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Newsletter |
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Greetings from Jon |
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| FFMIA President |
August 2006 |
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The summer heat is on and your Board is hard at
work. We are planning a two-day meeting in
Okeechobee August 23 and 24 to discuss where we
are and where we are going. We will be focusing on
streamlining our business plan and reviewing our
strategic plan goals and objectives. We will also be
looking to enhance our legislative posture with
emphasis on committee work. in all areas of our
association.
I have asked Executive Director Chuck Akers to back
off on some of the training offerings through the
peek hurricane months, August, September and
October. The primary reason for this is to allow
members the opportunity to focus on local affairs
rather than trying to meet training obligations. This
will also keep Chuck and Juanita out of harms way if
a storm threatens they will not be out on the
road.
With budget season in full swing, don’t forget to plug
for your training needs and specifically our annual
conference in November, our spring training in Miami
and our annual Public Education conference in June.
Notify your regional director if you have any specific
training needs or call me if you cannot reach them.
Since we are on the bubble for our budget review I
will close with the hope that each of you are
successful in your quest to make your community a
better place to live and keeping Florida as a leader in
the field of fire protection.
Sincerely yours in a fire safe State of Florida,
Jon W. Pasqualone, President FFMIA
President, FFMIA
jonpasqual@martin.fl.us
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Salutations from Vicky |
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As some of you that are on the FAFLSE chat
group know, there has been a rise in the number of
smoke alarm battery eruptions with the BRK/First
Alert hardwired battery back-up smoke alarms,
models 4120B and 4120SB, that were manufactured
prior to October 2000. Some have even exploded.
Even though the stickers inside the alarms state that
other batteries may be used, the company is now
saying that only Eveready batteries may be used as
replacements. The company is sending out
replacement alarms to owners that have damaged
equipment; however they are not accepting
responsibility for those alarms to be installed, nor for
the damage being caused. The homeowners are
incurring at their own expense the cost of an
electrician to diagnose and correct the
problems.
We have had 6 incidents reported in our County
thus far. One person sustained injury to his cornea
when the battery acid shot into his eye as he tried
to remove it from the alarm. Another person
reported that the battery, which was bulging and hot
when it was removed, exploded after a couple of
minutes, shooting acid on her wall and blinds.
For more information, the websites are
www.firstalert.com or www.brkelectronics.com.
Victoria Yeakley, FAFLSE Chair
yeakleyv@hillsboroughcounty.org
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Sprinkler Hydraulics in the Southeast, by Joseph Gagliano, FFMIASoutheast Director |
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Thirty-eight members of the Southeast Region
took advantage of the opportunity to sharpen their
plan review skills by attending a two-day seminar on
Fire Sprinkler Hydraulic Plans Review. The seminar
was given on June 26th and 27th and repeated again
on June 28th and 29th.
The program was sponsored by the Florida Fire
Marshals and Inspectors Association and was hosted
by the Hialeah Fire Prevention Bureau in the City of
Hialeah. Captain Ed Hernandez initiated the request
for the program and made arrangements to provide a
training room at the Hialeah headquarters.
Gerald Van Gelder of Estero Fire Rescue was the
instructor and delivered an excellent “hands on”
program which was greatly appreciated by all
participants. Accompanying Gerry was Chuck and
Juanita who handled the registration and all of the
administration. Lt Joe Gagliano of Miami-Dade Fire
Rescue, the Southeast Regional Director, made a
cameo appearance at the start of each seminar and
welcomed the participants to the program.
This was a shining example of the quality training
programs that have become the hallmark of the
FFMIA.
Contact your regional director to arrange a training
program in your area.
Article Provided By:
Joseph F. Gagliano
Southeast Regional Director
jgagliano@lifesafetyservices.org
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Cruisers Corner, by Puddin Race |
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I'm happy to report that there are twenty-six people
who have committed by deposit to cruise to Alaska
next May on the beautiful Royal Caribbean
Ship, "Vision of the Seas". We have just one
stateroom left of those we reserved and it will be
released as of August 20th. That's not to say that
you couldn't join us at a later date - only that we
may not be able to get you the same rate or a room
close to the rest of us. If you have an interest in
joining us, we are sailing from Seattle, Friday, May
25, 2007, returning Friday, June 1st. For information
about the rates and accommodations, contact Dell
Trudell, World Travel Agency, toll free at 1-888-420-
8747. Ships going to Alaska, fill quite far in advance
because it's such a desired location, so don't wait
too late. Come on! Join the fun!
Article Provided By:
Puddin Race
puddin@slcfd.org
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Pinellas Park Fire Department Park Competes in Extrication Challenge |
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The Pinellas Park Fire Department Extrication Team
made their debut at the
2006 Southeast Regional Extrication Challenge on
June 1 & 2 at the Harborview Center in Clearwater.
15 teams from across the southeast came to the
competition to demonstrate their skills in vehicle
extrication. Each vehicle crash scenario was set up
like the real thing&damaged cars, victims, and limited
time to remove the patient from the wreckage using
hand tools, pneumatic tools, and hydraulic tools such
as the Jaws of Life. Pinellas Park Fire Department
placed 13 out of 15 & a
great showing for a rookie team. Most importantly,
the skills and techniques used for these events
greatly enhance the response and service citizens
receive on our own streets. Congratulations to the
team and a big Thank You to those who came out to
cheer them on at the competition.
Article Provided by:
Suzanne Boisvert, PIO
SBoisvert@pinellas-park.org
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The Director's Chair, by Chuck Akers, FFMIA Director |
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Well it’s been awhile since I have written an
article and this is my first article for our new monthly
newsletter.
I had an enormous task assigned to me this year
with the new design of the website, the development
of the new “A-List” and the decision to go to a
monthly newsletter. As if that was not enough we
also became the conference committee for all of our
conferences this year do to unforeseen
circumstances.
With the new design of the website, came a
problem with how to protect information that only
current members should have access to. The design
of the “Log In” section for members only gave us a
few problems. We wanted it to be easy for the
member to sign up and than how the approval
process would take place. I would hope that all of
you agree that the process works fairly seamless.
The formation of the new “A-List” has proved to
be a very positive one for the organization. Yes it
took some time to fine tune the process and to find a
program that would work within our constraints and
not be costly to the association.
I have taken a lot of criticism from the Board for
not getting the newsletter out originally in January as
promised. However, I refuse to put out something to
you, the members that does not meet with the level
of professionalism this organization deserves. All we
needed was a way to get the newsletter delivered to
all of our members and with the formation of the “A-
List” we found our communication avenue.
As mentioned above, Juanita and I became the
sole conference committee for the newly formed
Education Seminar that was held in MiamiDade in April
and will now be offered every April or May. We went
to the Fire and Life Safety Educators Conference in
Destin and had a great time. We offered for our first
time, an Inspectors track at the educators
conference and it was so well received by the
membership, that at the business meeting, the
membership spoke loud and clear for continuing with
the inspectors track. I want to take this time to
thank Amanda Stiffler from the Panama City Fire
Department for all of her help, without her
assistance, Juanita and I would of been
overwhelmed. I also would like to thank the FAFLSE
board for their help with monitoring, introducing of
the speakers and for collecting of those all important
ceu sign-in sheets.
As promised, your Regional Directors continue to
offer free ceu’s all over the state. Remember, it is up
to you to call your director and advise them on what
topics you would like to see.
I am currently working on the program for our
upcoming Fire Prevention Conference and should be
completed by next month’s newsletter. REMEMBER
DO NOT FORGET TO GET “YOUR KEYS FOR
PREVENTION” BY ATTENDING HAWKS CAY (DUCK
KEY) IN THE FLORIDA KEYS FROM NOVEMBER 6TH –
NOVEMBER 9TH.
Article Provided By:
Chuck Akers, FFMIA Director
info@ffmia.org
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The New FAFLSE Board of Directors |
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Members of the FAFLSE board were selected at
the conference in June in SanDestin. The group ran
unopposed for office. In all the excitement of the
conference banquet, we neglected to have the
Swearing In Ceremony. Please feel free to contact
any of these people with your suggestions and
ideas. After all, it's your organization.
They are, left to right, Victoria Yeakley, Chair
(and this year's Educator of the Year!); Leslie Adent,
Secretary; Puddin Race, Vice Chair; Elaine Lewis,
Public Relations Officer and Bob Smallacombe, Past-
Chair.
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Member Section Update |
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Attention Members...the Member section
has
been updated.
To access the Member Section you will need to
register first. Simply log on to our website,
www.ffmia.org,
and click on Registration button (if
you are already registered, click on the Member Login
button to access the section).
Complete and submit the registration on the screen.
Your registration will be sent in for review and you
will receive an email with the username that you
selected and a temporary password.
Once your registration has been approved, you will
be able to enter the section at your convenience by
using the information on the email. You will be
directed to an area where you can change your
password. We recommend that you change the
temporary password to something that is easy for
you to remember.
After you log in and have changed your password,
click on the directories link on the left hand side of
your login panel, then click on the link to view the
Members Section.
For future visits, you can log in by clicking on any of
the Member Login buttons on the website.
We are actively updating the section to add valuable
resources.
Thank you!
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Newsletter Contact Information |
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We're happy you are enjoying the newsletter.
We send out reminders for articles on the Alist, but
you are welcome to send one at any time during the
month. Please put NEWSLETTER ARTICLE in the
subject line to avoid deletion. If you would like to
send and article or have a suggestion, contact:
Puddin Race, St. Lucie County
puddin@slcfd.org
Telephone: 772-462-8337
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