It is with deep sadness that the Washington Fire Chiefs announces the passing of Dr. Robert Barnard.   Dr. "Bob", 84, served as a firefighter for Thurston County Fire District #9 beginning in 1974 and continued to serve the community in his later years as a fire commissioner.  A college professor and fire service safety expert, he was instrumental in the development of the WAC 296-305 Safety Standards for Firefighters as well as several other state-wide training initiatives.  Most recently Dr. "Bob" assisted the Washington Fire Chiefs & Washington Fire Commissioners Association in developing model policies to comply with the WAC 296-305.  Dr. Bob's knowledge, talents and expertise will be missed by the  Washington Fire Chiefs but he leaves a tremendous legacy in the Washington State fire service...

Compressed air foam systems (CAFS) have made their way into an increasing number of fire apparatus and the use has grown exponentially. This can be attributed to a combination of factors such as an increased acceptance of this technology, more frequent exposure to the available systems, faster knock down, and the benefit of substantial suppression power when water resources are limited.  As with many technologies that have found their place on fire department vehicles; the reliability and credibility of such equipment is only guaranteed by routine exercise, inspection, maintenance, and deficiency reporting to the maintenance department or service center.

In 2012 the Officers Section of the Washington Fire Chiefs was consolidated with the Training and Safety Officers Section.  This allowed for the vision of the Officers Section to move forward and to ensure its message and philosophy on leadership development is not lost.  Officer development at all levels is the mission of this group.  The fire service continually seeks qualified individuals within and outside of their organization who possess the vital skills needed to guide their organization into the future. 

The International Association of Fire Chiefs Officer (IAFC) Development Handbook was created to provide guidance and a “clear roadmap for success as a fire officer”; (Jim Broman).  This program has four levels of preparation; supervising, managing, administrative and executive.  Each of these levels contains four areas of personal development; training, education, experience and self-development.  I will break down each of these areas as they are described in the IAFC Handbook. 

This serves as notification that the U.S. Department of Homeland Security’s Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) is releasing the Fiscal Year (FY) 2013 Fire Prevention and Safety (FP&S) Funding Opportunity Announcement (Grant Program Guidance) on February 11, 2014.  The application period for the FY 2013 FP&S Program will open on Tuesday, February 18, 2014 at 8:00 a.m. EST and will close on March 21, 2014 at 5:00 p.m. EST...

The impact of the Affordable Care Act on fire service volunteers, has been a vital fire service issue, which had the potential to impact the majority of departments in Washington state.  The Washington Fire Chiefs have been in contact with the IRS to ensure we can provide you with the most up to date information available. 

Yesterday the US Treasury Department released the new guiding documents giving fire service volunteers a clear exemption from the Affordable Care Act.  Please see the links to the source documents, and the pertinent excerpts included below. 

The Washington Fire Chiefs will be inviting an expert to our WFC Board Meeting & County Presidents Forum which will be held in Sequim, WA on April 1, 2014.  We would like to encourage you to email us any questions you might have on this issue, so that we might address them with our expert.  Please email those questions to wfc@washingtonfirechiefs.org...