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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://daily.iaff.org/frontline/morenews.html.

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

"IAFF Remembers 122 at Fallen Fire Fighter Observance " (International Association of Fire Fighters)
"Union: 9th-grade level firefighter test dangerous" (Chicago Sun Times)
"Florida Local Wins Federal Lawsuit In Overtime Dispute" (International Association of Fire Fighters)
"Arizona's 9/11 memorial called source of comfort, learning tool" (Mohave Daily News)
"New Orleans Firefighters Angry Over Pay Hike Proposals" (Firehouse.com)
"Union chief visits firefighters at Inyokern" (The Daily Independent )
"Aurora Fire Fighters Rally to Defeat Ballot Measure" (International Association of Fire Fighters)
"Harder test OK'd for fire-rescue" (Dallas Morning News)
"U.S. Senate Approves Medical Monitoring for First Responders" (International Association of Fire Fighters)
"MAST stays with union of firefighters" (Kansas City Star)
"Firefighters picket in response to SRQ plan" (The Herald Today)
"In Md. and Va., Long Haul Becoming Part of the Job" (The Washington Post)
"Cost of retiree health care could be billions" (Monterey Herald)
"Fire Patrol Members Face End of 200-Year Run" (New York Sun)
"Firefighter for a day" (The Journal Sentinel)
"Finally, honored by friends" (Los Angeles Daily News)
"9-11 Firefighters to Get Free Lung Screenings" (South Florida Sun-Sentinel)
"IAFF National Children's Burn Camp Begins in Washington, DC " (International Association of Fire Fighters)
"West Virginia Fire Fighter Wins Strongest Man Competition " (International Association of Fire Fighters)
"Firefighters Across the Country Help 'Extinguish' Heart Disease" (Yahoo.com)
"Firefighters Moving to the Front Lines of Counter-Terror Effort" (Newark Star-Ledger (NJ))



 

"Frontline News Brief" is Sponsored By:

IAFF Remembers 122 at Fallen Fire Fighter Observance
International Association of Fire Fighters (09/20/06)

IAFF General President Harold Schaitberger, General Secretary-Treasurer Vincent Bollon, fire fighters and family and friends gathered at the IAFF Fallen Fire Fighter Memorial in Colorado Springs, Colorado, September 16 to pay tribute to 122 fallen brothers and sisters. The 20th Annual IAFF Fallen Fire Fighter Memorial honored IAFF members who died in the line of duty between June 2005 and June 2006, as well as fire fighters who died earlier but whose deaths were reported during this time period -- including those under the new Public Safety Officer Benefits (PSOB) rules.
(Web Link)
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Union: 9th-grade level firefighter test dangerous
Chicago Sun Times (09/27/06); Spielman, Fran

Chicago, IL Local 2 says the city  is putting fire fighters and the public in danger by allowing an 83 percent passage rate on a "ninth-grade level" entrance exam to hire  fire fighters. "It's a joke. It's written on a 9th-grade level. Eighty-three percent passed. I've never seen a pass rate that high. . . . It's no different than buying a lottery ticket. It's not designed to get the best-qualified fire fighters," said John Chwarzynski, president of Local 2. He added, "This is a job that deals with saving lives and property, and they're looking to pick and choose [to achieve diversity]. That exposes fire fighters to danger because they'll be working alongside less-qualified individuals. It potentially puts citizens at risk because you're not getting the best. We don't care what color, ethnic origin or religion you are. When you're crawling down a hallway, you want the best person beside you." More than 83 percent of the 20,400 people who took Chicago's first fire fighters entrance exam in more than a decade passed -- 44 percent of them are minorities. Chwarzynski attacked the pass-fail system, as plaintiffs in the disputed 1995 entrance exam declared their intention to block hiring off the new list until their job demands are met. "We're asking for 132 African Americans to be hired off the pre-existing list," said attorney Matt Piers.
(Web Link)
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Florida Local Wins Federal Lawsuit In Overtime Dispute
International Association of Fire Fighters (09/20/06)

Plantation, FL Local 4430, which represents paramedics and other emergency workers, won a Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) lawsuit against the City of Plantation mandating that the City immediately pay paramedics for a 40-hour work week and pay overtime for work in excess of 40 hours. The members of Local 4430 are employed in the Rescue Division of the Plantation Fire Department as full-time employees performing solely emergency medical services as EMTs, paramedics and rescue lieutenants. Plantation has all volunteer fire fighters.
(Web Link)
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Arizona's 9/11 memorial called source of comfort, learning tool
Mohave Daily News (09/11/06); Davenport, Paul

Hundreds of uniformed emergency personnel from Phoenix and communities across Arizona participated in the dedication ceremony for a state memorial to victims of the September 11 terrorist attacks and those who responded to them. The memorial itself, dubbed "Moving Memories'' by its designers, consists of a walled, circular plaza with bench seating and a metal partial canopy, a portion of which has laser-cut inscriptions that include a timeline of September 11, 2001, and subsequent events. Inside the monument, a fragment of steel beam salvaged from the World Trade Center is mounted atop a pedestal made of concrete with dust and dirt from the other attack sites. Memorial commission Chair Billy Shields, a Phoenix fire fighters' union official who was among the Arizona emergency personnel who responded to the terror attack sites, said $550,000 of private donations paid for building the memorial.
(Web Link)
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New Orleans Firefighters Angry Over Pay Hike Proposals
Firehouse.com (09/19/06); Eggler, Bruce

New Orleans fire fighters are protesting a recent decision by the city to increase fire fighters' pay but to count the $2.1 million annual increase against the millions the city already owes fire fighters in overdue longevity raises. Fire fighters attending a recent hearing argued that they are entitled to the longevity raises in addition to the pay increase. New Orleans, LA Local 632 President Nick Felton says New Orleans fire fighters are on the low end of the pay scale compared to fire fighters in other cities.

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Union chief visits firefighters at Inyokern
The Daily Independent (09/21/06); Justis, Ruth

When he was elected, Harold Schaitberger, president of the International Association of Fire Fighters, set a goal to spend time in the field with union members rather than staying behind his desk in Washington, DC. So far this year, he has visited more than 170 fire stations across the country. In California September 20, Schaitberger visited fire fighters at Station 73 at the Inyokern Airport . He told union members that his concern was to see that they had adequate living quarters, enough turnouts, and plenty of safety equipment. He also spoke about retirement issues, health benefits, compensation and care of families."The toughest job in the union is that of the local president," Schaitberger told the crowd. "Not only is he in the trenches every day, with little or no personal benefit, but he catches flak from the membership and the leadership."  
(Web Link)
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Aurora Fire Fighters Rally to Defeat Ballot Measure
International Association of Fire Fighters (09/15/06)

IAFF General President Harold Schaitberger joined Aurora, CO Local 1290 and more than 200 Colorado fire fighters for a September 15 rally to fight ballot initiatives that would take hiring authority for fire and police in Aurora away from the Civil Service Commission and give it to the city's fire and police chiefs, thereby eliminating many of the checks and balances currently in place that prevent abuse and inefficiency in hiring practices. The police chief, fire chief, deputy city manager of public safety and a city council member have proposed four ballot issues as a way to expand diversity among fire and police ranks. According to Local 1290 President Randy Rester, the chiefs and city manager are hiding behind diversity to take more control.
(Web Link)
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Harder test OK'd for fire-rescue
Dallas Morning News (09/21/06); Yan, Holly

Approximately 50 applicants for the Dallas Fire-Rescue Department who passed a physical ability test they criticized as too easy will have to pass a more stringent test before becoming full-fledged fire fighters, according to the city's Civil Service Board. The board also approved implementing the more difficult test for future classes. The controversy involves two tests: one known as CWH, which some maintain is not strenuous enough; and the Candidate Physical Ability Test, which is more demanding and has been adopted by about 500 fire departments nationwide. Dallas Fire-Rescue will allow the newly hired members to proceed with their six-month training session but proposed that they be required to pass the CPAT test before being formally accepted as fire fighters. "My goal was to have only the most-qualified fire fighters in Dallas Fire-Rescue," said Fire Chief Eddie Burns, who joined the department in April. "I did some research on CPAT. It's just a more comprehensive test."  Captain Mike Buehler, president of Dallas, TX Local 58 advocates for adopting the more strenuous test.  To help ensure that the test is fair, the International Association of Fire Fighters requires departments to offer orientation sessions before administering the CPAT. In Austin , a 16-week fitness program designed to prepare for CPAT increased the female passing rate from 33 percent to 80 percent in one year.
(Web Link)
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U.S. Senate Approves Medical Monitoring for First Responders
International Association of Fire Fighters (09/15/06)

The U.S. Senate has unanimously approved the creation of medical monitoring programs for first responders following federally-declared disasters. Senators George Voinovich (R-OH) and Hillary Rodham Clinton (D-NY) offered their medical monitoring legislation as an amendment to H.R. 4954, the Security and Accountability for Every Port Act. Establishment of medical monitoring programs is one of the IAFF's top priorities. The amendment was offered in the wake of a recently released Mount Sinai Medical Center study describing the health of Ground Zero first responders. The study found that nearly 70 percent of responders to the 9/11 attacks suffered respiratory problems as a direct result of their response. The findings are based on medical examinations performed as part of the World Trade Center Worker and Volunteer Medical Screening Program.
(Web Link)
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MAST stays with union of firefighters
Kansas City Star (09/24/06)

Metropolitan Ambulance Service Trust (MAST) employees have voted to remain with Kansas City, MO Local 42 of the International Association of Fire Fighters as their bargaining representative. A proposed union would have been the Emergency Medical Service Workers of Kansas City. "It was pretty hard to take, but my co-workers have spoken," said Larry Jones, president of the proposed union's executive board. "We just wanted the opportunity to vote." Louie Wright, an IAFF District Vice President representing Local 42, said his group had more experience and was more effective. "We are happy, with this minor distraction, to be able to get back to the serious business of representing those folks," Wright said.
(Web Link)
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Firefighters picket in response to SRQ plan
The Herald Today (09/20/06); Kennedy, Sara

More than 100 fire fighters picketed Sarasota-Bradenton International Airport September 19, protesting the Airport Authority's decision to outsource the jobs of 12 Suncoast, FL Local 2546 fire fighters in favor of a private company. Picketers wore identical red T-shirts and held signs that read "Fire Fighters Need Your Help," and "Airport Safety Sold to the Highest Bidder." "Safety at the airport is going to be an issue," said picketer Jim Costa, 50, a fire fighter from West Sarasota County and a member of Suncoast Local 2546 who questioned which fire units might respond should the airport terminal catch fire. He said employees of Rural/Metro, the private company hired to take over the airport's fire fighting chores, are restricted to airplane-related fires. Picketers  urged the board to reconsider its position and cancel its three-year contract with Rural/Metro. F ormer Airport Authority Commissioner Jeanne McElmurray of Sarasota said, "This is wrong."
(Web Link)
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In Md. and Va., Long Haul Becoming Part of the Job
The Washington Post (09/13/06); Cohn, D'Vera

Long commutes are becoming routine for fire fighters, police officers, teachers and other public employees in Maryland and Virginia. Largely because of high housing costs, many public employees cannot afford to live in the communities they serve. But for many, the choice of where to live -- and the impact that has on their work -- does not always fit the political rhetoric. "I love coming to Fairfax to work," said a fire fighter technician from Westernport, Maryland. "I love running all the calls, but it's nice to go home to where there is one traffic light and no calls." Advocates of affordable housing maintain that local governments would have a hiring edge in a competitive market and that workers would be more involved in their communities if they lived in them. Mo st fire fighters in the region's two biggest jurisdictions, Fairfax and Montgomery counties, do not live in the community where they work. S everal dozen make long-distance commutes. Pennsylvania is home to 17 Fairfax County fire fighters, and a handful of others commute from as far away as Delaware and Hampton Roads. A similar pattern holds among Montgomery County fire fighters.
(Web Link)
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Cost of retiree health care could be billions
Monterey Herald (09/25/06); Porterfield, Bob

New accounting rules issued by the Government Accounting Standards Board require public agencies to disclose the future cost of health care and other benefits -- such as dental, vision and life insurance -- promised to the nation's estimated 24.5 million active and retired state and local public employees. Retiree health care costs have been quietly mounting for decades while public agencies have passed out generous retirement benefits during labor negotiations -- often in lieu of salary increases. But m any cities and state agencies already are struggling to fully fund their pension obligations, and experts say those liabilities pale in comparison to the debt accumulated for other retirement benefits. The new rules don't require governments to come up with the money right away, just to disclose the present value of these future costs and estimate how much more money is needed to pay for them. Many local governments also are beginning to acknowledge huge liabilities. Lori Moore, spokeswoman for the International Association of Fire Fighters, said nothing is really changing except the need for cities to reveal how much they'll owe in non-pension retirement benefits. ''The liability has always been there,'' she said. ''They had to know in the back of their minds that it was there.'' Most governments now fund retiree health care on a pay-as-you-go basis, with annual appropriations from their general funds, focusing most of their attention on current expenses. Under the new accounting rules, the liability can be paid over 30 years, just like a home mortgage, but it forces public officials to recognize the debt and calculate an annual payment.
(Web Link)
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Fire Patrol Members Face End of 200-Year Run
New York Sun (09/18/06); Hope, Bradley

The 100-year anniversary of the New York City Fire Patrol house on West 3rd Street could have been a reason to celebrate, but instead the 98 members of IAFF Local I-26 are marking  the end of the city's Fire Patrol after more than 200 years in New York City . The insurance companies that fund the Fire Patrol to protect commercial assets have voted to disband it. New York City 's Fire Patrol is the last in the country. The group costs $8.5 million a year to fund, but the leaders of Local I-26 said they save as much as $80 million in merchandise a year. With the final days of the Patrol approaching, union leaders and supporters have asked the attorney general, Eliot Spitzer, to intervene through legal action.
(Web Link)
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Firefighter for a day
The Journal Sentinel (09/19/06); Potter, Steven

Milwaukee, WI Local 215 and the Milwaukee Fire Department invited nearly 20 FBI agents, city employees and local elected leaders to participate in several fire operation exercises as a way to help them gain an understanding of the strategies and teamwork Milwaukee fire fighters use in dangerous and deadly situations on the job. "It's frightening to find out what we don't know about what they do and how much they have to do and so little time to do it," said Eric Reinelt, director of the Port of Milwaukee . "If that had been a real fire, I would have been in serious trouble. We've had countless meetings with the fire department and Homeland Security, but until you see and do it first hand, you really don't know what they do and are capable of."
(Web Link)
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Finally, honored by friends
Los Angeles Daily News (09/20/06); McCarthy, Dennis

The funeral service for Los Angeles Fire Captain Lane Kemper drew more than 1,800 mourners. Family, friends and colleagues paid their respects and admiration for the 54-year-old fire fighter who lost his battle with cancer earlier this month. The memorial featured photographs of Kemper making rescues from burning buildings and braving the fast-moving current in the Los Angeles River to save a dog stranded during a rainstorm. "Lane was the kind of guy who always shifted the credit to someone else for a rescue or saving a life -- the first fire fighter in and the last one out," said Captain Steve Ruda. "He was nominated twice for Fire Fighter of the Year, but refused to accept the awards because he felt he was just doing his job," said Captain Steve Romas. During the course of his 31-year career, Kemper could have worked at any station in the city. But he chose to stay at Fire Station 10. "It's the busiest, toughest station in the city, and that's where Lane wanted to be," Ruda said. "That's the kind of guy he was. We were fighting a fire at an auto body shop downtown at 4:30 one morning when Lane yelled out we had to move fast because one of the walls was about to collapse. None of us saw the small cracks forming in the wall, but Lane did. He saved five lives that morning -- mine included," Ruda said. That's how you get a mile-long funeral procession in your honor and fill a church beyond capacity.
(Web Link)
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9-11 Firefighters to Get Free Lung Screenings
South Florida Sun-Sentinel (09/19/06); Pensa, Patty

Representative Clay Shaw (R-FL) has initiated a program in Palm Beach County that will provide free lung screenings to September 11 fire fighters at JFK Medical Center and Jupiter Medical Center. Officials say about 200 fire fighters from Florida went to New York to help after the disaster. Some of the fire fighters may have inhaled toxic substances and asbestos. As of right now, the program will not have the aid of state or federal money. Shaw says he wants the program to eventually be available throughout the entire state and the rest of the country. "It is important that we establish an early benchmark of what their health is so we can monitor them," says Shaw. Outside of Palm Beach County, North Broward and South Broward hospital districts will provide the lung screenings as well. Senator Hillary Clinton recently proposed $1.9 million in federal aid for first responders, construction workers, volunteers and residents in New York.
(Web Link)
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IAFF National Children's Burn Camp Begins in Washington, DC
International Association of Fire Fighters (09/26/06)

More than 40 teenage burn survivors from across the United States and Canada are participating in the 2006 IAFF National Children's Burn Camp in Washington, DC. The week-long internationally recognized program gives young burn survivors the opportunity to share their experiences with others who have fought back courageously and successfully from burn injuries.
(Web Link)
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West Virginia Fire Fighter Wins Strongest Man Competition
International Association of Fire Fighters (09/26/06)

Phil Pfister, a member of Charleston, WV Local 317, has won the MET-Rx World's Strongest Man contest, held September 23 in Sanya, China. Athletes from around the world participate in the 10-day competition, which includes feats of strength such as lifting stones and refrigerators, pulling buses and pushing cars. Pfister entered the last day of the contest in second place behind returning champion Mariusz Pudzianowski of Poland. He overtook Pudzianowski in the Atlas Stones event in which competitors carry a series of spherical stones from one pillar to another.
(Web Link)
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Firefighters Across the Country Help 'Extinguish' Heart Disease
Yahoo.com (09/27/06)

The Quaker Oats Company has named Fire Stations 8 and 23 in Denver, Colorado, winners of the Quaker Smart Heart Challenge for having the greatest average cholesterol drop among firehouses in Chicago, New York and San Francisco. The Denver, CO Local 858 fire fighters lowered their cholesterol by an average of 15 points, and the average cholesterol drop of all of the participating fire fighters nationwide was 12 points. To recognize this heart-health accomplishment, Quaker is making a $5,000 donation to the Denver firehouses' charity of choice. Quaker also donated a defibrillator to each participating firehouse to provide additional heart-health protection for the fire fighters. During the Quaker Smart Heart Challenge, all of the firehouse teams were supported by a nutrition coach and a variety of Quaker products.
(Web Link)
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Firefighters Moving to the Front Lines of Counter-Terror Effort
Newark Star-Ledger (NJ) (09/22/06); Hepp, Rick

Counter-terrorism officials in New Jersey are hoping to use the access that fire inspectors have to homes and commercial buildings to help thwart the next terrorist attack before it happens. According to state Fire Marshall Larry Petrillo, fire inspectors can help recognize strange situations in the field and help pass information along -- and though such situations may turn out to be nothing, at least someone knows about them. New Jersey is hoping to eventually have counter-terrorism training for all fire fighters and emergency medical workers, since they regularly go inside homes and businesses. Although the use of fire fighters in counter-terrorism efforts is a fairly new idea in the United States, authorities in other countries often use their expertise to gather information and help spot potential terror activity, said retired CIA agent Gary Berntsen. "In so many of the attacks and bombings, it's the fire fighters who are the first responders," he said. "The more you do with your fire service is just brilliant."
(Web Link)
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