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| From the Editor's Desk... |
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
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| Greetings from Jon |
Summer is here and so are those old American traditions - baseball, apple pie, picnics and fireworks. Most of us know that the fireworks industry has labored extensively in Florida, lobbying our politicians to allow consumer fireworks into the hands of all Floridians.
As proponent of fire and life safety, we remain in constant vigil opposing such legislation. However, during the past session a bill was carried through both chambers that established a committee charged with reporting back to the Speaker of the House and the Senate President by next July on the pros and cons of legalizing consumer fireworks. Every time this debate arises we are asked for data to support our claim that fireworks are unsafe. The best thing we as safety professionals can do at this point is to properly document any incident that occurs where injury, death or property damage occurs due to the unsafe use of these products. We remain committed to this cause and will be monitoring the progress of the committee.
Our regional directors have been charged with reaching out to the membership for involvement on various committees. Currently, each director is actively engaged in locating a member from each region to sit on the code development committee chaired by 1st Vice President Wes Hayes. If you are interested in being a member of any committee, or establishing a new one please contact your regional director.
We now know what the Governor's "drop like a rock!" tax reform looks like. It is my hope that each of you has found some creativity in salvaging programs you have built over the years.
As I stated in a previous article, if you have any idea to share please post it on the chat group. Likewise, if you are in need of information chances are that somebody has experience in the area you are looking. The chat group has become a fabulous tool. Please continue to use it to your advantage.
Finally, it is time to start thinking about those fire service professionals who have gone above and beyond in their duties. Our "Of the Year Awards" committee will be looking for the cream of the crop in our fields of Fire Marshal, Fire Inspector and Fire Investigator. Congratulations to Bob Smallcombe from Palm Beach County Fire Rescue on being named Public Educator of the year at the Florida Association of Fire and Life Safety Educators conference in Marco Island last month. Will you be joining us in November as we honor Bob and the others? Plan now to attend the 59th annual Florida Fire Prevention Conference in Cocoa Beach November 5-8, 2007.
Until next month, stay safe.
Sincerely yours in a fire safe State of Florida,
Jon W. Pasqualone, President
FFMIA
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Salutations from Vicky
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WOW! What a great conference!
The workshops were meaningful and the accommodations were spectacular - the Hilton on Florida's Gulf Coast - who could ask for anything more?
Thanks again to the conference committee and Chuck and Juanita Akers.
The Juvenile Firesetter II class that followed conference was chocked full of great information. We are very grateful to Gerri Penney for facilitating this class. Now there are fourteen more educators who will have their certificates from the National Fire Academy.
The Florida Association of Fire and Life Safety Educators is supporting an effort to ban novelty lighters. These lighters have no "child proof" mechanism, often look like toys and are a huge attraction to youngsters. We are also joining with the FFMIA in support of fire proof cigarettes in the state of Florida. Stay tuned for more information on both of these subjects.
What about Bob? Congratulations to Bob Smallacombe in his selection as Fire and Life Safety Educator of the Year. Bob has worked tirelessly throughout the state in an effort to promote safety for our citizens. He's our FAFLSE immediate past Chair. He has continued to further his own education in the midst of his very busy schedule. Great job, Bob.
Article Provided by:
Victoria Yeakley, FAFLSE Chair
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| Mark Your Calendars |
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The Palm Beach County Fire Marshals Association and the Florida Fire Marshals and Inspectors Association will be hosting a (3) day seminar from August 21-24th, 2007 at the West Palm Beach Marriott. This seminar will include educational tracks for Fire Inspector's, Educator's and Investigator's in conjunction with the Florida Association of Fire and Life Safety Educator's and the Florida Chapter of the International Association of Arson Investigators. The agenda will include information on the basic operation of portable and fixed generator units for Educator's and Inspector's and will be presented by Jon Andio of Andio Electric, Inc.. For further agenda information, all are asked to refer to the FFMIA website @ www.ffmia.org. We look forward to seeing everyone there!
Andrea Santa
Training Task Force
FAFLSE |
| Chaplain's Corner |
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Summer Heat
Greetings with His Blessings,
Its the middle of summer and as the song from one of Eddie Murphy's movies said, " the heat is on". The gear many of you wear makes the sun's heat downright hellish, to say the least. But that gear saves lives if worn correctly.
Our spiritual life can be looked upon in the same manner. The heat that lies ahead in the 'wrong' eternity is also very hot, according to the Holy Scriptures, downright "Hellish". But the gear we are given in Ephesians 6:11 can save us too, from anything the enemy may throw at us. In this case, it's the SON that protects us, and even though the armor may seem heavy, He is Light and Cool.
Be safe this summer while you play with your families and keep cool. Remember Who loves you and does not wish for you to be Hot forever.
PS: Hope everyone enjoyed the conference, and I'm glad to have met more of our members. ><>
Chap Woody
In His Service, and yours,
Chaplain Woody Bollinger
Panama City Fire Department
Office: 850-872-3053
Fax: 850-872-3058
Cell: 850-541-2415
Florida Fire Marshals & Inspectors Association Chaplain
Bay Emergency Chaplain Corps Founder
West Florida Wilderness Institute Fire Brigade
Development/Placement Program Asst Chief
For our God is a consuming fire. Hebrews 12:29 |
| Arson Awareness Week, May 6-12, Essay Contest In Broward |
In recognition of Arson Awareness Week 2007, an essay contest was held by the Broward Sheriff's Office, Fire Marshal's Bureau through the Juvenile Firesetter Prevention and Intervention Program in conjunction with the Florida State Fire Marshal's Office. Special Projects Coordinator Courtney Palmer and Life Safety Educators LaToya Carbonell and Pamela Gorman created and distributed the contest to students in Broward County. Students were asked to write to persuade a classmate that that the crime of arson is damaging to people, property, and our community.
The first place winner, Isabelle Johnson from Ft. Lauderdale Christian School was presented with a certificate of excellence, four Florida Marlins tickets, a $25 gift card, and a special cake to share with her class. Chief SanAngelo and Captain Cicero of Ft. Lauderdale Fire Rescue also presented the award to the first place winner. In addition, a fire engine from Ft. Lauderdale Fire Rescue was also present at Ft. Lauderdale Christian School as an extra surprise. Second place winner Michelle Hopkins and third place winner Kyla Hessler, both of Central Charter School, were also rewarded with certificates, gift cards, and a cake. Others included in the award presentation were Chief Gregory Holness of Lauderdale Lakes and Lieutenant Joseph Schwartz of the Florida State Fire Marshal's Office. The winners read their essays to their classes and the children were able to ask questions about arson and firefighting.
Article Provided By:
LaToya Carbonell,
Life Safety Educator
Broward Sheriff's Office, Fire Marshal's Bureau
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| FAFLSE Conference |
| The Florida Association of Fire and Life Safety Educators conference was held in beautiful Marco Island in June. It was a huge success thanks to Chuck and Juanita Akers and the Conference Committee. Thanks to all of you who worked tirelessly to make our conference run so smoothly.
Auctioneer, Bart Wright, kept things rolling with a great sense of wit and timing and funds were raised for the scholarship fund. The Radio Flyer fire truck was the hit of the evening, causing a bidding war and ended up in the hands of FAFLSE Chair, Vicky Yeakley.
Congratualations Bob Smallacombe for being voted Fire and Life Safety Educator of the 2007 Year. Bob has extended his efforts not only in his county, but throughout the State of Florida. He has furthered his education throughout the process, holding two masters degrees and continues to push forward for safety. Bob is the ultimate example and mentor for other educators. When one asks, "What about Bob?", there's no doubt he's out there in the trenches, goint to bat for Public Fire and Life Safety Education. Bob - you've got a friend in all of us.
Article provided by:
Puddin Race, Vice-Chair FAFLSE
St. Lucie County Fire District
772-621-3450
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| A Safe Haven For Newborns |
Safe Haven for Newborns Public Awareness continues as we recently launched another media campaign in targeted regions throughout Florida. The campaign includes, Billboards, some Malls and Bus Bench shelters as our Funds allow. The next level of this campaign is to again engage all T.V./Radio/Print Media to air or print our Public Service Announcements.
Please let us know if you see these campaigns in your area. Public Awareness is saving lives.
Also, the "Safe Haven" High School Curriculum has been implemented in the Catholic High Schools throughout Florida. The full cooperation of all the superintendents and principals has been just fantastic. They have to be commended for allowing their schools to participate in educating the students regarding the option of this life saving program. The comments from students and parents have been very positive. We will begin focusing now in the public school system.
Most Importantly, two precious ones were saved recently, a little girl in Polk County on Friday May 11, 2007 and a little boy in Hillsborough county on mother's day, May 13, 2007. Two (2) more children now have a future.
My best to all,
Nick E. Silverio, Founder |
| Partnership for Drowning Prevention in St. Lucie County |
| The St. Lucie County Fire District, The St. Lucie County Health Department and the Swim Coalition joined forces for a community drowning prevention campaign.
Before school was out, a contest was held in elementary schools for youngsters to design a water safety bookmark. First through third place winners were chosen from grades three through five. There were lots of prizes including TV games, savings bonds, beach bags, certificates, a Water Safety Book and "Roo" character for each child. The art departments of the participating schools were given donations for supplies. Each school's first place bookmarks are being printed over the summer and will be given out in the fall back-to-school campaign, underscoring water safety once again.
Working with the literacy campaign during the month of May, WIC families were each given a "Water Safety In the Roo World" book to read over the summer - a total of about 400 books. Each elementary school library in St. Lucie County was also given two water safety books for their library and a "Roo" character. They were presented at the May school board meeting.
Boxes of props have been made available on a check-out basis for day cares and preschools to use to teach water safety to students. Through the Swim Coalition, swim lessons are being provided over the summer for more than 150 children of pre-school age.
Local television and radio stations have pitched in by hosting persons from the respective departments on shows to discuss water safety. Drowning is Preventable is the focus and St. Lucie County intends to keep spreading the word.
This partnership has been nominated for a state award. Stay tuned for more information.
Article Provided by:
Helga Snure, Health Education Director
St. Lucie County Health Department |
| Immokalee Deployment a Huge Success |
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We met at 0800 at "Our Lady of Guadalupe" Catholic Church for a debriefing. LT. Rivero (Bureau of Fire and Arson Investigation) advised us of the 5 fatalities (and 5 injuries) which resulted from the March 4 fire at one of the migrant camps. As there is an active investigation still in progress, the focus was on "fire safety" for the entire community in order to reduce the chances of this happening again. The Bureau was mostly concerned with the lack of communication between themselves and the local Fire Department with the residents due to language barriers. As most of the working community in Immokalee is made up of Hispanic and Haitian families, it was imperative to have outside agencies send Spanish and Creole speaking Public Educators to spread the message of fire safety. Along with representatives from Miami Dade Fire Rescue and Palm Beach County Fire Rescue, we were able to assist the Bureau and the IFD in accomplishing this task.
After the debriefing, we were instructed to approach both the Haitian and Hispanic community  as they arrived and departed from church services. Although the mass was held at various times throughout the day in both Spanish and Creole, the 2 team members from MDFR who spoke Creole and the 2 team members from Coral Gables and Palm Beach County were able to work together to draw families and individuals to the booth that had been set-up by the Bureau and the IFD. This booth provided plenty of fire safety tips (smoke alarms, escape plans, home fire safety and prevention, extinguisher use,etc.) to the community in the form of brochures,coloring books, key chains, activity books,etc (in Spanish, English and Creole).
I am proud to say that the most popular items were the coloring books and especially the plastic fire-helmets that our Departments provided. These learning tools and souvenirs made a definite impression on those in attendance. Additionally, I was asked by the Spanish Priest to address the attendees of the final 2 masses of the day at the end of his sermon.
The idea was to gain these people's trust and attempt to educate them as much as possible without making them feel intimidated. Judging by the number of visitors to the booth, everyone involved felt this goal was accomplished.
After the final mass concluded at 1500 hrs, the Bureau and IFD members thanked all of the participating agencies for their help and contributions and invited respective Department members to attend an upcoming Harvest Festival which they hope to use as an opportunity to further educate the community on fire safety. I provided the IFD Chief with my business card and advised him to please contact our Fire Administration about the request.
I noticed that the IFD's "Wake-up" program (a sign-up for free installation of smoke alarms in the home) form was only provided in English, so I offered to take a copy of one and translate it to Spanish and return it to the Chief's Fire Prevention Bureau.
Once again Chief, South Florida's commitment to fire-safety education and promotion of goodwill towards other agencies and their needs has made the Florida Fire Marshals and Inspectors Association and Florida Fire Chiefs Association shine among our peers.
Respectfully Submitted,
Carlos "Iggy" Eguiluz
Coral Gables Fire Rescue Dept.
Secretary, TERC-USA
Walt Reed
Deputy Fire Chief/Fire Marshal
305-460-5571 |
| Fire Sprinklers - A Huge Success Story |
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As the nation recovers from the disaster that recently occurred in Charleston, South
Carolina where nine firefighters lost their lives in a furniture store fire, it is interesting to note that at a similar fire occurred in Ormond Beach, Florida with a dramatically different outcome.
The fire at Modernage Furniture demonstrates the effectiveness of automatic fire sprinklers in providing life safety and property protection. According to Ormond Beach Fire Chief Barry Baker "not to discount the need for proper firefighter training and staffing, fire sprinklers are your best friend in controlling fires. They are efficient, effective and essential to protecting lives and property."
Firefighters were dispatched to the Modernage Furniture store at 445 South Yonge Street in Ormond Beach at approximately 7:30 p.m. Wednesday, June 20, 2007. Upon arrival firefighters found a small fire within the showroom being held in check with the buildings automatic fire sprinkler system. The fire was caused by discarded smoking material according to the state fire marshal investigator. The damage was limited to a small area of approximately 10 X 10 resulting in approximately $8,000 dollars in damage. Three sprinkler heads activated.
This is a great sprinkler success story states Mike Garrett Building Official/ Fire Marshal for Ormond Beach. "The buildings sprinkler system did its job. There were no fatalities, no injuries, and a very small amount of property damage. With some minor clean up the business will be back up and running in a day or so. This is a great example of how sprinklers help with business continuity."
According to the National Fire Protection Association:
Properly installed and maintained automatic fire sprinkler systems help save lives. Because fire sprinkler systems react so quickly, they can dramatically reduce the heat, flames and smoke produced in a fire. Fire sprinklers have been around for more than a century, protecting commercial and industrial properties and public buildings, such as hotels and hospitals and high-rises.
When sprinklers are present, the chances of dying in a fire are reduced by 50-75% and the average property loss per fire is cut by 50-66%, compared to fires where sprinklers are not present
NFPA has no record of a fire killing more than two people in a completely sprinklered public assembly, educational, institutional or residential building where the system was working properly.
Sprinklers are highly reliable. When present in the fire area, they operate in all but 7% of fires large enough to activate the system. Human error was a factor in almost all of the failures. The system was shut-off in almost two-thirds of the failures.
This fire incident clearly demonstrates the effectiveness and value of built-in fire protection. Quite often building and fire officials are asked; Why does my building need sprinklers? Or told; our building budget does not include funding for fire sprinklers. While most building and fire codes require sprinkling of larger commercial buildings, fire and building officials still get resistance from builders and developers who only view the short term and tend to ignore fire safety. In reality most fire sprinkler systems cost about as much as carpeting and with proper insurance credits can pay for itself in 7 to 10 years.
Barry Baker, Ormond Beach Fire Chief : 676-3333
Mike Garrett, Ormond Beach Chief Building Official/Fire Marshal -676-3350
Article Provided By: Sgt. Kenny Hayes, Public Information Officer
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