Compton Receives Glatfelter Award
Chief Dennis Compton is the recipient of the 2020 Arthur J. Glatfelter Distinguished Service Award from the National Fallen Firefighters Foundation (NFFF).
Compton, who is a former chairman of the NFFF Board of Directors, has been a member of the fire service since 1971. He rose through the ranks to become assistant fire chief of the Phoenix Fire Department and later the fire chief of the Mesa, AZ, Fire Department. He has served in many roles throughout his career, including author (he wrote the Fire Politics column in Firehouse Magazine for 10 years), advisor, instructor and mentor. He has held leadership positions within several organizations, including the International Fire Service Training Association and the Congressional Fire Services Institute National Advisory Council.
Over his career, Compton received many awards and honors, including the George D. Post National Fire Service Instructor of the Year Award, the Mason Lankford National Fire Service Leadership Award, the Metropolitan Fire Chiefs Association Lifetime Achievement Award, and the Dr. John Granito Award for Excellence in Fire Service Leadership and Management Research. He is a charter member of the Arizona Fire Service Hall of Fame.
For more information, visit firehero.org.
The National Volunteer Fire Council (NVFC), Intelagard, and National Foam will award nine NVFC members with a Macaw Backpack compressed air foam system (CAFS) and nozzle kit, five gallons of Knockdown firefighting foam, and four gallons of EasyDECON DF200. The value of each of the packages is $6,500.
The first three recipients are the Deansboro, NY, Fire Department, the Ottawa Lake, MI, Fire Department and the Seward, AK, Volunteer Fire Department.
The Deansboro Fire Department is a small, all-volunteer department that’s located in rural upstate New York that faces a manpower shortage, particularly during the day, when many of its volunteers work their day job. Because of budgetary constraints, it would be difficult for the department to purchase a CAFS backpack without outside help.
Located in rural southeast Michigan, the Ottawa Lake Fire Department has two grain elevators within its district that have grain piles that are more than 15 feet tall. With the CAFS backpack, an Ottawa Lake firefighter can get to the top of a grain pile to knock down fire faster and safer than if that individual pulled a hose to the top of the pile.
The Seward Volunteer Fire Department is a small, mostly volunteer department that’s located along the Alaskan coast. Because of the budgetary effect of COVID-19 and limited resources, purchasing a CAFS backpack on its own would be difficult.
Learn more at nationalfoam.com or nvfc.org.
Line-of-Duty Deaths
5 U.S. firefighters recently died in the line of duty. Two firefighters died from a health-related incident, one was killed in an automobile accident, one was shot and killed at the station and one died from injuries that were sustained during wildfire operations. This issue of Firehouse is dedicated to these firefighters. For the latest on COVID-19-related LODDs, visit firehouse.com/covid-19.
FIREFIGHTER CHARLES WAYNE SPRY, 51, of the LaGrange, NC, Fire Department died on May 26. Spry attended mandated physical fitness training at the fire department on May 25. Early the next morning, his family found him unresponsive on the kitchen floor of his home. It was determined that he died from a cardiac event.
FIREFIGHTER SPECIALIST TORY CARLON, 44, of the Los Angeles County Fire Department, died on June 1. Carlon was shot and killed at the Agua Dulce Fire Station by an off-duty member of the Los Angeles County Fire Department. The assailant, who also set fire to his own house, was found dead in a small pool outside of his house from a self-inflicted gunshot wound. A captain, who also was shot at the fire station, was transported to a nearby hospital in critical but stable condition.
SMOKEJUMPER/FIREFIGHTER TIM HART, 36, of the West Yellowstone, MT, Interagency Fire Center, died on June 2. On May 24, Hart worked the Eiks Fire in New Mexico and was injured. He was taken to the hospital, where he remained until his death.
FIREFIGHTER CHRISTOPHER YOCK, 57, of the San Francisco Fire Department, died on June 8. Yock responded to a large fire on the fourth floor of the parking garage at the San Francisco International Airport. After extinguishment of the fire, he arrived home. Shortly thereafter, he suffered an apparent cardiac arrest and died.
FIREFIGHTER RALPH DEBLASI, 62, of the Number 7 Township Fire Rescue of Cravem County in New Bern, NC, died on June 10. While on his way to the fire station to respond to a vehicle accident, DeBlasi was involved in a single-vehicle accident. Fire department personnel who were responding to the first vehicle accident arrived on scene and provided EMS care to DeBlasi, but he was unable to be revived.
