By Ron Siarnicki, Executive Director, NFFF

As a third-generation firefighter with 45 years of fire/rescue and EMS operational experience, I’ve been a part of multiple command changes—from shift changes in a firehouse to leadership hand-offs at fire scenes. They’re a pivotal part of our work, and now it’s time for me to take part in another one as I announce that I will be retiring as the Executive Director of the National Fallen Firefighters Foundation (NFFF).

Leading this organization for 21 years has been an incredible honor, an enormous part of my daily life, and much more than a job—it’s been my passion. And while I have happily embraced this role, there is no doubt that it is also a demanding one. Firefighters work around the clock, and tragedy can strike anytime. We take our job supporting Fire Hero Families and departments seriously, and this work happens 24/7. My passion for the fire service will never lessen – but after 50 years, I’ve missed a lot of nights, weekends, and events at home. It’s time for me to pull back a bit. My wife and family are ready for that, and as you can imagine—so am I.

My time in this role has been marked by great sadness for the incredible heroes we’ve lost along the way—343 firefighters on 9/11, 19 Granite Mountain Hotshot firefighters in the Yarnell Hill Fire in 2013, 11 firefighters from five departments in the fertilizer plant explosion in West, Texas in 2013, nine firefighters killed in the Charleston (SC) warehouse fire —in fact, we remember every single firefighter from different incidents across many years. At NFFF, we’ve always said we can’t control those tragedies, but we can control what happens once they’ve occurred. So I leave this role very proud because we have helped and continue to help so many families to be able to move forward. It’s painful but essential work, and it’s been my privilege to be a part of that.

I am so immensely proud of this organization and all it does. I was the fifth employee to join NFFF in July 2001. At that time, we were working in a small conference room in Emmitsburg, and we all did everything—from marketing and development to supporting family programs and building corporate relationships. From that, we’ve grown into an organization with talented and committed senior leadership and a passionate team of 30+ who constantly expand our programs, reach, and impact.

The people who work here are special—they are deeply committed to honoring more than 100 fallen firefighters each year at our annual Memorial Weekend, which took place October 8 and 9 this year. They work hard to raise funds to support various grief and behavioral counseling and survivor support programs from Memorial Weekend to Stair Climbs, Family Wellness conferences, scholarships for family members, our Hal Bruno children’s summer camps, and so much more. I am also proud of our work as a leading voice and partner in line-of-duty death reduction efforts through progra

Plum Grove Volunteer Fire Department located a fully-equipped Inflatable Swiftwater Rescue Boat for $8,000, BlueBonnetNews.com reported.

The department did not have the $8,000 to buy the boat, but local assistance was offered by Trey Harris and El Norte Property Owners Association, the report said. A donation was made to the department that allowed them to make the purchase.

The department has since been working through finalizing the project, and assuming all FEMA requirements are met, the department will have successfully gained a new Inflatable Swiftwater Rescue Boat for only $1,234.42, according to the report.

A fire official said the boat gives the department the ability to make rescues during floods. The department had been limited to using a high-water vehicle or aluminum boat, the report said.

By Alan M. Petrillo

CNH Architects had its hands full with the design and construction of two stations for Plymouth (MN) Fire Department, one a completely new build next to an existing station, and the other a new build married to renovated existing apparatus bays.

Dave Dreelan, Plymouth’s deputy chief, says the departmental needs were similar for both Station 2 (the completely new station) and Station 3, where the apparatus bays were retained. “Plymouth Fire Department has three stations, and up until 2017, had only career chief officers and paid on-call firefighters,” Dreelan observed. “At that time we hired our first career firefighters, and the next year expanded that model and staffed 24/7 in buildings designed only for the on-call staffing model. The stations had very small kitchens, no dayrooms, and no dorms, so we had converted meeting rooms, conference rooms and closets into dorms. We truly needed new stations.”

Quinn Hutson, principal at CNH Architects, says the old Station 2 “was an extremely small station that was built in 1976, and it needed to be completely rebuilt with modern amenities.” A station study confirmed that nothing in the station was salvageable, so the department chose to build a completely new station, but needed to keep the crews functioning in the old Station 2 while the new one was being built.

Dreelan notes that 85 percent of the new Station 2 was constructed next to the old building, and when that part was complete, the old station was demolished and the rest of the new station, a workout room on the ground floor and a training room and emergency operations center (EOC) on the second level were constructed.

Hutson says the floor plans for both stations are similar, with the chief difference being that Station 2 has a full second floor to house the fire department’s administrative offices, as well as a large training stairwell. Both stations have three drive-through, double-deep apparatus bays, flanked by a decon room, turnout gear room, work room, and self contained breathing apparatus (SCBA) room, Hutson says, as well as a kitchen, dining area, day room, six individual dorm rooms with individual locker spaces, and bathroom/shower rooms.

Dreelan says that Station 2’s second floor houses the fire administration offices and has a fitness area, conference room, and flexible space for cubicles or additional training areas. The station also has a mezzanine over the apparatus bays for bailout and confined space work, and a fully functional training stairwell with multiple windows and openings that allows for rope, hose line and ladder training. He adds that the department went from 11,000 square feet in the old station to 28,000 square feet in the new Station 2.

Pleasanton will celebrate the completion of the newly-constructed Fire Station No. 3 on Santa Rita Road at noon Friday, Patch.com reported.

Representatives from the city of Pleasanton and the Livermore-Pleasanton Fire Department will cut a ribbon and offer tours of the newly rebuilt station at 3200 Santa Rita Road, the report said. In January 2021, the nearly 50-year-old station was torn down after a study determined that it would make more financial sense to replace the structure rather than repair it.

Firefighters moved into a temporary station on Stoneridge Drive while construction began on the new firehouse. The new fire station is 8,000 square feet, two stories, and includes living space, an outdoor patio, and perimeter landscaping, according to the report.

It will also feature a historic bell that was used to summon volunteer firefighters from the late 1800s that used to be kept in front of Station 3 until it was moved indoors a few years ago, the report said.