I'm sure I don't have to tell all of you that National Fire Prevention Week is October 8 - 14, 2006. The theme this year is "Watch What You Heat". This is an all-important reminder of kitchen fire safety, the number one place for home fires to start.

Most educators are juggling full calendars for the entire fall, pushed by the national campaign. We have a tendency to fill our calendars (and our lives) with more than anyone could accomplish, thereby adding unnecessary stress. I want you to remember to take care of yourselves. Stay as healthy and as stress-free as possible.

Victoria Yeakley, FAFLSE Chair
yealkeyv@hillsboroughcounty.org

Cigarettes are the leading cause of residential fire death across the country, killing 700 to 900 Americans each year. Additionally, thousands of victims suffer devastating burn and lung injuries, and property losses total millions of dollars each year. Cigarette fires aren’t limited to smokers — cigarette fires kill and maim smokers and non-smokers, men and women, the very young and the very old. Yet, there is a proven, practical, and effective way to eliminate the risk of cigarette-ignited fires. Cigarette manufacturers can produce cigarettes that burn out when left unattended, greatly lowering the risk of igniting nearby furniture and bedding. While tobacco companies could make this life-saving change right now, they are not doing so without a legislative mandate.

States throughout the country are acting. Already, legislation requiring that cigarettes sold in the state be “fire safe,” a term for cigarettes with a reduced propensity to burn if left unattended, have been adopted in New York, Vermont, California, Illinois, New Hampshire and Massachusetts — covering 25 percent of the U.S. population. In addition, the only cigarettes sold in Canada are fire- safe.

Fire-safe cigarettes work. Initial research in New York State since the implementation of its statewide mandate shows a dramatic decline in the number of fatalities caused by cigarette ignited fires. Research has also shown that these fire-safe cigarettes have not reduced sales or made cigarettes more dangerous to smoke. In short, fire-safe cigarettes save lives, and there is no reason for tobacco companies to avoid selling them or smokers to avoid smoking them.

The National Fire Protection Association recently launched the Coalition for Fire-Safe Cigarettes (www.firesafecigarettes.org). The coalition is made up of fire service members, consumer and disability rights advocates, medical and public health practitioners, and others who are committed to saving lives and preventing injuries by reducing the threat of cigarette-ignited fires. We are working to convince tobacco companies to immediately produce and market only cigarettes that are fire-safe. The technology for fire-safe cigarettes has existed for many years. For some reason, tobacco companies have not made this safer alternative available.

If they won’t act on their own, it is imperative that each state act to protect its citizens from needless death, disability, and destruction caused by cigarette fires. The fire service is a strong voice for public and firefighter safety. We hope the Florida Marshals and Inspectors Association will join this national movement to increase public safety by enacting legislation requiring fire-safe cigarettes.

Article Provided by:

Lorraine Carli
Assistant Vice President - Communications
National Fire Protection Association
1 Batterymarch Park
Quincy, MA 02169
lcarli@nfpa.org

Doug Swartz is a special kind of person and a special kind of firefighter. Doug does a lot for our department as well as for the fire service, way beyond the scope of his duties as a fire lieutenant. Doug first joined Clearwater Fire and Rescue in 2001. At that time, he had a vision of creating an honor guard team for our department. After several meetings with the Fire Chief, the department gave them $10,000 to get started, and they generated an additional $4,000 from the outside to complete start up. Doug sought donations from local businesses and organizations. Once he secured the money necessary to purchase uniforms, he then set about to kindle interest among his peers in becoming part of the honor guard. Since 2002, the Clearwater Fire & Rescue Honor Guard has performed at most official department functions, special ceremonies and sporting events in the community.

Doug has been recently appointed as the Deputy Commander for the National Fallen Firefighters 2006 Memorial event to be held at the National Fire Academy in Emmitsburg, Maryland during the opening of Fire Prevention Week October 6th, 7th, & 8th. This annual memorial is held in honor of fallen firefighters all over the USA. Over 1,000 honor guard members from the 50 states participate to memorialize their fallen brothers and sisters. This appointment is in preparation for being the Weekend Commander in 2007.

Doug also kicked it up another notch recently when he was selected to serve on the Department of Justice (DOJ) Task Force for the formation of the National Line of Duty Death (LODD) Response Plan. The DOJ invited the Director of the National Fallen Firefighters Foundation (NFFF) to assemble a team of 10 individuals from various disciplines; NFFF Staff, FD honor guard, chief officers, FD chaplain, IAFF, the IAFC, an LODD survivor, and a mental health professional to create a framework for a National Response Plan. Their purpose is to develop procedures so each state can activate their response team in the event of a LODD. Doug also became the chairperson for the Florida Fire Chiefs’ Association LODD Committee, which, along with the Florida Fire Service Honor Guard Association, has the responsibility for forming response teams within Florida. This includes assisting with the ceremonial and logistical aspects of a funeral for a fallen firefighter. Lastly, Doug is also a founding board member for the National Honor Guard Commander’s Association.

In the meantime, when Doug is not tending to all these obligations, he is a Fire Lt. on C-Shift and serves the City of Clearwater. During the Holidays, Doug always seems to be the go-to guy to head up the Holiday Food Basket program, which collects and delivers food for special families in need within our community. He is also married to Debbie and has two lovely daughters.

Doug, thank you for all your hard work, loyalty, and dedication to the fire service and to all the firefighters who have come before you and for all those in the future.


Article Provided by:
Elaine Lewis
Clearwater Fire and Rescue

Dunedin Fire Department is proud to welcome our newly appointed Fire Marshal, William “Bill” McElligott. Chief McElligott comes to us from Margate Fire Department where he served in the Fire Prevention Bureau from 1999-2006 and held the position of Fire Marshal from 2004-2006. He is a state certified firefighter, fire officer I, fire investigator, fire safety inspector II, fire plans examiner, and fire code official. Chief McElligott also holds an associates degree in Fire Science and Administration from Broward County Community College and is a former president of the Broward County fire safety inspectors association.

Article Provided by:
Elizabeth Monforti
Fire and Life Safety Educator
Dunedin Fire Rescue

"The serious losses in life and property resulting annually from fires cause me deep concern. I am sure that such unnecessary waste can be reduced. The substantial progress made in the science of fire prevention and fire protection in this country during the past forty years convinces me that the means are available for limiting this unnecessary destruction." While this statement appears to be an accurate depiction of our country’s current fire problem, interestingly enough, this statement was a part of President Harry S. Truman’s address to the 1947 President’s Conference on Fire Prevention.

Even though it was called "The President's Conference on Fire Prevention," the 1947 conference was not about fire prevention in specific, but about ways to reduce the total national fire loss. President Truman challenged the conference to take action and outlined his vision that "It is the clear responsibility of every State and local official, and every citizen, to aggressively support this national war against the growing menace of fire."

The National Fire Protection Association's (NFPA) 2005 report, "The Total Cost of Fire in the United States", indicates that in 2004, there were 3,925 fire fatalities, and the total property fire loss was $14.5 billion. This total property loss, was just a small portion of the overall $226 billion to $272 billion total cost of fire in America, which was roughly about 2 to 2.5 percent of the U.S. gross domestic product (gdp). The rate of this hemorrhage that is draining our national economy annually is relatively small in comparison to the strength of our national industrial output. But, a quarter of a trillion dollars annual cost is a very significant volume, and demands serious attention.

To put the magnitude of these statistics in perspective, comparison with some current significant national issues might be of value. Most don’t know, but the total cost of fire in our country in 2004, was a little more than the gdp of the largest oil producing country in the world, Saudi Arabia. According to the World Bank’s 2004 statistics, Saudi Arabia’s total gdp in 2004 was about $251 billion. Think about this next time around you are paying about three dollars a gallon, filling your gas tank!

Also, from an unbiased, non-partisan view, compare our total fire cost statistics to our loss statistics in the Iraq war. During the past three years since the start of the war, America has spent $350 billion, and as of today (September 22, 2006) we have lost 2,695 of our bravest in Iraq. During the same time period, at an annual average rate of $250 billion, and 4,000 fire fatalities, we have spent $750 billion on total fire cost and have lost 12,000 people. Next time you watch the national evening news and hear about our losses in Iraq, remember that we are spending more than twice as much on the total fire cost, and our fire fatalities are as much as four times higher here at home in America! Do most Americans realize this? I truly believe that if our representatives on Capitol Hill were aware of the real magnitude of our country's fire cost year after year, they would pay a lot closer attention to address the fire problem in our country. As Americans, I believe it is our national obligation to focus on ways to significantly reduce this unnecessary destruction. In the competitive world of global economics, we must be concerned about such wastes. We need the foresight to look ahead 30-40 years and recognize that to be competitive in the global economy, we should focus on ways to decrease our total national fire cost.

Back in 1947, President Truman recognized that preventing fires in the first place was the best way to reduce the total fire loss in our country. And to this date that fact has remained unchanged. October is the national fire prevention month. But, preventing fires and reducing our country’s total fire cost must be on our minds all year long. We need to focus more on fire prevention and utilizing all available technologies to address the fire problem in our country. Surprisingly, such simple affordable technologies have been available for decades. According to the NFPA about 80% of our fire fatalities occur at homes. And Home Fire Sprinkler Coalition (HFSC) claims that installation of smoke detectors and fire sprinkler systems together reduce fire death rates and property damage by 82%. Yet, nationally less than 2% of our homes are protected by fire sprinklers!

Since 1947, we have made great strides toward protecting our citizens from the wrath of fire. Yet, the perfect applicability of President Truman's statement to our current conditions clearly reveals the fact that we are still struggling with similar problems and trying to overcome the same obstacles. This fire prevention month in October, we should recognize that as a nation, we need to refocus our attention on prevention as the best way to reduce our country’s total national fire cost.

As a proud member of our country’s fire service, I recognize the importance of our mission to reduce the fire fatalities and the life-scarring fire injuries in our communities. I also believe that it is our professional obligation and patriotic duty to acknowledge our responsibility in decreasing our country's total fire cost.

Article Provided with permission by:
Azarang (Ozzie) Mirkhah, P.E., EFO, CBO
Las Vegas Fire & Rescue

Workers’ Compensation
Recently, the National Council on Compensation Insurance (NCCI) delivered it annual workers’ compensation rate filing to the Florida Office of Insurance Regulation (OIR). Based upon its review of the most recent data available, NCCI is proposing an overall workers compensation premium level decrease of 11%--a total reduction of $407 million to Florida employers. If approved by the OIR, the decrease will take effect January 1, 2007. The two main reasons for the proposed decrease are significant declines in claim frequency and improvement in loss development, mostly attributable to the 2003 reforms put into Florida’s workers’ compensation laws. Under the proposal, the entry level threshold for premium discount eligibility would be updated from the current $5000 for standard premiums (which was established in the 1980’s) to a threshold of $10,000 for standard premiums. Interestingly, Florida is the only NCCI full rate state that has not adopted the updated standard. The Premium Discount Program is revenue neutral since the rates are currently adjusted to fund this program. All Florida employers would receive a 2.6% rate reduction related to this change. This is the 4th decrease NCCI has proposed since the 2003 reforms. OIR will schedule a public rate hearing in October.

State-Run Commercial Insurance
In an effort to address the commercial insurance crisis facing Florida, the Governor and Cabinet approved an emergency rule establishing a property and casualty joint underwriting association to make commercial property insurance available to Florida businesses that are unable to find coverage in either the admitted or surplus lines insurance markets. Under the existing law, the state can form an association to help provide commercial property coverage if enough businesses appeal to the state because they cannot access adequate insurance. The JUA will be run by a 13-member board that will be appointed by the Chief Financial Officer and the JUA will operate as a reinsurance facility.

Code Amendment Process Review Workgroup The Florida Building Commission’s Code Amendment Process Review Workgroup met on August 21st and voted unanimously to recommend to the full Commission the following:>br> •

• Eliminate the annual interim process, maintain only the triennial and expedited process. The expedited process may be implemented whenever necessary and the criteria for the process would be amended to include the updates and changes to federal and state laws;
• Develop a triennial code update that coincides with the fire triennial update;
• Justification for Florida-specific amendments to the base code should be strictly adhered to and specific needs of the state should be defined;
• Issue quarterly notices of binding interpretations and declaratory statements in the form of a technical bulletin;
• Require the Technical Advisory Committees (TAC's) to review the code change proposals twice prior to Commission consideration during rule development during the code development phase of the update process and then have the Commission conduct Chapter 120 rule development with a rule development workshop and hearing; and,
• Maintain updates to the Florida Building Code within 2 years of new editions of the foundation codes and provide for adoption of equivalent product evaluation standards via rule 9B-72.

The Code Amendment Process Review Workgroup meets again on Oct. 9 and on Nov. 2.

Article Provided By:
Kari Hebrank, governmental consultant

Remember to register for the Member Section of the website.
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!

Saturday, February 10, 2007 has been designated as “Florida State Fire Clown Day” at the Florida State Fair in Tampa.
Mark your calendars.

If you are interested in making this a weekend, please email Myndee Washington at washingtonm@hillsboroughcounty.org and let me know, so we can get discount hotel rates and start planning some activities.

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

Please remember that our mailing list system is our primary method of communicating with you, the members. To comply with the rules of email lists we are required to have the option on our emails that allows the recipient to "Unsubscribe" from our list. Once a person has elected to unsubscribe from our system, we cannot automatically add them again.

Click Here to view our Calendar of Events.

Remember to always visit the seminar section
of the website in order to find a class near you....
and get those Registration forms in early...

email: noreply@ffmia.org

web: http://www.ffmia.org