Saying goodbye is difficult! Starting a new chapter in your life is exciting!

I will be saying goodbye to all of you as the Executive Director of the Washington Fire Chiefs on December 31, 2013. It was 9 years ago that I started this adventure to help your elected officers Serve, Educate and Lead this great association. I am also excited to pass the responsibility to Chief Wayne Senter who will begin on January 1, 2014 for a seamless transition. The WFC deserves your support and participation and when we are united the fire service is an incredible force. Do not miss an opportunity to be part of building the future of the fire service. The most difficult goodbye will be to Kathleen and Lori who bring joy to me on a daily basis. They love you and the WFC and work tirelessly to ensure goals are achieved. They are the best and they aren't going anywhere!

The WFC would like to update you on the situation with Chief Dave Lafave.  Join the WFC and keep him in your prayers as we hope for his speedy recovery.

Subject: Update Chief LaFave 12/9/13

Chief had a good day. He walked 11 laps around the unit which was 1 lap over the goal the doctors set. He talks a lot about the good conversations he has had with the folks he normally would not have had the opportunity to have long conversations with, he is very grateful to everyone for their concerns and various forms of assistance. Still shooting for release on Wednesday as long as everything keeps moving in the right direction.

Feel free to shoot him an email, he is probably up to getting a few now that things have calmed down an bit.

I ran across this article the other day and wanted to share it with all of you. I think this speaks to how important it is to have people in your organization that possess positive attitudes.  One of the main ingredients to creating and maintaining a successful organization is having that positive culture reside within your members and organization.  I have been in the Fire Service for 25 years and have worked with a lot of people which I am happy to say most of them have had a positive attitude. I believe that 99.9 % of people that demonstrate a positive attitude are the ones that will be the most successful at work and in life.  If you think about it who wants to promote someone into a leadership role that has a negative attitude. The answer is No One! Negativity is the number one killer of any organization and by placing these negative employee’s into officer positions is like giving the organization its death sentence. The good news is if you are one of those negative people it is not too late to change. Negativity is a choice. It is all in how you look at or perceive things. Please read this article and at the end look in the mirror and ask yourself am I a cup half full or half empty type of person, how do others look at you and your attitude?

The Office of the State Fire Marshal is pleased to congratulate the Marysville Fire District for their demonstrated commitment and effective promotion of fire prevention programs in their community, having earned them the distinguished Life Safety Achievement Award for 2012. “The number of fire fatalities in our state are lower each year thanks to fire agencies such as Marysville, making their communities safer” said State Fire Marshal Charles Duffy...

The Professional Development & Response Section is currently reviewing new Certification Test Banks for Firefighter 1 and 2.  A requirement of our International Fire Service Accreditation Congress (IFSAC) accreditation is to have our test banks reviewed by a group of third-party subject matter experts. 

We are currently seeking interested fire service members to serve on Technical Advisory Groups (TAGs) for these levels.  While selecting members for these TAGs, our goal is to involve a statewide cross-section of Washington’s fire service; including both individuals who have participated before and those new to the process.

We anticipate that these TAGs will meet one full day; Firefighter I on September 26th and Firefighter II on October 1st...

Some editorial thoughts from Jim Graue

I read with great interest the message from Tom Harbour. Written in the wake of the tragedy of 19 Granite Mountain Hotshots losing their lives, Tom calls on all of us in the fire service to “engage in a difficult and complex discussion about the choices we have made as a society and the table we set for those . . . who willingly insert [them]selves between the flame and lives, homes, and communities” and “chart a new and better course forward, one which always remembers.”

Everyone in the great fire service family, present and past, was impacted by this incident. But as I read Tom’s message, there was an awareness that something was missing. So, I re-read it, slowly and more carefully. Yes, it is missing . . . the word SAFETY, absent! That is an omission that is very difficult to overlook...

Some editorial thoughts from Tom Harbour

I have wondered what to offer in the wake of the Granite Mountain disaster.  The tragedy plays over and over in our minds.  We remember where we were.  We remember what we heard.  We remember how our hearts sank, the words we uttered, the prayer we offered.  Just 19 years and one week apart from the similar experience of “it can never happen again” Storm King, the Granite Mountain hotshots are forever etched in the wildland fire psyche.

Now the Granite Mountain memorial and funerals are complete.  With much of the western fire season yet to unfold, we have seen, heard, and read thoughtful commentary about the work we do and the places we do it.  In addition to Granite Mountain, six other souls have perished this year.  The toll in our fire business is far, far too high.  Yet, as I experience my fourty fourth year in this profession, I’m struck by the dark “book ends” of two mass casualty events of our work, Storm King and Yarnell Hill...