Fire Industry News

Siarnicki Receives Leadership Award

Chief Ronald J. Siarnicki, executive director of the National Fallen Firefighters Foundation (NFFF), received the Dr. John Granito Award for Excellence in Fire Leadership and Management Research from the International Fire Service Journal of Leadership and Management (IFSJLM). Siarnicki presented the keynote address as part of the Research Symposium immediately prior to the IFSTA Validation Conference.

The Granito Award is presented annually to an individual who has significantly advanced the fire leadership and management literature through his or her research efforts. The award honors the many contributions and achievements of Dr. John Granito, professor emeritus and retired vice president for Public Service and External Affairs at the State University of New York at Binghamton, to the scholarly study of fire leadership.

Siarnicki began his fire service career with the Prince George’s County, MD, Fire/EMS Department in 1978 and with over 40 years of fire, rescue and EMS operational experience, he progressed through the ranks to Chief of the Department. In July 2001, Siarnicki retired from the department to take the executive director position at the NFFF.

Surviving the Fire Service Conference

The Second Annual Surviving the Fire Service Conference will be held on Oct. 3 at Nova Southeastern University in Fort Lauderdale, FL.

Billed as a behavioral health and cancer prevention conference, the event will feature speakers including Pat Morrison, the International Association of Fire Fighters (IAFF) assistant general president for health, safety and medicine; Dr. Denise Smith, research scientist at the IFSI; and Captain Frank Leto, Deputy Director FDNY Counseling Unit, who will speak about behavioral health challenges in the fire service. There will also be a panel discussion on cancer in the fire service, as well as a presentation on tragedy and loss within the fire service from a chaplain’s perspective.

More information is available at nsubso.nova.edu/conference/index.html.

IAFC Offers Free Hazmat Training through ALERT Grant

The International Association of Fire Chiefs (IAFC) has partnered with six fire service organizations, including the National Volunteer Fire Council (NVFC), to provide free hazmat training for volunteer and remote emergency responders through the Assistance for Local Emergency Response Training (ALERT) grant. This grant was awarded by the U.S. Department of Transportation and the Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration, and specifically focuses on emergency response activities involving the transportation of crude oil, ethanol and other flammable liquids by rail.

"Safety is our top priority and the ALERT grant will help first responders, especially volunteer firefighters in rural or remote parts of the country, prepare for and respond to incidents involving flammable liquids,” said former U.S. Transportation Secretary Anthony Foxx. “It's critical that first responders have the information and training they need to respond to these types of incidents.”

First responders can access information about the trainings and resources developed through the ALERT grant from the National Hazardous Materials Fusion Center at hazmatfc.org/ALERT. This Fusion Center provides a one-stop shop for the collection, analysis and dissemination of information about hazmat emergency response. The Fusion Center offers planning guides, online courses and information about instructor-led trainings covering a variety of topics, including regional rail response, hazmat awareness and operations, hydrogen response, ethanol emergencies and propane emergencies.

To learn about and register for free online and in-person training opportunities provided by the ALERT grant, visit hazmatfc.org/hazmatfusioncenter/training.html.