By Alex Cohilas

At 2:15 a.m. on March 2, 2007, Clayton County (Ga.) Fire Department Medic Four, an ALS ambulance staffed by Paramedic/Sgt. Darcy Blow and Firefighter/EMT LaQuinn Walker, was dispatched to a routine sick call. After assessing the patient, the unit reported to dispatch that it was transporting one female patient to Crawford Long Hospital, some 20 miles away. The dispatcher acknowledged the transmission, entered the time and made a mental note that Medic Four would be reporting arrival in about 15 minutes. Then, this came over the radio:

“Medic Four to Dispatch! We have been involved in a head-on collision with a wrong-way driver on I-75 in the city of Atlanta near Turner Field. The ambulance has overturned and we’re injured. Send help!”

Shift Supervisor/Capt. Bill Lowe was startled from his sleep around 3 a.m., hearing screams over the department’s EMS channel. Since the location was inside Atlanta, Clayton County’s 911 dispatch center alerted Atlanta police and fire and Grady Memorial EMS that firefighters were in trouble. Three of Clayton County’s four on-duty fire shift supervisors and two Clayton County ALS ambulances also responded to the location seven miles inside Atlanta city limits.

As Lowe drove at high speed to the accident scene, Medic Four’s crew kept trying to broadcast updates, but the signal was too garbled to understand. Clayton County’s 911 Center announced, “Atlanta police is on the scene reporting one fatality.” As Lowe approached the accident scene, an Atlanta police officer was directing all northbound I-75 traffic to exit the interstate before the accident scene. Lowe’s marked fire department Crown Victoria with emergency lights activated was allowed to approach the scene.

All five traffic lanes were covered in debris, and a full-size SUV was destroyed and resting against the median wall. Medic Four was overturned and resting on its passenger side as a dozen police officers, firefighters and paramedics worked at the back door trying to remove the injured firefighters and their patient. As Lowe approached the back of the ambulance, he could hear Blow yell, “Captain, we’re ok! We’re trying to get our patient extricated from the wreckage.”

Medic Four’s two firefighters and their original patient were extricated from the overturned ambulance. Grady EMS took responsibility for treating and continuing the transport of Medic Four’s original patient who had suffered serious injuries from the collision. Firefighter Blow and Walker both sustained bruises and lacerations from the accident and were transported by Clayton County Medic One to the hospital. The wrong-way driver was dead on the scene and trapped in his SUV.

I serve the dual-roles as both county fire chief and county emergency management director. I was the on-call executive staff chief. In Clayton County, the executive staff chiefs rotate being available for consultation if the four on-duty shift supervisors (two battalion chiefs and two captains) encounter unusual or serious issues. Whenever the phone rings late at night or early in the morning, it’s rarely good news.

As I was given an initial briefing, I started mentally organizing my actions. I feared for the health and safety of the firefighters. I was standing on the emergency room ambulance ramp, with others firefighters, when the ambulance arrived. After the doctor had completed his initial exam and I was satisfied that their medical needs were being met, I left the hospital to assess the accident scene. The two injured firefighters would be treated and released after a few hours of observation.

My initial view of the accident scene left me aghast at the devastation. The police’s lead accident-reconstruction expert’s initial findings were that Medic Four’s firefighters were completely clear of any fault in the accident. The investigator their lives were probably saved because they both had their seat belts on. The firefighter riding in the patient compartment providing patient care was most fortunate. The only warning he got was hearing his partner scream and then the ambulance rolled onto its right side and slammed onto the pavement. The patient remained strapped to the ambulance stretcher with a five-point restraint harness and the stretcher remained bolted to the ambulance frame.

The Clayton County Fire Department has a mandatory seat belt usage policy. Officers are responsible to ensure that all personnel are seated and belted before the apparatus can move. Furthermore, as an element of the department’s continuous quality improvement committee, all ambulance stretcher straps were recently upgraded to a five-point restraint harness system to provide patients more protection. Clearly the emphasis on seat belt use and driver awareness saved the lives of both firefighters and their patient.

Medic Four’s close call was discussed in Clayton’s 13 fire stations over the next few weeks, and firefighters went to the county’s impound lot to view the damage to the ambulance first-hand. There was much discussion of just how lucky the department was not to lose fellow firefighters.

In the aftermath of the accident, every Clayton County Fire Department employee, sworn and civilian, signed the National Fire Service Seat Belt Pledge. The pledge was created by Dr. Burton A. Clark, EFO, CFO, a program specialist at the National Fire Academy, to honor the memory of Amarillo (Texas) Firefighter Brian Hunton, who died in 2005 when he fell from a responding fire apparatus. One of the long-term goals established by Clark is have all firefighters wear their seatbelts every time they occupy a vehicle — both on or off duty.

The National Fire Service Seat Belt Pledge is a simple statement that offers an opportunity to save firefighters’ lives: “I pledge to wear my seat belt whenever I am riding in a fire department vehicle. I further pledge to insure that all my brother and sister firefighters riding with me wear their seatbelts. I am making this pledge willingly; to honor Brian Hunton, my brother firefighter, because wearing seatbelts is the right thing to do.”

Download pledge forms here. The lives of two Clayton County firefighters were saved because they took a moment to buckle up on the morning of March 2, 2007.

Alex Cohilas is fire chief and emergency management director for Clayton County, Ga., where he has worked for 31 years. Prior to his appointment as fire chief, he served as the president of the department’s largest employee organization for 10 years. Additionally, he was an investigator with one of the southeast’s most prominent law firms specializing in public administration law. Cohilas is a National Fire Service Staff and Command graduate, and a frequent author of fire service management topics.

Capt. Bill Lowe and Deputy Chief Jeff Hood, both with Clayton County Fire Department, contributed to this blog.

The economy is on everybody’s mind these days, and it was apparent earlier this month at the annual meeting of the Fire and Emergency Manufacturers and Services Association and the Fire Apparatus Manufacturers Association. Every year is a new battle for federal funds, with $565 million is appropriated for 2009 FIRE Grants and $210 million for SAFER Grants. And with the new ‘b’ word (billions) flying around Washington, D.C., will future dollars be even harder to come by?

Congressional Fire Services Institute Executive Director Bill Webb posed a series of questions to FAMA/FEMSA members. These questions, according to Webb, are ones Congressional leaders and their staffers frequently ask, ones that both industry manufacturers and emergency responders need to be prepared to answer.

1. How would you define the role of today’s fire and emergency services?
   
2. What information do you have that illustrates the success of the FIRE Act?
   
3. Why the need for greater federal support?
   

How would you respond if a Congressional leader asked you these questions?

The FEMSA/FAMA meeting also featured a buyers’ roundtable moderated by retired Chief Dennis Compton. Manufacturers and distributors had the opportunity to ask panelists questions about purchasing practices from an assortment of departments from New Jersey to California and Ontario to Texas.

Jeff Piechura, chief of the Northwest Fire District in Arizona, told the attendees that, “Fire districts have a different problem with the economy. Foreclosures mean people don’t pay taxes.” He is predicting a $3 million decrease in his department’s budget because of foreclosures in his district.

Asst. Chief Don Frazeur, of the Los Angeles City Fire Department, said his department’s fiscal year is July to June, and the mayor asked for a $50 million dollar budget reduction by scrapping one full year of apparatus funding.

Bill Bjerke, physical resources supervisor for Peoria, Ariz., said that building permits have dropped off and there are a lot of open positions in the department that have not been filled. “We’re trying to cut back to our core services,” he said. “[We’re] going back to a more simple truck, much more durable and less maintenance.”

Fort Worth (Texas) Fire Department Capt. Homer Robertson told the meeting attendees, “Everyone of our products in our department has one of your faces attached to it. Relationships are very important in our department.”

Each panel member gave a final comment to end the roundtable. Robertson told the manufacturers, “The theme of trying to keep it simple is important. To have my business you don’t have to have something new each year. When you find something that works, you don’t have to change it just to change. Keeping it simple is pretty good thing for us today.”

Compton pointed out that although panel members agreed that committees do the research on specification and purchases, “Four out of six panelists stated their fire chief has the final say in a purchase.” Compton also told attendees, “You’ve got to produce reliable products. There’s only one way to build relationships and that’s to build mutual trust. Relationships are critical, and building trust and respect should be [your] passions.”

By Dennis Compton

For much of the country, the current economic environment has resulted in decreased revenue at all levels of government, including local fire departments. This puts elected officials, administrators and fire chiefs in very difficult decision-making dilemmas. Fire departments aren’t immune budget reductions. Still, elected officials are sensitive to reducing the levels of public safety in the eyes of their constituents.

Although in some of the hardest hit areas in the nation, stations are being closed and firefighter positions eliminated, in most cases, fire chiefs are being instructed to identify “non-essential” line services that can be reduced, as well as staff support areas where savings can be realized. This always puts important services such as training, fire prevention, fire and life-safety education, maintenance, clerical support, and the like in jeopardy — and this is difficult for all involved. It can result in anxiety and reduced morale throughout the organization.

How we communicate with decision-makers about our programs and services in good times can impact decisions they make in times of fiscal difficulty. Also, the manner in which we conduct ourselves within our organizations can have a significant positive or negative impact on the programs we’re responsible for. As an example, fire and life safety public education is one of the major line fire department services provided to the public — and it should always be communicated and represented as such. It is a long-term ongoing component of our public safety infrastructure and it saves lives and property. People are given information and taught skills and behaviors that will prevent fires and other life-threatening emergencies. Without delivering this program effectively, the level of public safety is reduced.

We know this to be true, but do we communicate it accurately and regularly to policy-makers during good times? Do we invite policy-makers to participate in events designed to bring public recognition to these programs? Do we develop and conduct fire and life safety programs in a way that brings ownership and credit to policy-makers, opinion leaders, and the general membership of the fire department? Do we always conduct ourselves in a way that brings credibility and a sense of pride to the programs we are responsible for, or do programs get a bad rap within the organization because of inappropriate conduct by the person(s) responsible for them? We don’t usually control the final budget decisions made during difficult financial times, but we can do things during good times to make those decisions as difficult and painful as possible for the decision-makers because of their positive relationship with the programs and with the people responsible for delivering them.

When budgets are being reduced in fire departments it is difficult for the entire organization. We do all we can to justify not reducing our service levels and resources. It is painful and stressful to dismantle portions of programs we have pride in…and even more painful to see co-workers be reassigned or lose their jobs. Whether you’re the fire chief or a public educator caught-up in this, it’s very difficult to look beyond what is happening today and begin envisioning a better situation when the fiscal climate turns around, but that’s what we have to do — as soon as we can.

The bad times I’ve been responsible for managing through have never been a one-year problem. They are usually at least three years in duration. Experts say this current downturn could last up to five years. This reality helped me be more strategic in the reductions we made the first, second, and third years. It also helped others feel that the ship (although in difficulty) still had a rudder and a direction…and that is absolutely critical.

Bad financial times can also lead to a feeling of hopelessness and helplessness because there’s no money to buy, enhance, build, or add much of anything that’s not critical. To prevent these organizational (and personal) doldrums, this can be an opportunity to strengthen the organization internally. Revising standard operating procedures that are outdated, improving training, enhancing internal communications and relations, fine-tuning programs, and even beginning to plan better overall can get attention that in good times they may not get. None of these cost very much money, if any.

The idea is to keep yourself and the people you’re responsible for moving forward. Stay as positive, productive and healthy as possible for your own benefit, for the benefit of others in the organization, and for the effectiveness of the mission. It might even help to refocus yourself a little more towards the aspects of your work and personal life that you have more control over and that tend to bring you joy.

There isn’t a magic bullet to get us through stressful, hurtful, and challenging times. From the standpoint of budget reductions, a few helpful concepts include:

• Take full advantage of good financial times because they set the stage for decisions made in difficult financial times.
  
• Do the best you can to represent the needs you have for resources to carry-out and support your programs.
  
• Always be on the lookout for alternative revenue sources, including enterprise funds where appropriate.
  
• Never forget how important you are to the safety of your community. As fire and life-safety educators, you add knowledge, change behavior, and help individuals act out their roles as members of society in preventing harm to themselves and others.
  

Chief Dennis Compton is a well-known speaker and the author of several books including When In Doubt, Lead!, Mental Aspects of Performance for Firefighters and Fire Officers, as well as many other articles and publications. He is also the co-editor of the current edition of the ICMA’s textbook, Managing Fire and Rescue Services. Compton served as the fire chief in Mesa, Ariz., for five years and as assistant fire chief in Phoenix, where he served for 27 years. He is currently the chairman of the Home Safety Council board of directors and of the National Fallen Firefighters Foundation board of directors and serves in leadership positions with several other national fire service organizations.

By Larry Rude

Each and every one of us in the fire service has the opportunity to make a difference in a very special way. On Sept. 21, code officials from the fire and building services came together in Minneapolis to make history. Almost 2,200 gathered to vote on a series of building and fire codes requiring sprinklers in newly constructed one- and two-family homes.

As a chief officer, I have been beating my drum across the country for years, explaining to people how fire sprinklers save lives. These words have been met with mixed response. Some say, “Show me the proof.” Others say, “It is too darned expensive to put fire sprinklers in a home. Builders can’t afford it and the customer will never pay the price.” I even hear, “What about the water damage? My insurance company will never pay to replace everything lost by water damage.”

Hollywood has done more to suppress the existence of home sprinkler systems then any one single industry. I sat in my living room last week and watched one of those action-packed movies. The hero, while trying to get away from his captors and save the heroine, inadvertently set off every sprinkler in the entire building. I am sure you have seen this movie and shook your head as I did. My neighbor and his wife were watching with me, and he jumped up and asked, “Is that going to happen to my house when the sprinklers go off?”

Thanks a lot, John McLane!

After three more cocktails and about an hour of explanation on fire suppression systems, my neighbor went home happy and feeling safe.

We, as fire chiefs, are also code officials. Fifty states across the county have adopted the International Family of Codes. This organization produces 15 codes designed to provide safety in our built environment. Most of you are familiar with the International Building and Fire Code, but you may not know about the International Residential Code, the International Plumbing Code, the International Mechanical Code, or many others.

Chiefs and firefighters have an opportunity that many never experience, nor even understand — and that is the ability to change or even modify existing codes, as well as add new codes to these documents. It is a shame we in the fire service are not taking more advantage of this tremendous democratic process. This process is making a difference by improving safety for everyone, including firefighters.

As a young firefighter, I didn’t truly understand the reasoning behind company-level fire inspection. All I knew was that it allowed us into the building to get a lay of the land. Fortunately I didn’t just follow directions without understanding, but asked questions. My chief, who was very involved and instrumental in the code process, took me under his wing. Now, many years later, I am testifying before industry, members of congress and code officials from every corner of the US, maintaining safety in our built environment. I find myself sharing the same views given to me with young officers and firefighters as they ask the same question, “why?”

All fire service members, including chief officers, must take a look at these opportunities and get involved with the ICC. We must be involved if we want our voices heard. Building officials have been doing this for years. As a chief, I speak about succession planning and what will happen when we old dogs leave the fire service. Well my friends, it is happening today faster than you may realize. I know of a number of fire departments that are doing away with their company level inspections. Some have cut out fire prevention activities and turned the fire code enforcement over to someone else. How do we in the fire service educate our people to take our place if we do not give them the tools and opportunities? There is no better place to develop leadership skills and prepare for executive positions than in the code development process.

Are you a Fire Chief that feels fire prevention is at the bottom of your budget line item account, and the first program that will be cut when money gets tight? Unfortunately, most of us do not keep statistics that show how many fires, deaths or injuries we have prevented just by adopting codes and standards.

Thirty years ago, I heard firefighters say, “I did not take this job to be an EMT.” Times have changed, and fire firevention and code enforcement is just another leadership path we can share with our upcoming leaders. It is all about choices for the future. If you do not make the choice, other code officials will make it for you. I cannot emphasize this strongly enough — the building and fire codes protect our members and we must stay active and participate in the code development process, and not just on single issues.

We would not ask our dentist to tune up our car or our doctor to design our fire station. So why would we let industry develop our fire codes? What legacies will you leaving behind? You have the ability to make a difference, when opportunity knocks you either listen or let it pass by. Don’t let this opportunity pass you by.

Lawrence A. Rude is currently deputy fire chief with Maple Valley (Wash.) Fire & Life Safety. Rude started his fire service career in 1976 and has been a professional firefighter since 1981. Graduating from the University of Central Missouri, Rude has continued his education receiving additional degrees to include holding the Executive Fire Officer Certification from the National Fire Academy. He is currently a board member of the Safe Building Coordinating Council, a founding member of the Washington State Association of Fire Marshals chapter of ICC, a member of the International Fire Chiefs Association and the King County Fire Chiefs’ representative on the King County Technical Permit Review Committee. He has been a nationally active member of the International Code Council since its inception.

When our daughters were young and the family had to make a big decision, we’d get two glass jars and a bag of beans. Each jar represented the pros and cons of a decision. The simple process gave each member of the family a chance to weigh in, highlighted multiple viewpoints and allowed discussion of the ramifications of a major decision, as it sometimes involved a household move.

The jar concept was revived last week during the presidential debate. My daughter pulled out two glasses and a bag of almonds, one glass for John McCain and one glass for Barack Obama. Each time a candidate made a verifiable fact or positive remark, she put an almond in the appropriate glass. While it was an amusing way to watch the debate, it was another way for truly undecided voters to weigh the pros and cons of each candidate.

This is an interesting election year. Each party has a minority running for one of the nation’s top two positions. Each party has a seasoned senator running for a top office. And each party has a longtime, active member of the Congressional Fire Services Caucus in the race.

McCain is the only still-serving senator who founded the caucus in 1987. He also was the first member of Congress to hold a hearing on the FIRE Act.

Sen. Joe Biden replaced a retired member of the caucus in 2001. Biden is known to stop and chat to uniformed fire chiefs in the senate halls.

I’ve met both McCain and Biden at receptions before the annual Congressional Fire Services Institute dinners. Both senators are warm, engaging individuals. Biden is my favorite political speaker during the long evening of political speeches and he is an avid, ardent supporter of the Delaware fire service representatives in Washington, D.C. And McCain has an excellent memory and has a quick sense of humor.

Each senator has a running mate that pales in experience, but maybe that’s a good thing.

While I won’t endorse a candidate here, I do know that on Jan. 20, the incoming president will begin to appoint new directors to government agencies. Federal Emergency Management Agency Director David Paulison and the U.S. Fire Administrator Greg Cade will be officially out of jobs. Hopefully, for the fire and emergency services, both the current FEMA and the USFA leaders will be replaced with former fire chiefs.

The USFA has been without a deputy fire administrator since Charlie Dickinson retired this summer. Rumor has it that a new deputy fire administrator — a career civil servant position — will be appointed by January.

After the election, write the president-elect and suggest that Cade remain as an interim administrator until a new fire administrator can be appointed. Whether Cade is reappointed or not, it’s imperative to have an administrator who has had prior experience in fire and emergency services.

Check your calendar and make sure you vote either absentee, in advance or on Nov. 4. Whomever you decide to vote for, decide to vote. Every bean counts.

“No more taxes” is a great political mantra, but where else will the money for fire departments come from? In this struggling economy, volunteer and combination departments will need creative solutions beyond fund-raising efforts or FIRE Grants for equipment and maintenance costs.

During the recent Station Style Design Award judging, the panel had a lively discussion over a couple of training centers that were submitted in the Shared Facilities category. Many fire departments have found that sharing their facilities, particularly training centers, results in more funding and ultimately yields more bang for the buck.

One such facility is The Woodlands (Texas) Emergency Training Center, which offers a comprehensive, multi-disciplined and coordinated approach to training for all-risk hazards. “We cater to The Woodlands, but also our region,” said Fire Chief Alan Benson. “We have coordinated emergency management and also work with law enforcement, the Federal Bureau of Investigation and Lone Star College.”

Center managers also found a unique funding opportunity. The training center recently hosted managers and dealers from Sperian, a manufacturer of eye protection, SCBA and other protective gear for emergency responders, for one day of live-fire training. The company paid to use the facility.

“We have a bunch of people [who] are not firefighters,” said Bill Sokol, vice president of strategic marketing for the Sperian Respiratory Group. “Top management people, members of our executive committees, vice presidents — people who support the job at various levels.”

The goal of the hands-on training was to better understand the fire service profession. Sokol said Sperian‘s brand philosophy is to design around the person first and then to the standard. “It‘s hard to understand what [firefighting is] like, so it‘s a unique way to better understand how our gear and our customers work together,” he said.

The Woodlands training personnel set-up work stations for the Sperian teams. Sokol participated in bedroom, kitchen and car fire simulations. The training center also offered a hazmat station and a 5-story rappelling rig.

Sokol said the experience was valuable from a team-building and understanding perspective, and Sperian plans to visit the facility again. “This experience validates the input of what firefighters were telling me” Sokol said. “I now understand why knobs and snaps need to be big when you are wearing 50 pounds of gear and fire is blowing over your head.”

I‘m not sure this is an area that departments could consider for a revenue source, but it does offer other non-monetary benefits — better understanding between emergency responders and product development.

The future demands beyond thinking outside the box. There are no more boxes, no lines to color inside. There’s only finding new resources for mutual benefit.

On Sept. 26, the FCC approved a draft of rules for the 700-MHz D Block and, remarkably, released the 200-plus-page proposal that commissioners hope will lead to a commercial entity partnering with public safety on a shared wireless broadband network that the first-responder community can use.

In this case, “hope” is the operative word, because none of the commissioners expressed much confidence that this set of rules will generate the outcome desired — a commercially built broadband network that public-safety entities will use for interoperable communications, particularly for data applications in the near term.

Many key aspects of the proposed rules had been released by the FCC before, including a multitiered auction that would allow for a nationwide license or regional licenses using either the LTE or mobile WiMAX standard. While the draft rules are more attractive to a potential commercial bidder, whether they strike the appropriate balance — serving public safety’s needs and allowing commercial partners to make enough money to justify their investments — will be debated throughout the FCC’s 40-day comment period on the item.

There are legitimate arguments on both sides. Some will say that the lowered technical specifications and buildout requirements make this proposed network no better to public safety than a typical commercial offering. Others will contend that even these lower standards are too burdensome for a commercial partner to realize the return necessary to satisfy shareholders.

But there are two things everyone can agree on. First, this kind of public/private partnership has never been done before. Second, the financial markets in the United States are terrible right now, necessitating a $700 billion bailout by the government.

Bad financial markets typically shy away from risky investments. And the proposed public/private partnership for the D Block almost certainly will be viewed as risky, if only because of its unprecedented nature and the high cost of building wireless networks.

“Finding money in the hallowed canyons of Wall Street — or anywhere else — to get this network built makes Indiana Jones’ searchings look like child’s play,” FCC Commissioner Michael Copps said.

With this in mind, Copps urged the commission to include as much detail as possible in its final reauction rules so bidders have the specifics necessary to convince the financial markets to back their endeavor.

That certainly would help. But the unfortunate truth is this: Even if the FCC has managed to thread the needle and developed rules that strike the perfect balance between public safety needs and commercial opportunity, there’s still a reasonable chance that the agency would not receive qualifying bids on the D Block.

I found Sparky the Fire Dog when I was installing a new smoke detector in one of my basement storage areas. His old leather helmet needed dusting and it sat a little tilted on his peeling head.

My dad made that Sparky costume for his volunteer fire department more than 30 years ago and wore it for parades, holiday parties at the station and during Fire Prevention Week festivities. This was long before a department could buy these costumes, either because of availability or cost. He constructed the oversized dalmatian head out of paper mâché and riveted upholstery material to the head for floppy ears. I sewed the black-and-white spotted fur into a body for him. Dad used white cotton gloves for the paws and he wore old black rubber boots.

Fire Prevention Week support materials have come a long way in years since then. This year’s theme, Prevent Home Fires, is proclaimed on large banners outside fire stations. From Oct. 5–11, fire departments are encouraged to host open houses and provide information packets targeted to children, homeowners and seniors, though many departments across the nation will begin hosting educational programs earlier.

As part of Fire Prevention Week, fire departments in Chicago’s western suburbs will hold their annual silent parade on Oct. 10. The parade honors both firefighters who have lost their lives in the line of duty and civilians who have died as a result of fire. Fire apparatus pass through several towns and end with a memorial service in the last town. The parade is solemn with only a display of lights — no sirens, marching bands, flag-waving or festivities.

“We tell ourselves that Fire Prevention Week is really just the culmination of a year-long effort to prevent fires, and in many communities this is so,” said Marcia Giesler, public-information officer for the Downers Grove (Ill.) Fire Department. “How often during the organization of these events do we stop to remember the reasons we feel so strongly about preventing deaths caused by fires?”

Firefighters stand among the families and neighbors along the route, watching as more than 30 pieces of equipment silently pass. Local residents are encouraged to watch the parade and hold American flags or flashlights.

“Many of those killed by fire are our own friends, relatives and fellow firefighters,” Giesler said. “In the midst of open houses, school programs and exciting demonstrations, we need to take the time to honor our comrades and the civilians who have lost their lives to fire.”

But before we get to Fire Prevention Week, the National Fallen Firefighter Foundation will hold the 27th National Fallen Firefighters Memorial Weekend this weekend in Emmitsburg, Md. It is appropriate that the NFFF and the U.S. Fire Administration honor fallen firefighters before Fire Prevention Week. The losses should reinforce the importance of fire-prevention education.

The NFFF and USFA will unveil a new plaque with the names of 101 firefighters who died in the line of duty in 2007, including the nine Charleston, S.C., firefighters who died in the Super Sofa Store fire last June, along with the names of nine firefighters who died in previous years.

Whatever you do for Fire Prevention Week, remember why you do it.

Last weekend, the International Code Council overwhelmingly passed a residential fire sprinkler requirement for all new one- and two-family homes and townhouses. After talking to voting members of the building code body, it struck me that code proposal RB64 is like finding out you‘re having a baby — while it‘s a victory, the delivery is still a ways off.

Ronny J. Coleman, president of the IRC Fire Sprinkler Coalition, has fought for residential sprinklers for more than 35 years. He is pleased that the code passed with 73.4% of the vote. He is proud of his peers‘ hard work. But he‘s aware that the work toward implementation of this code is just beginning.

“The very first thing that I want to say loud and clear is that this particular decision, as a result of this process, is not the final decision,” Coleman said. “It‘s part of the process of building bridges. We have to focus on local and state governments, corporations and fire departments. We need to work together right now. What‘s really important is the idea of bridge-building aspects of this partnership and it‘s very, very critical what happens in the next 18 months.”

The coalition, an association of more than 100 fire service and building code officials and safety organizations representing 45 states, took the lead and unified support for this issue in the past 18 months. The sprinkler mandate will first appear in the 2009 International Residential Code, which will be published by the end of the year. Forty-six states use the IRC to regulate new home construction.

“We spent a lot of time building our coalition,” Coleman said. “It‘s not just fire; it‘s building relationships with citizens and special-interest groups that are interested in life safety.

What does Coleman want fire chiefs to do now?

“I would ask fire chiefs, ‘What kind of working relationships do you have with the building and sprinkler industries?’” he said. “It‘s something you need to be working on right now. Now is the time for discipline, professionalism and tact.”

Coleman said the fire service and other parties involved need to spend the next 18 months to become better prepared to implement the code in their communities.

Another attendee at the hearing in Minneapolis was Vickie Pritchett, project manager for First Team USA. “It’s now time for fire chiefs to educate themselves and their community and then to lead community leaders in understanding the importance of this code change,” she said.

Pritchett predicted that opponents will lobby for leaders to “exempt out” the sprinkler requirement. “It will then be up to the fire chief and their team to educate the policy-makers as to why that is not a smart thing nor the right thing to do,” she said.

Pritchett said the task at hand is to develop a resource kit to help fire chiefs soundly present their case for residential sprinklers.

Coleman believes there was another victory for the fire service in the vote last weekend. “What this really does is establish the need for the American fire service to be continuously included in the codes developed,” he said. “If it had happened 40 years ago, we probably would have different fire problems today.”

The coming cycle will be full of discomfort and labor pains. But brought to a successful end, countless children will be given life.

“[It] hardened my resolve that we will be prepared to overcome anything handed to the fire service in the future.”

I said this in the September issue of FIRE CHIEF in a story discussing the seven years since the attacks of 9/11, but I never expected my statement to be tested so soon.

Sunday, Sept. 14, started with clear skies and mild temperatures. Forecasters predicted rain for later that day, with 3 to 6 inches accumulating over the next three days — the outcome of Hurricane Ike spreading into the Ohio Valley. While we‘ve been through tornadoes, floods, winter storms and even an occasional earth tremor, this storm brought nine hours of sustained 75-mph winds with gusts to 85 mph. It seemed that instead of just rain, we were at the confluence of two massive weather fronts, including the remnants of Hurricane Ike that developed into these damaging winds equivalent to a category-one hurricane.

While we did not suffer near the devastation of Galveston or Houston, Texas, the wind left six dead (including the daughter and son-in-law of longtime friend Chief Don Bennett of the Fairfield Fire Department) and 720,000 residences or commercial businesses without power — nearly 90% of the nearly two million residents of the greater Cincinnati area were in a blackout.

Our department mobilized and we handled nearly 90 fire and EMS calls in the first 10-hour period. These included several major incidents, one being a structure fire in a neighboring community that injured two firefighters and was started when a transformer pole snapped and fell into the building. Throughout the week our call volume continued well above norm. While the power company struggled to get a handle on the outages, we dealt with the human side of the issues.

Firefighters, themselves with damaged homes, remained on the job helping others in need. Some folks just needed to be told how to cope. Some seniors needed refrigeration or refills for their prescriptions. Transports to hospital emergency rooms soared. All needed to deal with the damage, the fallen wires and trees, getting around a huge number of blocked roads and remembering how to drive when there were no traffic signals.

The pluses and minuses will lead to more planning and preparation. The pluses included that emergency generators worked so that operations and communications continued seamlessly, and the early set up of an EOC coordinated the work of fire, police and public works in handling the emergency details. The minuses included the power company, that had been recently purchased by an out of state company, changed their game plan early on and e-mailed the changes to all fire and police responders — only we didn‘t have e-mail up to receive them.

This week, as power is being restored to the area and things begin to get back to normal, I can look at the diligence and determination of the fire service not letting this storm get the best of us. We handled not only our own extraordinary call volume, but were able to assist four of our neighboring communities on five major fires, two in which recreational vehicles parked close to the homes, possibly to power home appliances, caught fire and quickly developed into structure fires.

Once again, whether in Texas, Ohio or elsewhere, the fire service was up to the challenge and answered the call. Once again, we showed our resolve.