The annual National Fallen Firefighters Memorial Weekend took place last month at the National Fire Academy in Emmitsburg, MD. Honored were the 110 firefighters who died in the line of duty during 2007. I understand that 832 people from 92 survivor families attended the weekend. These are fathers, mothers, sons, daughters and other family members who can't be with their loved ones anymore.
Amid the ongoing fuel crisis, many fire departments have modified or cut back on their procedures regarding fire responses, multi-unit training, driver education, take-home vehicles, fuel for power saws and generators, fire boats and many more. Be that as it may, fire and EMS units still respond day in and day out, 24 hours a day. According to the National Fire Protection Association (NFPA), in 2007, the U.S. fire service responded to 25,334,500 calls that included 15,784,000 medical calls, 1,557,550 fires, 2,208,500 false alarms and 1,109,500 mutual aid calls. In this issue, we present the annual "Apparatus Showcase" displaying the latest and greatest fire-rescue apparatus and specialized units, all equipped with all the latest technology available for our first responders. See page 60 for this compilation.
With the 2009 budget-planning process underway, it will be interesting to see what municipal leaders tell their fire departments about increasing, decreasing or leaving their upcoming budgets the same as this year. The FDNY, along with all other municipal agencies in New York City, was recently told to cut some more right now and be prepared to cut again next year because of the continuing fiscal mess nationwide. Even ever-expanding Phoenix is not immune to the budget crisis - the rookies at the department's fire academy have been warned that they may not have jobs after graduation.
At our upcoming Firehouse World Conference in San Diego in February, one of the topics to be discussed in a special Chiefs Forum will be how to survive when you have to cut 8% from your budget. Two years ago, I attended a meeting in Atlanta at which one of the committee members was a retired metro chief who is now a city councilman. He remarked that when fire and police chiefs come to their budget meetings, they had better have good explanations when they ask for appropriations. City officials face budget requests for fire, police, public works, school buses, meter maids and every other agency that uses fuel for vehicles. The city he represents had to spend three times what it had originally budgeted for fuel when oil prices rose dramatically. How many fire departments already take units out of service daily due to manpower shortages or reduce responses to initial alarms? What will be the short- and long-term effects of the fuel and budget crises?
We extend our condolences to the family and colleagues of Heather Westphal, manager of membership marketing for the International Association of Fire Chiefs, who drowned on Oct. 12 in Hawaii while on vacation with her family. Heather and her sister-in-law Tonya Cataldo were swept off rocks by large waves as they walked with a group along the coast of the island of Kauai. According to news reports, Heather's husband, Jason, attempted to rescue them, but could not because the current was too strong. Heather, who was just 33 years old, joined the association in 2007 and was part of the Marketing and Corporate Relations Department.
Tom Carr, the current fire chief of Montgomery County, MD, has been chosen to be the new fire chief in Charleston, SC. Tom has always been a great friend of Firehouse Expo, helping us each year with hands-on training, apparatus and equipment. His commitment to excellence also provided members of his fire department the training and education that others could not take advantage of. We wish the chief good luck and all the best in the future.
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