This month we salute the winners of the Firehouse® Magazine Heroism and Community Service Awards program. As always, we salute our sponsors, The Charles Evans Foundation, V.H. Blackinton & Co. Inc. and The Alfred E. Ronaldson Fund, as well as the many donations from our readers. Without their continued support the program would not be possible. We also want to thank the judges: Chief Alan Brunacini of Phoenix, AZ; Chief Dennis Rubin of Dothan, AL; and Chief Neil Svetanics of St. Louis, MO. A chief many years ago said that when a person joins the fire service, he or she exhibits a special form of heroism. Starting on page 56 you can find this year's winners. We salute the bravest of the brave. On page 50 you can read about the rescue of a brother firefighter from a Christmas Day fire in Iowa. Speaking of big trouble, you know it's tough when they evacuate the 911 center during a nearby fire. You can find Ian Stronach's story on page 72.
I've been associated with this magazine for a long time. Before the first issue was ever published, I submitted fire photos. A lot has happened since 1976. This coming November we are going to celebrate our 20th anniversary. We have been discussing many ways to recapture many of the events the magazine has covered, reported on, previewed and captured on film. We are open to suggestions as to what you would like to see in the anniversary issue.
We'd also like to hear from our readers about ways that the magazine was helpful to you or your department. In one instance, a fire department adopted guidelines for gas leaks that called for leaving all apparatus except the first-due units down the street from the incident. This followed our account of a Buffalo, NY, propane explosion when the explosion did occur, only one or two firefighters were injured. The toll could have been a lot worse. We would like to reprint a number of these responses in this special upcoming issue.
Years ago, many people called the magazine entertaining. It had been my goal to make the magazine educational as well. With the number of favorable comments we have been getting both on the road at fire service shows and here in the office, we seem to be doing our job.
As a follow-up to our unprecedented coverage of the Oklahoma City bombing, and this month being the one-year anniversary, we sent Mike Wieder back to the scene. See page 28 to learn how Oklahoma City's people and its firefighters in particular are coping. After they were in the public eye for so long, we were among the very few to go back and talk to them. From recent articles on emergency vehicle safety to "Getting Out Alive," we feel we're on the cutting edge of fire service education. We don't have to take a back seat to anyone. Maybe you didn't know that over 500,000 firefighters read every issue of Firehouse.
If you check out the Seminar Program on page 60 for the Firehouse Expo to be held in Baltimore, MD, July 25-28, 1996, you will see how committed we are to firefighter safety. Our speakers and our programs are well known. You can bet you will get your money's worth by attending our Expo. We are making a name for ourselves in Baltimore. Please join us and find out for yourself.
Harvey Eisner | Editor Emeritus
HARVEY EISNER was named Editor Emeritus of Firehouse® after serving 15 years as Firehouse's Editor-in-Chief. He joined the Tenafly, NJ, Fire Department in 1975 and served as chief of department for 12 years. He was a firefighter in the Stillwater, OK, Fire Department for three years while attending Oklahoma State University. Eisner was an honorary assistant chief of the FDNY and program director for the Firehouse Expo, Firehouse World and Firehouse Central conferences. He covered many major fires and disasters and interviewed numerous fire service leaders for Firehouse®
