News from the North Carolina Association of Fire Chiefs

Chiefs Quarterly

NC Association of Fire Chiefs

4th Quarter 2008

A Message from the President

Chief Marty Dailey

It is my distinct honor and pleasure to serve as your new president for next fiscal year of 2008-09. I have had the pleasure of serving with many dedicated and professional people since becoming a member on the board and have learned a great deal from each one of you. Those who have served before me have truly been an inspiration. I would like to thank Bill Walker for his leadership as president for the association this past year and congratulate him for a job well done.

As your president I would like to express my sincere thanks to the association for the opportunity to serve and look forward to meeting the challenges the fire service faces today. As we continue to grow our organization, we will be presented with opportunities which will increase our effectiveness throughout the state of North Carolina. Every member of this association has an opportunity to make a difference in the decisions that will affect the direction of this organization. As Helen Keller so profoundly stated many years ago, "Alone we can do so little, together we can do so much."

The Executive Board has outlined its strategic plan and is focused on providing leadership training, legislative issues, and firefighter safety. We will continue our commitment of involvement and will support Gateway in the coming year. Each member of the association has the opportunity to be part of Gateway's efforts in addressing critical issues that the fire service faces in North Carolina.

It is vitally important that we take an active role in supporting and working with the issues that we have developed in the past year. Our efforts in the Safe Cigarette Coalition were very successful and as a result, legislation was passed. Now, we are facing the challenge of implementing residential sprinklers and are working toward getting legislation passed on this worthy cause. Although the process has been a challenge, I believe with continued effort, our persistence will be successful.

During this next year, it will be the board's responsibility to continue to take an active role in leadership development. We are excited about bringing to you in 2009 the Executive Fire Officer Program. As Chief Walker stated in his message last year, "Safety Starts at the Top." I would like expand on his message and declare to you that "Leadership is a Choice." As officers, we have a responsibility to accept the leadership roles that have been placed upon us. We must move forward to face the challenges that will direct the future of the fire service.

Additionally, I would like to remind everyone that our Mid Winter Conference will be held this coming February at Wrightsville Beach, N.C. and again in the same location in 2010. We are really excited about going back to the Holiday Inn Sunspree at Wrightsville Beach. We have had much success with this conference and are continuing to grow each year. The board is hoping to expand this conference within the next two years and your help will be needed when this happens.

Finally, I would like to congratulate Executive Director, Ken Mullen on his newly appointed position to the advisory board for the UNC Burn Center. His valuable input and insight will be an asset not only to the Burn Center, but to our Association as well. It is also with great pleasure that I ask you to join me in welcoming Chief Rick McIntyre with the Jacksonville Fire Department. Chief McIntyre will be serving on our board as the Eastern Director and we look forward to his expertise and involvement.

Congratulations to Chief Mike Lee of Bethany Fire Department for being named the Volunteer Fire Chief of the Year by Fire Chief Magazine. Chief Lee was presented the award on August 15, 2008 during the general session of the International Association of Fire Chiefs' Fire-Rescue International Conference and Exhibition in Denver, Colorado. Chief Lee's profile will be featured in the October issue of Fire Chief Magazine and will be available on the Web at

www.firechief.com.

In closing, I would like to thank you again for this opportunity to serve as your president. It will be my pleasure to work with all of you throughout the next year. May God bless you all.

Martin Dailey

The NC Seat Belt Challenge

The North Carolina State Fireman's Association in conjunction with Volunteer Safety Workers Compensation Fund, VFIS of North Carolina, Office of State Fire Marshall and the North Carolina Association of Fire Chief's are committed to "25 in 5" and recently announced the "NC SEAT BELT CHALLENGE". Yes, we are challenging every department in North Carolina.

It's not just a challenge; it's a contest between the three (3) regions of North Carolina (western, piedmont, and eastern) that is underway now. You have until July 1, 2009 to complete this challenge. It's not hard and it won't take a lot of time, just your commitment to yourself and your members. The winning region will receive an award at the 2009 Conference in Raleigh.

How to meet the challenge:

Go to
www.trainingdivision.com/SeatBeltPledge.asp
and download the signature page
Have ALL of your active / rostered firefighters sign the seat belt pledge / challenge form
Fax the seat belt pledge to 1-866-638-3842
Email batla@trainingdivision.com to have your department posted on the web page (this may take a few weeks)
The NCSFA will send the department 25 in 5 seat belt stickers for the department's apparatus once the fire department is posted on the international web site (the stickers may take two to three weeks for delivery)

Residential Sprinklers

by Chief David Douglas

Greensboro Fire Department

By the time this newsletter is delivered, over 100 Fire Code Officials from across the State will have traveled to Minneapolis and the International Code Council hearings. It is our belief at this time that the assembled fire services at these hearings will be sufficient enough to vote in the adoption of residential fire sprinklers to the 2009 Residential Code (effective in 2012 in N.C.).

The voting delegation from North Carolina attending the hearings is the largest of any state in the nation! This fact alone speaks to the dedication of our fire code personnel and the commitment of our Fire Chief's to change the history of fire deaths and fire losses in one and two family dwellings. The success of this and the efforts that have been forged locally should not be lost on us; however, this is only the battle, the war will likely continue.

The adoption of the ICC 2009 Code will not occur in North Carolina until 2012 and only after review and adoption by the Building Code Council, a group that so far has proven to be a formidable adversary to residential fire sprinklers. It will be incumbent on us to maintain our educational initiatives and to maintain our presence at Building Code Council meetings if we are to insure that this code revision withstands scrutiny and possible deletion during the code adoption process.

On a separate, but associated issue, there is one remaining vacancy on the Building Code Council that has not been filled as of this writing. Although the Governor has indicated on several occasions his intention to fill this vacancy, it has not happened. As you may recall, there was substantial support from the fire services for Reed Jarvis, former Fire Marshal for Forsyth County and we need to continue this support. If you have the opportunity please remind the Governor's office that we care about this appointment.

UPDATE:

Approximately 140 delegates attended from North Carolina, giving our State the largest representation at the council hearings to vote on a proposal to change the International Residential Code to require residential fire sprinklers in all new one and two family dwellings. The vote passed by a margin of 1,282 to 470. This is a great victory, but we must be reminded that this is only a beginning. Our voices must become united and stronger as we move forward.

Director Alan Perdue, the International Director of the IAFC's Fire and Life Safety Section and North Carolina native stated after the vote, "For more than 30 years, the fire service community has worked toward the goal of saving lives and reducing fire loss by installing residential fire sprinklers. By bringing all aspects of the fire service together for a common cause, today we have concluded the first monumental step of requiring residential fire sprinklers in the model codes. It is imperative, however, that we continue our collaborative efforts to protect both the public and our firefighters on the front line by working to make certain that these requirements are also adopted into state and local codes. I want to personally thank every individual and organization that was involved in making this a reality and know that your continued commitment to this initiative will save thousands of lives in the future."

Mark Your Calendar with These Important Events!

Eastern Association Meeting

October 9, 2008

Location TBA (Wilmington area)

www.ENCFA.org

Western Association Meeting

October 15, 2008

Balsam Willets Ochre Hill VFD

at 6:30 p.m.

www.wncaff.com

Eastern Association Meeting

January 9, 2009

Clayton Fire Department

www.ENCFA.org

North Carolina Association of Fire Chiefs

Mid Winter Conference

February 6-8, 2009

(golf tournament on February 5, 2008) Wrightsville Beach, NC

www.ncafc.com

Fire and Life Safety Educators

Fire Prevention School

April 27-May 1, 2009

Ft. Fisher

Kure Beach, NC

Eastern Association Meeting

April 9, 2009

Location TBA

www.ENCFA.org

Eastern Association Meeting

July 9, 2009

Location TBA

www.ENCFA.org

It's time to start planning for the 2009 Mid Winter Conference. This year's conference will again offer two full days of training opportunities, information sharing and vendor displays. This year we will add preconference continuing education sessions on Thursday, February 5th, or for those golfers in the group our annual golf tournament will also be played on that Thursday. The Conference will begin on Friday morning, February 6, 2009. The Conference is sponsored by the New Hanover County Firefighter's Association and the Wrightsville Beach Fire Department.

The conference schedule is being finalized and information regarding general sessions, speakers and workshops will be provided soon in a conference mail out. Chief Gordon Routley, lead investigator on the Charleston Sofa Fire will be one of our session speakers at the conference. We believe this will be an exciting conference with great learning opportunities.

Begin thinking now who you would like to nominate for Fire Chief of the Year. This award will be presented to both a volunteer and career Fire Chief at the banquet on Saturday evening.

Registration forms will be provided on the conference mail out and at the website beginning November 1, 2008. Hotel reservations can be made by calling the Holiday Inn Sunspree Resort at 1-877-330-5050. Be sure to tell them you are attending the conference to receive conference rates.

A Message from the Executive Director

Kenneth G. Mullen

Jesus said in Luke 12:48 (TLB) "Much is required from those to whom much is given". We in the North Carolina fire service have been blessed to have had many come before us who have shaped the fire service landscape and laid the groundwork for our successes. We have been given and have been entrusted with the gift of service. It is our responsibility to continue to build upon the foundation that has been laid before for us, and we encourage those coming into the fire service today to recognize our fire service history in North Carolina.

Elie Wiesel, who was imprisoned in Nazi concentration camps during World War II, later became a professor at Boston University. When he had opportunities to share his life experiences, he often shared his thoughts on responsibility: "What I receive I must pass on to others. The knowledge that I have must not remain imprisoned in my brain. I owe it to many men and women to do something with it. I feel the need to pay back what was given to me. Call it

gratitude. To learn means to accept that life did not begin at my birth. Others have been there before me and I walk in their footsteps."

Those of us who remain and have accepted leadership positions assume the responsibility of protecting the positive traditions of our past and implementing the changes that shape our future. Webster's' defines responsible as "legally or ethically, accountable for the care or welfare of another". The definition is powerful because there are so many hot button words in a very short phrase. Extract the phrase "care and welfare of another" and the definition parallels our overall mission of "saving lives and protecting property". There are many issues that face us in today's fire service environment, but there are two areas, at this point in our history, that clearly meet Webster's definition of care and welfare. It is incumbent upon us to attack these two areas with all the energy that we can gather.

These are some of the most exciting times in the North Carolina fire service and we have a major opportunity to positively impact the safety of the citizens we protect and the firefighters who respond during their time of need. The efforts our predecessors placed on getting smoke detectors in our homes had a major impact on reducing fire deaths. We now have an unprecedented opportunity to further reduce residential fire deaths and firefighter structural deaths with the addition of residential sprinklers. The combination of smoke detectors, residential sprinklers, and our fire education and injury prevention programs will lead to a safer North Carolina.

We must educate the building industry and government officials on the benefit of residential sprinklers, but we must first educate ourselves. These systems are not the systems we are use to dealing with in commercial structures. The system is basically an extension of a homes plumbing system. There is no monitoring of the system required and it works as long as the water to the home is on.

In addition to protecting our citizens, the added benefit of residential sprinklers is the protection of our firefighters. Firefighting is an exciting and challenging profession, but it is disturbing when firefighters and fire service leaders do not support code changes that will result in lives being saved. As a profession, we should be 100% behind changing codes and educating the public about the benefits of residential sprinkler systems. Bathrooms were brought out of the yard and into the house, let's do the same with sprinkler systems.

The Residential Sprinkler Committee (RSC) is really excited about the work that has been done to date. As a service, we need to exhibit that same excitement when asked about residential sprinklers and we need to be prepared to answer questions about residential sprinklers with factual information. Resources are listed below to obtain more information about residential sprinklers.

·   www.firesafehome.org
·   www.fireteamusa.com
·   www.homefiresprinkler.org

An excellent visual demonstration on the benefit of residential sprinklers is the Marble Mountain DVD which is available by contacting Angie Gregg, Injury Prevention Specialist at the Office of State Fire Marshal, at Agregg@ncdoi.net. Every firefighter and every citizen should see this video.

A free DVD of "Home Fire Sprinklers - A Solution to America's Fire Problem" is available through the IRC Fire Sprinkler Coalition website at www.ircfiresprinkler.org.

We are action oriented people who expect quick results from our efforts. This effort will take time because we must educate ourselves, the public, and construction trades as the process develops; therefore, we must be patient, but we must remain vigilant. This involves responding when we are called upon to write letters or attend important meetings regarding code changes.

Silence implies acceptance and lack of involvement implies lack of interest.

Ask yourself a question, "If a change is dependent on my involvement, how much change will occur?

Secondly, wearing seat belts is a state law. It is a law; therefore, the law is our individual department's seat belt policy. There is no excuse for disregard of this law. In addition to seat belt use being a law, the size and weight of emergency vehicles, the road conditions and the speed that we are driving them (that's another story) dictates the need for us to utilize every safety device available to us for the protection of our firefighters.

The recent testimony by Chief Len Needham regarding the truck rollover experienced by Bahama Fire Department reinforces the benefits of promoting seat belt safety.

There have been many attempts to justify why our firefighters are not wearing seat belts and why we don't enforce the state law, but in reality, trying to come up with a sane reason is impossible. Excuses for disobedient behavior are plentiful, "I don't want to put another mandate or rule on them," "They can't get their SCBA on if they are in a seat belt," "You can't enforce things when you are dealing with someone who volunteers" or 'I hate to give a person time off for something like a seat belt violation." We can blame the additional mandate on our elected officials in Raleigh if we don't want to take personal accountability for the safety of our firefighters.

If we turn a blind eye to safety violations, or to a violator who displays a blatant disregard for common sense safety practices, state laws or departmental policies, we are in fact condoning the behavior. Ignoring this behavior is not doing the violator any favors. Someone once said, "Kindness is cruelty in disguise when it is not accompanied by responsibility". The fact of the matter is that it is too late to enforce the rules when someone is killed or seriously injured. Those who have had to face a family member and tell them that a loved one was not wearing a seat belt and was killed in a traffic accident understand the importance of seat belt safety. We learn from each other and those who have faced this tragedy would probably encourage each of us to educate our responders about the importance of following the law regarding seat belts.

When a leader in seat belt advocacy for the firefighters in our state pulls up beside a fire truck and tells the firefighters to put on their seat belts and they laugh at his suggestion, we have a serious problem with our firefighter safety message. This is going to require a change in our attitudes toward safety, but first we must want to change, then we must decide to change and then work every day toward that end. How many will die before we start enforcing the law? "Leadership is a Choice."

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