Fire Chief

The Fire and Emergency Manufacturers and Services Association and the Fire Apparatus Manufacturers Association held their annual joint meeting earlier this month. The event gave several fire chiefs the opportunity to speak up on issues facing their departments — and some of those chiefs pushed back on FEMSA/FAMA members.

Rob Brown, chief of the Stafford County (Va.) Fire Department and chair of the International Association of Fire Chiefs’ Economic Task Force, provided insight on fire department budgets. The IAFC created its economic task force following the economic downturn to provide fire chiefs with information and guidance. In his presentation, Brown encouraged the manufacturers and vendors to understand and work with fire-service leaders during a tough economy. “We need vendors to be our partners,” Brown said.

Brown suggested focusing on the increasing costs associated with NFPA standards, lower-cost options for equipment and apparatus, and renewable resources and the environment. “It’s a lot easier to ask for a piece of equipment that is environmentally friendly,” he said.

Brown also encouraged the fire service to break from tradition thinking and be more open to technological advances. Citing the changes in pilots’ helmets from World War II designs to the high-tech helmets fighter pilots wear today, Brown suggested that the fire service hasn’t moved far from the leather helmets of 60 years ago.

During the buyers’ roundtable, moderated by CFSI Executive Director Bill Webb, six metro, urban, suburban, volunteer and Canadian fire chiefs shared their opinions with the FEMSA/FAMA members.

“We’ve been cutting for so long there’s nothing left to cut,” Richmond (Va.) Fire Chief Robert Creecy said. “We’re browning out on a day-to-day basis. It’s the leanest of times. Richmond has been recession-proof, and now it’s worse than during the Great Depression.”

Conversely, Jeff Johnson, chief of Tualatin Valley (Ore.) Fire & Rescue and current IAFC president, said based on the government structure, TVFR controls its own money and currently is involved in $77 million worth of fire-station construction.

The chiefs on the panel all agreed that they are more involved in the purchasing process because of current economic conditions.

“It’s very important that we are closest to the work,” Alexandria (Va.) Chief Adam Thiel said. “My role is to really show everybody where the box is and stay within.”

Chief Tim Beckett from Ajax, Ontario, Canada, said his department is running its trucks a lot longer, and his council has suggested buying standard apparatus or even buying demo units. “We’re looking at practical versus bells and whistles,” he said. “We’re seeing an increase on our maintenance side, too.”

Chief Joseph Chornock, Germantown (Md.) Volunteer Fire Department, also has had to rethink apparatus purchases. “By purchasing all the apparatus alike our maintenance and mechanical costs are reduced. We don’t have to stock all kinds of parts,” he said. “It’s good for our firefighters, too, because different pumps operate differently.”

The chiefs on the panel all agreed that the fire service needs to re-think the business of emergency response and manage public expections. The chiefs anticipate more mergers and consolidations and more cooperation and collaborations on equipment purchases.

“Local money will be used to solve local problems, but local money will never solve national problems — a lot of fire chiefs need to learn to share,” Johnson said. “We have got to continue to think better about our business and use data and science to solve our problems. Apparatus and radios got better in my 32 years. What’s going to change our fire service is science and technology.”

The meeting gave FAMA/FEMSA members a lot to think about: smaller apparatus, leasing vehicles and response to routine calls and activated fire alarms. Lack of money changes everything.