For the Record 1/18

IAFC Selects 2018 FSEDI Participants

The International Association of Fire Chiefs (IAFC) has chosen the participants accepted into the sixth year of the prestigious Fire Service Executive Development Institute (FSEDI). The Motorola Solutions Foundation provided the IAFC with a grant to fund the program.

FSEDI is a yearlong leadership-development program developed by the IAFC to provide new and aspiring chiefs with the tools they need to have successful and productive tenures. The members of the cohort met in December 2017 for their first six-day session. Two additional sessions are scheduled six months apart in 2018. They will also be attending Fire-Rescue International, Aug. 8–11, in Dallas as part of the program.

The group will communicate between sessions using an online community. During the course, participants will learn from experts in the fire service a variety of ways to effectively lead in today’s modern fire departments and keep communities safe.

“Motorola Solutions Foundation recognizes how these challenging times require a new breed of leader to head our local fire departments and national fire service,” said Matt Blakely, director of Motorola Solutions Foundation. “The foundation is dedicated to helping support the education of these leaders to ensure they have the skills necessary to meet these complex and emerging issues confronting our communities.”

Those accepted into the program include:

• Assistant Chief Laura Baker, Tucson, AZ, Fire Department
• Chief James M. Cullinan, III, Spotsylvania County, VA, Department of Fire, Rescue & Emergency Management
• Assistant Chief Clint Fey, West Metro, CO, Fire Rescue
• Assistant Chief John F. Flynn, Yonkers, NY, Fire Department
• Division Chief Kenny Frentress, Tualatin Valley, OR, Fire & Rescue
• Assistant Chief Val H. Gale, Jr. Chandler, AZ, Fire, Health and Medical Department
• Assistant Chief Kenneth Hedges, Denton, TX, Fire Department
• Deputy Chief Richard Higgins, Ames, IA, Fire Department
• Deputy Chief Raymond Hill, Fort Worth, TX, Fire Department
• Battalion Chief Marlene Kostyrka, City of Winston-Salem, NC, Fire Department
• Deputy Fire Commissioner Gary Edward Loesch, Philadelphia Fire Department
• District Chief Greg W. Main, Evansville, IN, Fire Department
• Deputy Chief James Martin Marugg, San Miguel, CA, Fire & Rescue
• Chief Diana J. Matty, West Palm Beach, FL, Fire Rescue
• Deputy Chief Marian McDaniel, Rockdale, GA, Fire Rescue Department
• Chief David Pennington, Springfield, MO, Fire Department
• Assistant Chief Douglas Riley, Lakeland, FL, Fire Department
• Chief Brian Schaeffer, Spokane, WA, Fire Department
• Assistant Chief James David Schultz, McAllen, TX, Fire Department
• Chief Darin White, Oakland, CA, Fire Department
• Division Chief Thomas M. Williams, Portland, OR, Fire & Rescue

“The IAFC is most pleased to be able to provide career- and leadership-development opportunities to these select individuals thanks to the generous support of the Motorola Solutions Foundation,” said Chief Thomas Jenkins, IAFC president and chairman of the board. “The program has become the premier development piece for chief officers transitioning to fire chief roles. Many officers from the previous programs have been successful in achieving fire chief positions and effectively leading their departments.”

NFPA Release “Large-Loss Fires” Report

The National Fire Protection Association (NFPA) has released a report detailing large-loss fires in 2016. Entitled “Large-Loss Fires in the United States,” the report contains overall statistics from NFPA’s annual study of large-loss fires, defined as fires or explosions that result in property damage of at least $10 million.

The data for this study is obtained by the NFPA from responding fire departments. The report includes patterns of loss by property type, cause of fire, and presence and effectiveness of automatic detection and suppression systems.

Report highlights:

• In 2016, 25 fires in the United States resulted in losses of at least $10 million each, for a cumulative total of $1.4 billion in direct property losses. These fires accounted for 14 civilian deaths, 183 civilian injuries and eight firefighter injuries.
• The largest fire in terms of direct property loss was the Chimney Tops 2 Fire in Tennessee, with a loss of $911 million. The second largest was the Clayton Fire, a California wildfire that resulted in $175 million in damage.
• Of the 25 large-loss fires in 2016, 22 involved structures and resulted in a total property loss of $348.6 million. The other fires included the two wildland/urban interface fires and one vehicle fire (a towboat) that resulted in combined losses of $1.1 billion. 

Download the entire report at tinyurl.com/y9zvjfwb.

Registration Open for NFSA Seminar and Conference

The National Fire Sprinkler Association will be holding its 2018 Annual Seminar and Business & Leadership Conference May 2–5 at the Marriott Harbor Beach Hotel in Ft. Lauderdale, FL. The event will focus on leadership and business development, as well as technical topics of specific interest to the fire sprinkler industry. The event will feature nationally renowned business, association and technical speakers, interactive breakout sessions, unique networking opportunities and the popular volleyball competition and annual Common Voices Golf Outing!  To register for this event, visit nfsa.org/event/2018BizLeaderConf. For more information, contact Vickie Pritchett at pritchett@nfsa.org.

Line-of-Duty Deaths

6 U.S. firefighters recently died in the line of duty. Five deaths were health-related and one firefighter was struck and killed by a motor vehicle. This edition of Firehouse is dedicated to these firefighters.

FIREFIGHTER-OPERATOR DAVID E. CARR, 62, of the Brasher-Winthrop, NY, Volunteer Fire Department, died on Nov. 4. Carr responded with his fire department on a mutual-aid call to an industrial fire of 5,800 tons of burning wood pellets inside of a large metal warehouse. Firefighters worked through the night to bring the fire under control. Carr later returned to the firehouse to clean and put away equipment. He then departed for home, where, later in the morning, he succumbed to a nature and cause of fatal injury still to be reported.

FIREFIGHTER/EMT SCOTT A. COMPTON, 55, of the Greenfield, IN, Fire Territory, died on Nov. 11. Several hours after working on the scene of a three-alarm commercial structure fire at an auto body and glass company, Compton fell ill at home and died from a nature and cause of fatal injury still to be determined.

FIREFIGHTER KENDALL JAMES MURPHY, 27, of the Montgomery, IN, Volunteer Fire Department, died on Nov. 10. Shortly after arriving on the scene of a motor vehicle crash, Murphy was struck and killed by another firefighter who was responding to the same accident scene in his privately owned pickup truck. The second firefighter—who was allegedly driving under the influence of alcohol, registering a blood alcohol level of 0.21 percent—was arrested and charged with reckless driving and operating a motor vehicle while intoxicated causing death.

CAPTAIN II DAVID TODD MOORMAN, 50, of the Los Angeles City Fire Department, died on Feb. 5, 2017. Moorman worked a 36-hour shift during which he fell ill. His last call was a vehicle fire at 0530 hrs. After this incident, his duty shift ended and he went home. Within an hour, he suffered a medical emergency and collapsed. A family member immediately began to render first aid, including CPR, until responding units from the Ventura County Fire Department arrived on scene and initiated medical care. Moorman was transported to a nearby hospital where he was pronounced deceased a short time later.

FIREFIGHTER/SAFETY OFFICER ROBERT A. FITCH, 60, of the East Herkimer, NY, Fire Department, died on Nov. 28. Fitch responded with his fire department to a technical rescue call for a person who became stuck on some cliffs while attempting to rescue their pet. After the call, Fitch returned home and during the night succumbed in his sleep to a cardiac related injury.

FIRE CHIEF STEPHEN FRYE, 59, of the Montgomery, MA, Fire Department, died on Dec. 5. Frye collapsed while operating on an initial attack line at the scene of a late-night, two-alarm chimney fire that destroyed a residential structure. Frye was treated immediately on scene by fellow responders and transported to the hospital by an ambulance crew where he was pronounced deceased a short time later. The nature and cause of fatal injury are still to be determined.