Welcome to the IAFF Frontline News Brief, distributed twice a month to IAFF affiliate leaders and IAFF members. We encourage you to forward this news to your members and others in the fire service.

The Frontline News Brief is delivered directly by email and is also published on the IAFF web site. You can view past issues at http://www.iaff.org/Comm/frontline/news.htm.

Your feedback is also welcome - email pr@iaff.org with questions and comments.
 

"FLSA Law Protects Two Arkansas Fire Fighter Jobs" (International Association of Fire Fighters)
"Emergency Response 'Swift,' 'Well-Executed'" (Daily Chronicle)
"South Carolina Governor Opposes Fire Sprinkler Bill" (Charleston Post & Courier)
"Fighting Fire With the Wrong Sector?" (The Washington Post)
"How the Oscars Impeded Organ Transplants" (The Globe and Mail)
"Vermont Fire Fighters Get Life-Saving Carbon Monoxide Testing Device" (The Barre Montpelier Times Argus)
"Pension Bill Passes West Virginia Senate 23-7" (The Herald Dispatch )
"Clinton Campaign Tells Cicilline to Stay Away When She's in Rhode Island" (Providence Journal (RI))
"Woman Dies in Queens Home Fire; FDNY Response Criticized" (Associated Press)
"Massachusetts Fire Fighter Receives Military Honor" (International Association of Fire Fighters)
"City Fire Safety Officer Moved" (Baltimore Sun)
"Milwaukee Paramedics Foil Robbery on East Side" (Fire Fighting News)
"2 Orlando firefighters will be promoted in wake of cheating case" (Orlando Sentinel )
"New Hours at the Austin Fire Department" (NBC News)
"It's Never Too Early to Get Hands-on Training" (International Association of Fire Fighters)
"Local Firefighter Ready for Annual Stair Climbing Event" (Statesman Journal (Salem, Oregon))
"Firefighter Duds Spark a Debate" (Contra Costa Times (CA))
 

FLSA Law Protects Two Arkansas Fire Fighter Jobs
International Association of Fire Fighters (02/19/08)

Two wrongfully fired Bryant, AR Local 4606 fire fighters are back on the job and a new Labor Management Review Committee formed to ensure that similar situations are not repeated. Local 4606 Vice President Brian Watson and member Chris Spruell were fired on February 6, 2008, after City officials learned the two had switched shifts but had not indicated the change on their time sheets. "The current department policy on shift switching is vague, at best," says Daniel Weger, president of Local 4606. "However, the action is protected by the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA). That's the bottom line in this case."
(Web Link)
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Emergency Response 'Swift,' 'Well-Executed'
Daily Chronicle (02/18/08); Feldheim, Benji

Officers from the DeKalb Police Department were among the dozens who filled the campus of Northern Illinois University after a shooting in an NIU lecture hall that left six people dead, including the gunman, and 16 injured. Within 20 minutes of the shooting being reported, the campus was filled with law enforcement officers, emergency medical technicians and fire fighters from throughout DeKalb County, and many other areas in Illinois.
(Web Link)
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South Carolina Governor Opposes Fire Sprinkler Bill
Charleston Post & Courier (02/14/08); Hicks, Brian

Governor Mark Sanford said legislation that offers tax credits for businesses to install sprinkler systems is too expensive and smacks of too much government interference. His comments, and the looming threat of a veto, have sparked a litany of criticism from lawmakers and fire fighters. The legislation, filed in response to the June 18 Sofa Super Store fire that killed nine Charleston fire fighters, would give businesses a tax credit for 80 percent of the cost of installing sprinklers in their buildings.
(Web Link)
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Fighting Fire With the Wrong Sector?
The Washington Post (02/22/08); Barr, Stephen

The Government Accountability Office faulted outsourcing projects at the Forest Service in a report released February 21, prompting renewed calls for more scrutiny of the Bush administration's effort to contract out federal jobs. The Forest Service does not have a realistic long-term plan for determining which agency jobs should be given to the private sector and does not have reliable data to back up claims of cost savings. In addition, outsourcing substantial numbers of Forest Service jobs to the private sector could, over time, reduce the agency's ability to fight fires in the wilderness and to respond to emergencies such as Hurricane Katrina.
(Web Link)
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How the Oscars Impeded Organ Transplants
The Globe and Mail (02/26/08); Gandhi, Unnati

The sudden death of a man in rural British Columbia gave the British Columbia Transplant Society mere hours to harvest the donor's healthy organs and get them to operating rooms in Vancouver. But as a result of the Oscars, all corporate jets had been spoken for. Bill Barrable, executive director of B.C. Transplant, said, "We were in a situation where we could not secure a jet in the tight time frame that we needed to." Barrable called his good friend Robert McFarlane, chief financial officer and vice-president of Telus Corp., to see if the company could lend its corporate jet for a good cause. Within an hour, the Telus jet, at no charge, was on its way. Among those waiting for a transplant was Brian Parsons, a 43-year-old fire fighter who said he is hopeful his new heart, which came just two weeks after he was placed on a waiting list, will help him get back to his active lifestyle.
(Web Link)
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Vermont Fire Fighters Get Life-Saving Carbon Monoxide Testing Device
The Barre Montpelier Times Argus (02/23/08); Delcore, David

In a move that may save money -- and potentially lives -- fire fighters in Barre and Montpelier have acquired a device that can quickly measure the level of carbon monoxide in the blood. The latest additions to their respective arsenals of equipment -- called a "Rad-57 Pulse CO-Oximeters" -- were purchased with the help of a 50 percent matching grant offered by the Professional Firefighters of Vermont.
(Web Link)
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Pension Bill Passes West Virginia Senate 23-7
The Herald Dispatch (02/26/08); Chambers, Bryan

The state Senate passed legislation that would help West Virginia cities whose budgets are handcuffed by ailing police and fire pensions. The bill (SB 667) is being touted by police officers, fire fighters and city officials as a long-term fix to the problem. Carl Eastham, secretary/treasurer of the West Virginia Professional Firefighters Association and president of the Huntington Fire Department's union, said the bill is projected to stabilize all police and fire pension funds in the state by 2048, the end of the 40-year reamortization period.

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Clinton Campaign Tells Cicilline to Stay Away When She's in Rhode Island
Providence Journal (RI) (02/22/08); Barbarisi, Daniel

Senator Hillary Clinton's presidential campaign asked Providence, Rhode Island Mayor David N. Cicilline not to attend her February 24 appearance in Rhode Island. The mayor has been locked in a five-year contract dispute with Providence, RI Local 799. As a result, Providence fire fighters have consistently picketed Rhode Island appearances of national political figures. The Clinton campaign previously asked Cicilline to resign as her statewide campaign co-chairman as a result of his inability to settle the contract dispute. Local 799 President Paul Doughty reported he had contacted the Clinton campaign to let them know about the fire fighters' intention to picket the event if Cicilline attended. In response to the decision to ban Cicilline, Doughty said, "I think Hillary Clinton's a good judge of character."
(Web Link)
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Woman Dies in Queens Home Fire; FDNY Response Criticized
Associated Press (02/26/08)

An 87-year-old woman died in a Queens home fire, and a fire fighters' union official criticized the fire department for initially dispatching only one truck to the building after the alarm sounded. Uniformed Firefighters Association trustee Stephen Humenesky said two trucks should have been sent to the fire initially because the building's basement and first-floor windows were covered by anti-burglary bars.
(Web Link)
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Massachusetts Fire Fighter Receives Military Honor
International Association of Fire Fighters (02/21/08)

A Massachusetts fire fighter serving his third tour in Baghdad, Iraq, with the National Guard has received the ultimate pat on the back from U.S. Air Force General Burt Field, 332nd Air Expeditionary Wing Commander. Field presented Attleboro, MA Local 848 member and Air Force National Guardsman Paul Jacques with the General's coin for training Iraqi fire fighters.
(Web Link)
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City Fire Safety Officer Moved
Baltimore Sun (02/20/08); Linskey, Annie

The Baltimore Fire Department, in part to cut overtime expenses, has removed the independent safety officer who had been assigned to the training academy in the wake of an exercise last year that killed a recruit and violated 50 safety standards. Leaders of the two fire unions reacted with outrage and cynicism.
(Web Link)
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Milwaukee Paramedics Foil Robbery on East Side
Fire Fighting News (02/13/08)

At first, Milwaukee Fire Lt. William Echevarria didn't believe his partner, Jason Oberg, when the fire fighter/paramedic pointed to a woman he thought was being robbed. Then both saw her bloodied face. Within moments, the two would foil the robbery, rescue the victim, capture the suspect -- and earn the praise of Milwaukee Battalion 1 Fire Chief Steven Gleisner.
(Web Link)
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2 Orlando firefighters will be promoted in wake of cheating case
Orlando Sentinel (02/16/08); Schlueb, Mark

The Orlando Fire Department will promote two fire fighters who missed out on a promotion six years ago when two of their rivals cheated. The promotion of lieutenants Jerry Paul James and Dion Shreiner to district chief is the latest twist in a cheating scandal that has embroiled the department for months. It also ends a formal complaint from the fire fighters union, whose leaders argued that James and Shreiner were the victims of the cheating scheme. "These guys should have been promoted, and they weren't," union president Steve Clelland said.
(Web Link)
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New Hours at the Austin Fire Department
NBC News (02/20/08); Hrapsky, Chris

In an effort to keep their station staffed around the clock, fire fighters in Austin, Minnesota, will now work 56-hour weeks instead of 40-hour weeks. Each fire fighter will work six days in a row, followed by three days off. However, fire fighters will not be getting paid more for their extra hours. But Austin fire fighters say they are not concerned about the change. As fire fighter Chris Grunewald says, "We're looking for providing a service, we think we can provide a better service if we're here 24 hours a day."
(Web Link)
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It's Never Too Early to Get Hands-on Training
International Association of Fire Fighters (02/27/08)

High school students in Glendale, Arizona, know first-hand what it's like to respond to a plane crash, thanks to the assistance of Glendale fire fighters, also members of Phoenix Local 493. Mountain Ridge High School offers life sciences classes, including an introduction to EMT class, to students. Glendale fire fighters assist the high school with the planning of a realistic scenario for the class.
(Web Link)
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Local Firefighter Ready for Annual Stair Climbing Event
Statesman Journal (Salem, Oregon) (02/21/08); Lynn, Capi

Willy Giddings, a fire fighter from West Salem, Oregon, is just one of the more than 1,500 fire fighters expected to participate in the 17th annual Scott Firefighter Stairclimb, to be held March 2 in Seattle. Competitors must climb 69 flights of stairs while wearing full fire gear. For safety, paramedics are stationed every 15 floors, and fire fighters have the option to change their air tanks on the 40th floor. This year will be Giddings' second time competing. Last year he finished 292 out of 1,100 finishers with a time of 18 minutes, 50 seconds. This year his goal is to cut that time to 14 minutes.
(Web Link)
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Firefighter Duds Spark a Debate
Contra Costa Times (CA)(02/17/08)

A contract between fire fighters and the Contra Costa (California) Fire District calls for the district to buy each of its more than 300 fire fighters a new, $350 double-breasted blazer. The jackets would replace the fire fighters' existing suits that are worn at funerals and other formal ceremonies. Recently, Chief Keith Richter told the San Francisco Chronicle that the fire fighters' current "Ike" style jackets are unflattering on those who have large stomachs. According to Richter, the $105,000 cost is equivalent to one cent per hour in fire fighter salaries in the 10-year life of the jacket.
(Web Link)
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