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 Chiefs Quarterly |
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NC Association of Fire Chiefs April/2010 |
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 A message from the President
Chief Frank Burns
Welcome to the April edition of the Chief's Quarterly! The Board of Directors of the North Carolina Association of Fire Chiefs and I would like to thank all of those who participated in this years Mid Winter Conference. The Mid-Winter has become one of the biggest events for the NCAFC because of all the support that we get from the membership and vendors. We, as the Board of Directors, want to focus on what is important to you, the membership. We are already working on next year's Mid-Winter which will be held in Concord, NC February 3 - 6, 2011 at the Embassy Suites. We need input from you as to what workshops and speakers you would like to have. You can contact the Board with your suggestions - our contact information is available on our website www.ncafc.com.
We want to especially thank our vendors and membership because without your support the conference would not be possible.
There are many legislative issues facing the fire service. One issue that will be coming up in the near future is the requirement for residential sprinklers. We must support the International Residential Code Fire Sprinkler Coalition (www.ircfiresprinkler.org ) as well as our local groups. Sprinklers will not only save the lives of our citizens we protect, but our firefighters as well. The fire service turned out in force at the International Code Council meeting in Baltimore and helped place residential sprinklers in the International Code. The North Carolina Building Code Council will hold a public hearing on June 14 & 15, 2010 in Raleigh to discuss residential sprinklers. It is vitally important that the North Carolina fire service be present at this meeting. Mark you calendars now for this event.
Our membership has continued to grow and we have added benefits for members of the Association.
We have included a $10,000.00 Accidental Death Insurance Policy which covers you 24 hours a day and pays in addition to any other policy you might have. Fire Chief Magazine is offering free subscriptions to their magazine to our members as well.
We want to congratulate all those who were nominated for Fire Chief of the Year and a special congratulations to this years recipient for Career Fire Chief of the Year, Chief Dennis Presley of Skyland Fire & Rescue and Chief Wesley Hutchins from Walkertown Volunteer Fire Department who was the volunteer recipient. Congratulations to both!
Again, thanks to each of you for your support and please let us know if we can be of assistance to you as we continue through 2010! |
| Skyland Fire & Rescue Chief Dennis Presley
2010 Career Chief of the Year |
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 Chief Dennis Presley of Skyland Fire and Rescue was named the North Carolina Association of Fire Chiefs 2010 Career Chief of the Year during the Awards Banquet at the Mid Winter Conference held in Wrightsville Beach, February 5 - 7.
Chief Presley (at left with his wife, Lisa and children Katie and Chad) began his fire service career as a volunteer in 1978 with Skyland Fire and Rescue. He became a paid firefighter in 1979. During his career he has held a number of positions in the department. Dennis was recognized by his peers in 1989 as Skyland's Firefighter of the Year.
In 1988 Dennis transferred to the City of Asheville Fire & Rescue in a contractual agreement. While working with Asheville he held the positions of Captain and District Commander. While with the City of Asheville, Dennis' crew made history when they recorded the first save with an automatic defibrillator and Dennis was honored for heroism during a swift water rescue. While working full time with the City of Asheville, Dennis also held the position of Deputy Chief for Skyland Fire and Rescue.
In 1995, upon the request of the Board of Directors and the employees of Skyland Fire and Rescue, Dennis came back to Skyland on a full time basis as the Fire Chief.
Chief Presley is clearly respected in his community and in the fire service. His priorities are God, family and profession. As noted by one of those recommending Chief Presley for the honor, "I have met many fire chiefs of differing natures, differing work ethics, differing motivation and leadership styles and differing personalities. It is without a doubt that Chief Dennis Presley is at the top of all these when comparing individuals. He is very good natured and treats people with respect and courtesy. He is very motivated and motivates those around him to do the best job they possibly can with what they have available. His ethics are unquestionable and those ethics transcend to his department members and those who come into contact with him. His leadership style is one to envy by those who want to excel, motivate and lead a top-notch, first class organization. However, I think what makes Chief Presley extra special is his devotion to the Lord and his family."
As his nomination indicates, Chief Presley has shown commitment and dedication throughout his career in the fire service. While serving as a telecommunciator with Buncombe County, he received the EMS Dispatcher of the Year and as recently as 2004, he was named the Western Association's Firefighter of the Year. The recognitions Dennis has received demonstrates a consistent level of service throughout his career; something each of us should strive to do.
Webster's defines "hero" as a person admired for his achievements and noble qualities and one that shows great courage. To the members of Skyland Fire and Rescue Dennis Presley is a Hero and they emphasize how fortunate they are to have him as a coach, mentor and leader.
Congratulations Dennis! You are truly an example to all of us. You have run and continue to run the race well. A God loving deeply committed family man who loves his profession. Chief Presley is a great example for all of us to follow and a true servant to his community and to the State of North Carolina. |
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| Chief Wesley Hutchins Walkertown Volunteer Fire Department
2010 Volunteer Fire Chief of the Year |
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 "Wesley has a love for the fire service. He is a hard-working "hands on" chief who doesn't ask anything of his employees or fellow volunteers that he himself wouldn't also do." A ringing endorsement of the 2010 Volunteer Fire Chief of the Year, Chief Wesley Hutchins.
Chief Hutchins is shown with his wife Mary and children Reid and Mallory enjoying his award.
Throughout the nomination form submitted for Chief Hutchins words and phrases like "love for the profession", "constant passion for helping others", "earned the respect of fellow firefighters", "good friend", "family man", "he respects it (fire service)", and "a testament to what all Volunteer Fire Chiefs in North Carolina should aspire" are consistent accolades for a man that is quick to recognize all those who have served with him over his years in the fire service.
Perhaps Wesley would be most pleased by the statement by one of his peers who stated, "Reid, his son, and Mallory, his daughter, reflect the values and morals instilled in them by their parents". In accepting the award, Chief Hutchins acknowledged and praised his family for all the support they have given him over the years.
Wesley has served in every position in the fire department over the past 34 years, including the past six years as Chief. He has served as President of the Forsyth County Fire and Rescue Association, President of the Piedmont Firefighter's Association and most recently as President of the North Carolina State Firemen's Association.
Throughout his career he has continued to expand his education and knowledge. He graduated from Guilford Technical College with and Associate Degree in Fire Science and he graduated from Gardner Webb University with a Bachelor of Science in Human Services. Recognizing the importance of education and setting the example for all of us, Wesley recently completed the Executive Fire Officers' program at the National Fire Academy.
Wesley is active in the community. He is a recipient of the Eagle Scout Award by the Boy Scouts of America and continues that tradition by serving as a Scout Leader. "Wesley is one of the most respected people in the community" and his involvement in community projects demonstrates his desire to help others.
Wesley demonstrates his love for the profession by working with people just entering the profession and with fire chiefs who are just stepping into the position. Wesley volunteers each year to develop and teach a workshop at the Mid Winter Conference because he believes in sharing his experience and knowledge with those who will come after him.
Chief Wesley Hutchins is deserving of the recognition. Wesley, you are a testament to the dedication and we are proud to have you represent our Association as Volunteer Fire Chief of the Year for 2010. We are proud to have you as a friend and colleague. The North Carolina fire service is truly better because of your efforts. Congratulations!
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| A Message From The Executive Director |
| Investment in Public Safety (Fee Exemptions)"
by Kenneth Mullen |
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During recent meetings and discussions with Community College representatives, I referred to fee exemptions as an "investment in public safety". These exemptions constitute an investment in the public safety servants of North Carolina. We need to be prepared to take a stand with other public safety providers in our State to let our legislators and our Community College leaders know that we do not support any reduction or termination of the "investment in public safety" provided through the Community College system.
Those who have been contacting the Community College System office and the local Community College Presidents are sure that the fee exemption will come up again in the short session of the General Assembly. The NC Association of Fire Chiefs, The NC Firemen's Association, the NC Fire Marshals Association, the NC Association of Rescue & EMS, the NC Sheriffs Association and the NC Police Chiefs Associations, in one voice, have submitted a verbal and written request to the President of the Community College President's Association to share our concerns during their annual retreat. The purpose of the meeting is to request that they join with us to oppose any changes to the current status of the exemption; and to advise them that as public safety organizations we will be investigating other methods of delivering public safety training in our State in the event the current method of delivering training is compromised by budget cuts. It is not our intention to threaten or to lay down any gauntlets, but it is our intention to determine a clear path to pursue for the future of public safety training.
The NC Community College will be submitting a budget as directed by the Governor's office that calls for 3%, 5% and 7% cuts in current expenditures. Public safety fee exemptions will most likely be included in the 7% reduction. It is time for each of us to contact our local representatives to advise them that the "investment in public safety" needs to remain unchanged. We know that significant cuts may have to be made to our State's budget, but there are other areas that should be considered before placing the burden of balancing the budget on the readiness of public safety providers.
Many of the local Community College President's view the status of the fee exemption as a legislative issue. It is important that we contact them and remind them that the public safety training programs in North Carolina are a partnership between many agencies in our State. All of our agencies are stakeholders in the training programs and the support of the individual college is beneficial to the overall program and the overall financial health of the college.
We have been advised that sending form letters to legislators has the equivalent impact of doing nothing, so, we would ask that you take a few minutes to contact your local legislator by telephone and advise them to vote against removing the public safety fee exemption, or take just a minute to write a brief note to remind them that removing public safety fee exemptions will harm the first responder training programs in North Carolina. This will be an ongoing issue for us and we need to contact our legislators NOW since we KNOW this will be an issue in the short session of the General Assembly. It will not be beneficial to wait until after the discussion is held, we need to let our concerns be known before the discussion begins. As a reminder, be direct in your comments, but be respectful. We have seen many displays of disrespectful behavior toward our elected representatives in recent days. Professionalism garners better favor than rudeness.
Go to www.ncga.state.nc.us for a complete listing of our House and Senate representatives. I cannot stress enough how important it is for you to contact your local representatives and your local Community College President and how critical it is that you do it NOW.
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| Editor's Note: |
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There has been a good deal of discussion and questions lately over the sprinkler requirements in fire station construction. In reality, with our emphasis on residential sprinkler systems, any plans for a new fire station and any plans involving remodeling an existing fire station should be designed around a sprinkler system. Instead it appears we are often looking for ways to eliminate the sprinkler system. To clarify the sprinkler requirements for fire stations, we asked Richard Strickland, Chief Fire Code Consultant with the Office of State Fire Marshal, to provide the code requirements for installing sprinklers in a fire station.
WHEN DOES YOUR FIRE STATION HAVE TO BE SPRINKLERED?
Richard Strickland, Chief Fire Code Consultant
NC Dept. of Insurance, Office of State Fire Marshal
As the Chief Fire Code Consultant for the Office of State Fire Marshal, I often get asked when does the building and fire code require a fire station to be sprinklered. Building codes have always required sprinkler protection whenever a structure exceeded certain height and area limitations based on the type of construction of the fire station. This has not changed; however, since 2006 the NC State Building and Fire Codes now have additional triggers that may require a fire station to be sprinklered.
The first trigger is a requirement that is found in Section 903.2.9.1 of the NC State Building and Fire Codes. This is a code provision that states that an automatic sprinkler system is required throughout a building used for the storage of commercial trucks or buses when the fire area exceeds 5000 square feet.
The key wording in this section is "required throughout a building". If a fire station has an equipment bay room exceeding 5000 square feet the entire fire station must be sprinklered or the equipment bay room has to be separated from the remainder of the fire station with a fire wall. By utilizing a fire wall the equipment bay room is considered a separate building and in this scenario only the equipment bay room that is larger than 5000 square feet is required to be sprinklered.
The second trigger for fire sprinkler protection is found in Section 903.2.7 of the NC State Building and Fire Codes. This section requires an automatic sprinkler system throughout any building having a Group R (residential) fire area.
Again the key wording is "required throughout the building". Based on this code language any fire station that is newly constructed or being renovated to include bedrooms or sleeping quarters is required to be equipped throughout with an automatic fire sprinkler system. Again, the only exception to this would be to separate the residential area from the remainder of the fire station with fire walls. In this scenario only the residential area would be required to be sprinklered.
While the codes do provide us with mechanisms to alleviate sprinkler protection in certain fire station designs; I know of no better effort to promote fire sprinklers and their life safety and property conservation values in our communities than to install fire sprinklers in every fire station design.
Any questions regarding fire station design and sprinklers may be directed to OSFM's engineering staff at 919-661-5880.
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| 2011 Mid Winter Conference |
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2011 Mid Winter Conference
Embassy Suites Hotel and Concord Convention Center
Concord, North Carolina
Telephone 1-800-EMBASSY
(Let the hotel know that you are attending the Chief Conference when making your reservation)
$139.00 per night
(Includes cooked breakfast each morning and;Manager's Reception (two free beverages and snacks) each afternoon
Make your reservations early
MID WINTER CONFERENCE SCHEDULE
Thursday, February 3, 2011
Preconference Training Sessions
Golf Tournament - Rocky River Golf Course
February 4 - Sunday, February 6, 2011
Opening Ceremony/Agency Updates
General Sessions
Vendor Displays
Fire Chief of the Year Banquet - Saturday evening February 5, 2011
Take Advantage of Early Conference Registration - $40.00 ($50.00 after January 1, 2011)
Registration fees for the 2011 Conference will be accepted anytime during the year, so if you have some funds remaining in your current budget that will reduce the impact on your 2010-11 budget, you may consider paying the registration for the 2011 conference now. Registration forms will be available on the website the week of April, 15, 2010.
We look forward to seeing at the Embassy Suites and Concord Convention Center
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| North Carolina Fallen Firefighter Foundation 2010 Memorial Service |
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Fallen Fire Heroes of North Carolina will be honored during the Fifth Annual NCFFF Memorial Service on Saturday, May 1, 2010 at 1:00 p.m. at the North Crolina Fallen Firefighter Foundation Memorial located at historic Nash Square in Raleigh, NC. This annual NCFFF Memorial Service will celebrate the lives of the dedicated men and women of the North Carolina Fire Service. The ceremony, rich in fire service traditions, will begin with an Honor Guard and Bagpipe Band processional. The tribute will include the presentation of the 2009 fallen heroes. See www.ncfff.org for additional details. |
| Upcoming Events |
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2010
April 26 - 30, 2010 - North Carolina Fire Prevention School - Ft. Fisher, Kure Beach |
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May 1, 2010 - NC Fallen Firefighters Memorial Service, Raleigh Memorial Site
May 5 - 8, 2010 - NC Fire and Rescue Instructors - Crown Plaza, Asheville, NC
August 11 - 14, 2010 - Annual Conference - Raleigh Convention Center
2011
February 3 - 6, 2011 - Mid Winter Conference - Embassy Suites, Concord
August 10 - 13, 2011 - Annual Conference - Raleigh Convention Center
2011 - Executive Development Program - Charlotte Fire Training Center - Date TBD
2012
February 2012 - Mid Winter Conference - Location TBD
August 1 - 4, 2012 - Annual Conference - Raleigh Convention Center
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North Carolina Association of Fire Chiefs
PO Box 7893
Rocky Mount, NC 27804 |
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