By Richard Marinucci

Recently I was talking to a firefighter and asking how things were going. He said they were going well. His shift had gone to a couple of structure fires, and as we all know morale goes up when fire companies are busy with working jobs! But, I continued the conversation and asked about the outcomes. He said the operations were very effective. He continued to say that the outcomes (my words, not his) were good because they arrived quickly and had enough resources when they got there. I am thinking to myself (sarcastically) what a concept—arrive in time with the right resources, and the result is positive. 

I believe that too often we accept outcomes without acknowledging the fact that, at times, we don’t have a good response time and we don’t have the right resources. I will see news reports about a significant fire, and it is usually the same thing—the fire was through the roof or throughout the structure upon arrival, there was a lot of hidden fire, or there was some other reason why the building was a total loss. Never do I hear the response time or staffing levels. Sometimes I know the department and do a little recon. Almost always the response time was long or staffing was not adequate initially. Before I go on, let me emphasize that I am not being critical of the responders. They are responding with what they are given. The community has provided the resources, though many who live in the community are unaware of what those resources are. 

Regardless of the emergency, responders need to get to the scene in the moments that matter with the right resources—human, apparatus, and equipment—to make a difference. I would add that the firefighters need to be properly trained, and they must also practice enough to be competent, including conscious and unconscious competence. These must be present, or the system cannot make a difference. This applies to all the true emergencies. If a department could send the world’s greatest surgeon and his staff to a serious, life-threatening-injury accident, the results would be the same if they didn’t arrive in time. If the surgeon was all alone, it wouldn’t matter. If he didn’t have his tools, nothing would change. 

I realize that departments are not going to voluntarily provide information that would be detrimental to their operations. I don’t expect the news report after a tragedy to say that the department arrived with two personnel in a truck (which is a moving company, not a properly staffed fire truck!) and that it really needed significantly more. Usually I read that they had a lot of people on the scene, but most arrived after the window of opportunity closed. I rarely hear that the first arriving company took 15 to 20 minutes—again beyond the time when something good could have happened. 

Something that I never expect to hear is that the arriving companies were inadequately trained for the emergency. But, I wonder what I would find if I were able to check into training records? And, I mean to do some in depth research. I would want to know the basic training and the “practice time” devoted toward developing competence. I would want to know what standards for performance are being used. I would want to know how performance is measured and if times are kept. Is a real incident command system used and verified by a program like the Blue Card system to make sure that those in charge have enough “sets and reps” to be really competent?

I used to joke that I could provide a fire department by having a pick-up truck, a couple fire extinguishers, and a first aid kit. It would save a bunch of money (and virtually eliminate any personnel problems!!!). But, we all know that the results wo

The National Volunteer Fire Council (NVFC) announced the winners of its three national fire service achievement awards. The recipients of this year’s Lifetime Achievement, Fire Prevention and Education, and Junior Firefighter of the Year awards were selected through a competitive nationwide nomination process.

Award winners will be recognized at a banquet during the NVFC’s spring board meeting on April 7, 2017, in Alexandria, Virginia. As part of their award, recipients receive a trip to Alexandria to attend the award ceremony, complimentary registration for the NVFC spring meeting, and a personalized award. The NVFC thanks award sponsors California Casualty, Nest, and Rosenbauer for their support of the volunteer fire service.

The recipients of the NVFC’s 2017 awards are as follows.

Chief Freddy Johnson Sr.

NVFC Lifetime Achievement Award

Award sponsored by Rosenbauer

Chief Freddy Johnson, Sr., has served his community through the Stoney Point Volunteer Fire Department (SPVFD) in Fayetteville, North Carolina, since 1976, where he quickly moved up the ranks to lead as chief. The department has grown from less than 30 members and one station to over 100 members, mostly volunteer, at two stations, which now also offer rescue and emergency medical service. Johnson’s leadership at SPVFD guided the department to attain international accreditation with the Commission on Fire Accreditation International in 2012, a distinction further enhanced by a recent recommendation for reaccreditation, a status never before achieved by another volunteer department anywhere in the world.

In addition to his own department, Johnson presently serves as Emergency Services Director for the Hoke County Sheriff’s Office & Emergency Management, President of the Cumberland County Fire Chief’s Association, and a nominated member of the North Carolina Fire and Rescue Commission. In 2008, he served as a Homeland Security Fire Service Grant Peer Review member and, in the years following, he authored several million dollars’ worth of Assistance to Firefighters Grants that vastly improved emergency communication capabilities within his state. He has received several Volunteer Chief of the Year awards from organizations such as the International Association of Fire Chiefs, as well as Cumberland County Volunteer of the Year (1993), Young Deputy Sheriff of the Year (1988), and two state awards for volunteer service. Chief Johnson also received numerous awards and decorations during his service in the United States Army, where he retired as Sergeant Major after 23 years.

William Wren

NVFC Fire Prevention and Education Award

Award sponsored by Nest

Firefighter William Wren, a 28-year member of the New Hartford (NY) Fire Department (NHFD), is well known for bringing fire safety messages to his community and adapting to the needs of various populations. After several years of targeting elementary school students, the NHFD Fire Prevention Program Committee realized that their educational programming should extend to junior high school and senior high school students. Wren developed several programs for the older students, covering topics such as fire extinguisher use, recognizing by-products of fire, and escaping from dangerous fire situations. He also developed a program specifically for high school seniors to address the unique aspects of fire prevention and dorm safety at college.

In addition to reaching older students, Wren adapted programming to reach other groups within the community such as day cares, preschools, Boy and Girl Scouts, and senior