marked by the local service companies. Usually, the incident is caused by

1. A car runs that into a gas meter;
   


2. Construction work, usually a backhoe or other earth-mover, that clips a line in an open ditch; or,
   


3. A boring machine (boring under concrete or asphalt) that hits a line.
   

Because such a large percentage of natural gas delivered in the United States is composed of methane with a vapor density of 0.55 (some texts round up to 0.6), the worst of the hazard dissipates into the atmosphere. The hazard zone around the leaking natural-gas line is relatively small, and the real danger of the situation is small as long as we keep ignition sources out of the area of vapor that is within its flammable limits. It’s a little different if a boring machine cuts a line underground but the known conflict, or gas line, has not been opened. This is called potholing, or localized hole drilling. If everyone operator using a boring machine consistently potholed the line conflicts, it would seldom be a big deal.

On May 16 in McKinney, a company boring to install new gas distribution lines drilled through a 3-inch natural-gas line because they had not potholed the conflict. The facts of this case eventually will be fought out in the courts, but I am writing this now because of the imminent hazard that is created when boring operations occur without potholing conflicts.

The line was ruptured at about 4:30 p.m. Work was stopped and the subcontractor and the gas utility company were notified. The fire department, however, was not called. We are told that the industry standard of natural-gas utility companies does not include reporting the leak to the fire department. At about 5:39 p.m., the 911 dispatch center received reports of houses exploding and burning. This was our first notification of the problem. Even though numerous people in the area smelled the gas leaking, no one called us.

We clearly need to do a better job is public education.

Two houses exploded at nearly the same time and were collapsed and fully involved when we arrived at 5:43 p.m. Three people were inside of the two houses and were severely burned. At 5:46 p.m., while fire crews were deploying master streams, the house right next to the gas leak exploded.

Fortunately the firefighters weren’t injured by the flying glass or collapsing structure. The captain of the crew deploying lines told me that it got their attention. The third house was a duplex built as a slab-on-grade, while the two houses to the west of this structure were

had pier-and-beam foundations.

Natural gas leaking under ground with no open pit to allow the methane to escape will find the path of least resistance to relieve the pressure. In this case an abandoned sewer line is the suspected conduit.

It’s important to understand the notification policies of local gas utility companies for an ongoing gas leak. We will certainly respond to many more reported gas leaks because our local gas utility now will report all gas line cuts and leaks to the 911 center. But this gives us the opportunity to take appropriate actions to protect residents. In most cases, we simply stand by until the repair crew arrives if we arrive first — and it seems to me that we should arrive first.

Occasionally we decide to move exposed people out of a danger zone, which we determine using the meters carried by our engine and truck companies. Our choice is to stay on the side of safety and not expose people to real or perceived risk.

Understand that the methyl mercaptan used an the odorant in most natural gas has a vapor density of 1.7. The second most common component of natural gas by volume is normally ethane, which has a vapor density just slightly greater than air at 68°F. It’s hot in Texas this time of year, so even the ethane dissipates rapidly when leaking from a line cut in an open pit.

My message to the media continues to be that everyone who smells leaking natural gas should call 911 immediately and not assume someone else has. The outcome of this recent incident would have been different had we been called early. Logically, as I’ve told our residents in McKinney, we have a response time of about six minutes after an emergency is reported to 911. If we’re not showing up in about that time, we probably haven’t been called. Don’t assume someone else has called to report an emergency.

Just over 20 years ago, fire apparatus mechanics faced three major issues: lack of training, new technology and liability concerns.

While some areas of the country had mechanics associations, for example the New England Fire Apparatus Mechanics Association that formed in 1956 and the California Fire Mechanics Academy that formed in 1970, many states did not. Today, at least 16 states have state mechanics or emergency vehicle technician associations.

The Apparatus Maintenance Section of the International Association of Fire Chiefs formed 20 years ago to serve as a resource for training supervisors, technicians and officers involved with apparatus. The section was a result of meetings between several manufacturers, fire department mechanics and assorted other interested individuals.

One long-time proponent of mechanic/EVT training is Bill Foster, vice president of Spartan Chassis. Recently, the Texas Association of EVTs and the Oklahoma Association of EVTs joined to present Foster the Jim Bland Memorial Award, given to an individual who has devoted his or her time and efforts to further the EVT profession.

Foster is an incredible source of knowledge about apparatus. He can be found at most trade shows, sitting on the bumper of a Spartan chassis, holding court for a steady line of fire department technicians and other manufacturers looking for answers or insights on fire trucks.

Spartan launched a hands-on training program for mechanics 14 years ago. I attended one of the first programs and was impressed with the no-nonsense, minimal-cost approach. Spartan even worked out to use a nearby university campus in the summer to house and feed the attendees.

“We have been involved in support emergency vehicle technicians for 14 years and even before that we were trying to train as mechanics as much as we could,” said Foster.

Foster said that without the support of the manufacturers, technicians wouldn’t have the information needed to understand fire vehicles and maintain them properly, therefore equipment would not perform to its ultimate capacity.

“We have taken the opportunity to offer classes annually and on a quarterly basis,” Foster said. “These classes are to understand their truck; break-it, fix-it and cover the maintenance things that are important. Once people understood how a fire truck functions, they can learn how to fix them. How pressure governors should work and how interlocks work and how to check if it isn‘t functioning correctly.”

This year, the Spartan Expo and Conference will be held in Lansing, Mich., August 3–7.

“We try to stay away from anything sales oriented and anything we present is as generic as possible. We only know our products in depth, but the particulars of our products is what all products do,” said Foster.

According to Foster, some of the new technology, if not understood and maintained, will result in serious problems for responding emergency vehicles.

“We‘ve got diesel particulate filters and the re-generating processes must occur; the re-gen factor is critical,” he said. “EVTs have got to understand what those engines are doing and how they collect the soot on diesel particulate filters and how it burns off in regeneration.”

Foster also cautioned, “Some people don‘t pay attention to it and are using old fuels. Buying fuel only every two years, they still haven‘t got into ultra-low sulphur. They haven‘t changed their oils to be low-ash, which is a requirement and will contribute to failures down the road.”

An award-winner himself, Foster and Spartan are looking to spread the recognition. Spartan is the sponsor of FIRE CHIEF’s In Service 2008 EVT of the Year Award, along with Allison Transmission. The award will be presented at the IAFC‘s Apparatus Maintenance Workshop, Aug. 13–14 in Denver.

“The award recognizes their work and gives the mechanics a pride in what they are doing,” Foster said.

Whether you still call them mechanics, EVTs or some other name, I call them the unsung heroes because “nothing happens if the rigs don‘t run.”

Not enough can be said for the value volunteer firefighters provide. But on a small island in the West Indies, the spirit of volunteerism is perhaps more intense than what we are used to in America.

I‘m currently on Providenciales, one of the Turks and Caicos Islands. These islands, about 90 minutes by air from Miami, technically fall under British rule, although for all practical purposes they are independently run. I‘m here at the invitation of former chief Chris Gannon who established the islands‘ first fire service. In FIRE CHIEF‘s August issue, you‘ll read his amazing story.

On my first night, the chief and I had planned to meet for dinner. He phoned to ask if I wouldn‘t mind a change of plans. The department‘s volunteers had just completed a vehicle-extrication course and were celebrating over dinner; we were invited. We sat outside under a cabana among a group of 25 or so volunteers at Horse Eyed Jack‘s, where the menu was heavily weighted with conch and jerk dishes. We eat, drink and make merry. It is a scene much like those I‘ve experienced with volunteers stateside.

The volunteers are mixture of men and women and are largely ex-pats, hailing from the United Kingdom, Canada and the United States. The way the Turks and Caicos Fire and Rescue Service is set up, full-time career firefighters work from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. Monday through Friday. The volunteers cover everything that happens outside of those hours. Despite Gannon‘s intentions and efforts, this is still a very dangerous place to be a firefighter.

One of those I meet is Robert Pearce, a retired training officer from the British Fire Brigade. He came to TCI to lead Gannon‘s training efforts. Pearce says the volunteers out pace their career counterparts in their hard work, desire to learn and commitment. That‘s a group, Pearce says, he knows he can count on.

That level of commitment is remarkable, though by fire industry standards, not extraordinary. What is extraordinary is that none of these volunteers are paid — not for travel, gear, the time they spend on scene, nothing. What‘s more, they must buy their own medical insurance. Part of this is due to the lack of money the government gives the fire service and part is due to regulations prohibiting the ex-pats from accepting income from more than one declared profession.

Many of the volunteers, Gannon says, earn decent livings by island standards. Nonetheless, aside from the risk, there is a distinct financial burden that Turks and Caicos volunteers subject themselves to that is uncommon in America. Their level of giving takes the profession‘s admirable qualities to a higher level.

At the volunteer‘s gathering, Pearce and another retired U.K. training expert are awarded drinking mugs made from conch shells with a token of the group‘s appreciation for the extrication program inscribed on the outside. The banquet, the course, and even the conch mugs were paid by fund-raising efforts the volunteers conducted. In the end, they even insisted on picking up the tab for the former chief and his American editor guest.

These volunteers put forth a Herculean effort for the love of the job, and the praise for them and those of their ilk, bears repeating.

There‘s only one Friday the 13th in 2008. Take advantage of this day to do something positive and turn the tables on paraskevidekatriaphobia, or the irrational fear of Friday the 13th.

1. Get ready. Prepare for 2008 Fire/EMS Safety, Health and Survival Week, June 22–28. The theme this year is Committed to Long-Term Results, which focuses on long-ranging healthy and safety investments by chiefs and firefighters/emergency medical personnel. A simplified program of three key focus areas, along with activities and materials, is available on the IAFC Web site. Download it, read it, do it. This one week out of 52 is your chance to hit ‘em hard with an emphasis on safety that will reverberate the rest of the year.




2. Take a chance. Don‘t you love to give your opinion? Speak up for a chance to win $5,000 worth of equipment for your department. The Fire and Emergency Manufacturers and Services Association is asking for input on 17 questions about you and equipment. In return for completing the survey — which will take less than 71 seconds to complete — you will be entered in a drawing for equipment from FEMSA members. Four departments, including Stetson, Maine, and Egg Harbor, Wis., have won equipment simply by filling out the survey questions. Your information is confidential and no sales calls will result.




3. Praise a leader. The deadline for FIRE CHIEF‘s 2008 Chief of the Year Awards, sponsored by Pierce Manufacturing, is June 25. IAFC divisions and sections, state associations, and fire service associations and organizations can submit nominations. FIRE CHIEF readers also can nominate chiefs they believe should be recognized for their leadership and commitment. Nominees will be featured in the August issue, and the Career and Volunteer Chief of the Year will be announced at Fire-Rescue International in Denver, Aug. 14–16.




4. Honor an unsung hero. Nominate the mechanic or emergency vehicle technician who works behind the scenes to get you on the scene. FIRE CHIEF’s In Service and the IAFC‘s Apparatus Maintenance Section are seeking nominations for the 2008 Emergency Vehicle Technician of the Year award, sponsored by Spartan Chassis in cooperation with Allison Transmission. Deadline for nominations is July 1 and the award will be presented at the IAFC‘s Apparatus Maintenance Section Workshop, also at FRI, Aug. 13–14. The nomination process is easier than changing an oil filter, so take a few minutes and nominate a technician. It‘s a nice way to show your gratitude.




5. Fight fire with safety. Each year wildfires seem to burn up more land and property than the year before. The International Association of Wildland Fire is accepting nominations for its Wildland Fire Safety Award, which will be presented at “The Fires of ‘88: Yellowstone and Beyond” in Jackson, Wyo., Sept. 22-27. The award, first presented in 1997, honors a person in the wildland firefighting community who has made a significant contribution to wildland firefighter safety, either on the fireline or through management, cultural or wildland fire research. The deadline is Aug. 1, and the nomination process is not complicated.

If you‘re stuck inside, either because of Mother Nature or superstition, pick a task from the offerings above. Each one is guaranteed to make a difference in someone‘s life, including your own.

In April, the newly merged International Association of Women in Fire & Emergency Services held its first meeting. Several industry leaders offered remarks during the opening session. It was a modest affair of maybe 50 audience members. U.S. Fire Administrator Gregory Cade was among the speakers.

Cade told the women to “continue to make sure your voice is heard.” He said diversity was the strength of the fire service. He said, “We need you to bring that voice to the table, to bring that different perspective.”

He was right. Diversity almost always improves a situation over the long haul. For example, pure-blooded dogs fall victim to the same maladies as their predecessors because of their narrow genetic makeup. Mixed breeds, with their diverse genes, will have fewer incidents of things like epilepsy. Cade understood that a broader “genetic” makeup of the fire service culture will help it ward off illness.

Cade concluded his remarks by opening the floor for questions. At one point, a woman stood, gave the name of her Texas department, years of service and asked why PSOBs could not go to her same-sex partner. It wasn’t fair, she said, that line-of-duty-death benefits could not go to someone she considered a wife, and whose children she considered her own. It wasn’t fair that she was treated differently from a firefighter in a heterosexual marriage when she took the same risks.

She was right; it isn’t fair. But, she was wrong, too. It was explained to her that she could list any beneficiary she liked on her life insurance policy and that any PSOBs would go to that beneficiary. If she listed no beneficiary on her life insurance, the PSOB would go to her next of kin (by blood).

That she felt the need to proclaim her homosexuality in a public setting made for a few awkward moments at the meeting, but is of no consequence. That she must go through one more step than her heterosexual counterparts to ensure the benefits go to intended beneficiaries is unfair, but not a major problem. However, that she did not know to take that extra step is disconcerting.

Yes, it is possible that she knew the benefit requirements. Maybe she had been told and forgot. Maybe she had remembered but used the chance to speak to Cade in public as a way to advance a personal agenda or embarrass her chief. Judging by how she carried herself, I’d say the odds weigh strongly that her question was legitimate.

In a study conducted in 2006, the U.S. Census showed that there were 1.6 million people who claimed firefighter as their profession. A 2005 study by the National Fire Protection Association puts that figure at 1.1 million. The same 2006 Census data also shows that 0.7% of all U.S. households listed themselves as same-sex households. Many in the homosexual community believe this under-represents the number of gays and lesbians. The Urban Institute, a nonpartisan research group that takes money from the government and private sector, also looked at gay and lesbian demographics. One of that study’s findings is that 2.8% of military personnel, active and reserve, are homosexual.

It is probably near impossible to determine how many homosexuals serve on volunteer and career fire departments. That number may be as high as 4,000 or as low as 1,000. Either way, it is a relatively small number.

That small number does not diminish the importance of making sure all firefighters are informed about their benefit options. It doesn’t matter on the fireground if the lead RIT member or ambulance driver is heterosexual, homosexual or asexual, nor should it matter in the fire station. There is no need to belabor how important each team member is in that situation.

There are deeply rooted prejudices in our society toward homosexuals. This was evident in the 2004 presidential elections when a proposed Constitutional ban on gay marriage became a major campaign issue. It also was evident when the Clinton administration tried to solve the issue of homosexuals in the military. In the end, it came up with the “don’t ask, don’t tell” policy; in other words, the best it could do was punt.

Because fire chiefs cannot afford to have one of their team enter a burning structure with doubts about if his or her loved ones will be provided for, they cannot punt. As leaders, fire chiefs must rise above society’s prejudices, and perhaps their own, to protect the individual and those on the department who depend on that individual.

A frank, nonjudgmental discussion about all the benefit options is one step fire chiefs can take toward creating a better, more diverse genetic pool in the fire service culture. It also is a step to avoid being called out in front of the U.S. Fire Administrator.

For more on the I-Women and state of women in the fire service, read my interview with the group’s co-president Cheryl Horvath in the Size Up section of June’s FIRE CHIEF.

If your son or daughter asked for money, you‘d probably ask how much, why and what for.

When my daughters were young, they learned if they wanted something, they had to sell it to their dad before he would buy in. The girls eventually learned that before they could negotiate with their dad, they first had to prepare.

Being an engineer, my husband would always ask a series of logical questions about the need or value of their request, whether it was a new bike or their first computer. Was it a need or a want? Why? What were the benefits and other options? What they would contribute to the investment? The process frustrated the girls, but it saved time, tears and tantrums, and they learned to be successful negotiators and educated consumers.

I thought of the art of negotiation during the third annual Illinois Home Day, held yesterday in Addison, Ill. Home Day brings together Illinois members of the Fire Apparatus Manufacturers Association, Fire and Emergency Manufacturers and Services Association, Illinois Metropolitan Fire Chiefs Association, including the Illinois Professional Firefighters Association, and congressional representatives. Staffers from the offices of Sens. Dick Durbin and Barrack Obama and Reps. Jerry Weller, Melissa Bean, Judy Biggert and Peter Roskam were in attendance.

Now before your eyes glaze over at the reference to politics, think back to the negotiation process I spelled out above. If one of your employees asked for money, you‘d probably ask the same questions. The purpose of Home Day is the preparation — educate and update — before the negotiation for funds, something fire departments across the nation are facing these days.

Spearheaded by Paul Darley, FAMA representative and president of W.S. Darley & Co., and the Home Day steering committee offered a tightly run 90-minute program.

Illinois Fire Chief Executive Director Bob Buhs gave a status report on recent legislative issues affecting the fire service in Illinois. Updates included the Fire Safety Act outlawing both false sprinkler heads and smoke detectors. Buhs explained that some companies use cameras inside the smoke detectors.

MABAS president and retired Fire Chief Jay Reardon gave an overview and future of the program. “MABAS is activated 800 times a year,” said Reardon. Illinois currently has 1,300 member agencies; 38,000 of the 40,000 firefighters in Illinois are affiliated with MABAS.

Reardon specifically pointed out to the congressional representatives in attendance a list of 33 readiness capabilities supported by DHS grants and stresses the importance of future funding, particularly for fire departments that support metropolitan areas. “One mission, one team, one fight,” Reardon said. “If we lose funding, we will lose our capability to respond.”

Keynote speaker Bill Webb, executive director of the Congressional Fire Services Institute in Washington, D.C., pointed out that the fire caucus is the largest caucus on Capitol Hill. In describing the CFSI‘s efforts Webb said, “What CFSI does is to educate Congress,” he said. “CFSI is the ‘United Nations‘ of the fire service and rallies and educates the fire service organizations in the political arena.”

Webb pointed out to all the attendees the significant cut facing the FIRE Act funding, from $560 million in 2008 to $300 million in 2009; SAFER Grant from $190 million to zero dollars.

Asking for more money is never easy, but successful negotiating requires some preparation. Home Day is an excellent way to unite for a common cause: protecting communities through better emergency response.

When‘s your state‘s Home Day?