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Welcome

Section Chair's Welcome Letter:

WFC Public Fire Educators is a section of the Washington Fire Chiefs, representing nearly 100 departments throughout the State of Washington. WPFE is dedicated to the reduction of injuries and lives lost due to fire and other hazards through prevention programs.

WPFE Goals:

  • The promotion of professional interaction with the citizens of Washington State.
  • The standardization of comprehensive educational materials and programs throughout  the State of Washington.
  • Cooperative development and planning with other fire service divisions, WFC Section and other related organization.
  • Educational opportunities for fire and life safety educators.

Members learn together and from each other. Sharing resources and ideas is the mainstay of this organization. We strive for standardization of concepts to serve our communities more effectively and we encourage creativity to personalize and enhance our audience appeal.

Educational opportunities are provided at minimal cost to ensure that public educators are prepared to develop, present, and evaluate their programs - not to mention inspired to present them! 

Four business meetings are held annually and the dates are posted to our website. The business of the section is determined at these meetings, so your participation is encouraged and welcomed. It's easy to join - simply click "Join WPFE" on the right. If you have further questions, please feel free to contact any Board Member. We will be glad to help in any way possible

WPFE is always on the lookout for innovative, creative, friendly educators who wish to help us combat fire and injury in Washington State. As our mission says, we "Ignite Awareness, Extinguish Risk."
 
Sincerely Welcome,
 
Ben Shearer, Chair

PFE Section Board

 CHAIR - Ben Shearer (Pasco Fire)

VICE-CHAIR - Erica Littlewood (South Whatcom Fire Authority).

PAST CHAIR - Melanie Taylor (Puget Sound Regional Fire Authority)  

PIO - Jamie McIntyre (Spokane Fire) 

SECRETARY - Shawneri Guzman 

(South Sno Fire)

BOARD MEMBER AT LARGE- Kelly Hawks - (Valley Regional Fire Authority)

MEETING INFORMATION

WPFE meets quarterly for business meetings. The location varies to afford departments around the state the ability to attend. The Annual Business Meeting is for the purpose of installing officers newly elected.  Currently, meetings are scheduled each year in March, May during the Washington State Chiefs conference, August, and October during the Fire Prevention Institute hosted by WASFM, unless otherwise noted.

Anyone may attend a general WPFE meeting, even if they are not a member.  We encourage everyone to join us and share their ideas with other public educators!

We are always looking for motivated educators and PIO's to share their ideas with others around the state.  Currently we are working with the Washington State Fire Marshal's Office to provide Fire and Life Safety Educator 1 with IFSAC certificate on each side of the state every other year. This years class is being hosted by The Spokane Fire Department March 31-April 3. The cost is $300 Contact Jamie McIntyre at SFD.  jmcintyre@spokanefire.org 

Impact Teen Drivers program is being offered in Kent coming up March 10 at 930 AM - 130 PM Register at info@impactteendrivers.org

If you have questions about the WPFE or CRR programs please feel free to contact me.  

Ben Shearer

shearerb@pasco-wa.gov

Recent PFE News

Changing the Culture of Seatbelts

Posted: Dec 18, 2014
Comments: 0

“Officer ejected from apparatus in serious condition”, “Firefighter died of injuries sustained from being ejected from engine”.  These are headlines from 2014! Why is this still happening? Doesn’t every department in the country have a policy about seat belts? Didn’t we all sign a seatbelt pledge? 

My answer to this question is “Culture” we don’t want to change.  Culture is deeply ingrained in the fire service.  Part of that culture is to not speak up.  I talked before about the fear of speaking up or reminding our brothers and sisters to do things safely. Seat belts are one of those “things” we have a tendency to not help each other out with. Would you let your partner go into an IDLH environment without doing a buddy check? No, because we have always been told that being part of the team is doing that for each other. So, why not do a “buddy check” before the apparatus rolls off the apron of the station?

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Why not?

Why not?
Why not?
Posted: Jul 10, 2014
Comments: 0
Why not wear your seatbelt?  Does your department have a policy of wearing seatbelts?  Has your department signed the Nation Seatbelt Pledge?  Twenty-seven fire departments in the state of Washington have signed along with the Washington State Fire Training Academy.  Two combined volunteer fire academies in Pierce County and the Washington State Fire Training Academy, class of 2013 have also signed the pledge.  With 500+ fire departments and fire districts in the State of Washington this is a very poor showing.  You can see the list of Washington departments that are 100% compliant with the International First Responder Seatbelt Pledge by going to http://www.everyonegoeshome.com/seatbelts.  The National Fire Service Seatbelt Pledge was created following the death of Texas firefighter Brian Hunton to reduce the firefighter fatalities.  Over 400 firefighters have died in vehicle crashes in the last 30 years; 300 did not have on seatbelts.  

There was an article in Fire Engineering stating that only 55% of firefighters wear their seatbelts which means that 45% do NOT wear their seatbelts.  

We in the fire service know there is a problem so why don’t we fix it?  Firefighters are not alone in not wearing their seatbelts.  The National Highway Traffic Administration reports that at least 42% of police officers killed in vehicle crashes nationally over the past 30 years were not wearing their seatbelts.  They NHTA also did a survey and found the highest use of seatbelts for the general public was in the west at 94%.  The State of Washington has the highest seatbelt use in the nation at 98%...

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