Steve Austin is a long time veteran of the volunteer fire service and national fire political issues. He is a past President of the Delaware Volunteer Firemen's Association and the Director of Governmental Relations for the International Association of Arson Investigators.

2001-2002 Steve Austin Archives

• 2002

09-03-02 - Time for a Fresh Look at Homeland Defense Coordination
I place a lot of value in fire service institutional memory.

07-01-02 - End the Civil War
"Can't we just all get along together?"-Rodney King "Poet Laureate" of Los Angeles.

05-07-02 - Is the Fire Service Becoming Too Politically Correct?
Perhaps it is just me. Or maybe it is the high level of stress throughout the service since 9-11, but I sense that things that shouldn't set us off seem to have become major issues.

04-09-02 - Shrinking Fire Service Funding
"It was the best of times and the worst of times". The opening line of the classic novel Tale of Two Cities by Charles Dickens aptly describes the curious dilemma that plagues the fire service across America.

03-12-02 - Your Fire Grant Strategy
The Book of Ecclesiastics reminds us that there is a time for everything. The Fire Grant Program is no exception. It is time to visit the USFA web site and get all the support provided and begin the process.

02-06-02 - Don't Mix Apples and Oranges
Just when you thought is was safe to get back in the water the bureaucrats in the Office of Management and Budget have unleashed another blow below the belt to the fire service.

01-08-02 - Is Chief Charlie Dickinson the New Deputy Fire Administrator?
Retired Pittsburgh Fire Chief Charlie Dickinson is seen poised to become Deputy Administrator of the USFA. The choice couldn't be better.

• 2001

12-26-01 - Fire Department New Year Resolution #1 - "Work on our Fire Grant Proposal"
It won't be long until full details of the 2002 round of Fire Grants are on the street. But it isn't too soon to begin working on your department's proposal. The extraordinary events of 2001 caused Congress to rethink funding levels.

11-30-01 - Firefighter's Firefighter Burris Heads Home
A firefighter went home today November 30, 2001. Ken Burris, the Chief Operating Officer of the United States Fire Administration moves to Atlanta and back to his Georgia roots having been appointed the Director of FEMA Region IV.