ADay of Remembrance From the Editor’s Desk

To many Star Wars buffs, May 4 has meaning. In 2019, California lawmakers voted to declare May 4 Star Wars Day to commemorate the opening of Disneyland’s Galaxy’s Edge — a Star Wars theme park. But, what does this day have to do with the May 4 I prefer to think about? The answer is nothing.

I prefer to remember May 4 as St. Florian’s Day and International Firefighter’s Day. International Firefighters’Day was linked to the feast day of St. Florian (the patron saint of all firefighters). Today, many firefighters wear a religious medal of St. Florian. St. Florian was the commander of a firefighting unit in the Roman Empire. He lost his life, with his unit while protecting life and property, just as firefighters all over the world do today. His feast day is May 4. St. Florian is remembered in many parts of central Europe. Many miracles of healing are attributed to his intercession, and he is remembered as a powerful protector to those in danger from fire or water. Take the time to read about St. Florian.

International Firefighters Day came about after a tragedy occurred in Australia. On December 2, 1998, firefighters in Australia were fighting a large wildfire and needed assistance. Their urgent call for help brought in firefighters from all over the area. Not knowing what was in store for them, a crew formed a five-man strike team and responded. As the five headed out from the fire to refill their tanker with water, a sudden violent wind change hit the area, engulfing the truck in flames, and killing all five members.

J.J. Edmondson, a volunteer Lieutenant and firefighter in Victoria, Australia, was moved by this tragedy and wanted to start a movement to remember the firefighters killed in this tragedy and other tragedies throughout the world. Her New Years resolution in 1999 was to organize an internationally recognized symbol of support and respect for all firefighters and a date for which this could be coordinated worldwide. The date chosen for International Firefighters’Day was linked to the feast day of St. Florian. The International Firefighter Day ribbons are linked to the colors symbolic of the main element’s firefighters work with. The ribbon is similar to the pink breast cancer awareness pin, the firefighter’s ribbon is red for fire and blue for water.

On May 7, the National Fallen Firefighters Foundation marked International Firefighters Day by encouraging everyone to Shine Your Light for Firefighters. Buildings and homes were lit in red as a remembrance of International Firefighters Day. In many areas, memorial services were held to remember our fallen brothers and sisters.

In conclusions, I leave you with Lt. J.J. Edmondson’s quote from 1999:

“The role of a firefighter in today’s society be it urban, rural, natural environment, volunteer, career, industrial, defense force, aviation, motor sport, or other is one of dedication, commitment and sacrifice, no matter what country we reside and work in. In the fire service we fight together against one common enemy fire no matter what country we come from, what uniform we wear or what language we speak.”

- Dennis

Serving Delaware’s First Responders Since 1921 DVFAOffice

We have a lot of exciting things that are happening here in the Delaware Fire Service.

We would like to thank everyone who participated in FDIC and CFSI this year. We heard a lot of good reports regarding the classes and seminars. We are happy to report that there were no reported injuries due to electric scooters. We are planning to have wonderful seminars at our conference, which will include national speakers sponsored by the National Volunteer Fire Council (NVFC), a wonderful organization with tremendous benefits to the fire service. The Delaware directors for the NFVC are Bill Betts and Jay Jones. They can help you navigate the website if you are interest in becoming a member.

We want to promote our DVFAFoundation Scholarship program. The DVFAFoundation has quite a bit of money to give out in scholarships this year to local members of the DVFA either in high school getting ready to graduate and attend college or already in college. We also want to remind you of the tuition reimbursement program available to all members of the fire service. The information is on the fire school website, or contact Jeff Brown at the school for more information. You do not want to miss out on these opportunities.

The DVFAwas successful in receiving a volunteer recruitment grant of more than $1.2 million over the course of the next four years. There are sub grant opportunities for the departments.

Information regarding these grants have been sent out to all of the fire companies, but feel free to reach out to Jeff Brown at the fire school or Jay Jones at the DVFAoffice if you have any questions.

There is over $5 million dollars in the Revolving Loan fund that needs to be loaned out. If you are planning on buying new equipment such as vehicles or radios, this program can help you with only a two-percent interest rate.

The 2023 DVFAConference will be held in Wilmington at the Chase Center on the River Front. We have very few rooms left in our reserved block of rooms in both hotels. If you still need to book rooms, please do so as soon as possible. The conference dates are September 12-15, 2023. As the registration forms become available, they will be posted on the DVFAwebsite. The 2024 conference will be held in Rehoboth/Dewey Beach.

Our next meeting is June 11 at the Delaware State Fire School. The State Fire Prevention Committee meets at 0900 and the Executive Meeting starts at 1000.

- Norman ‘Jay’Jones, Jr.; DVFA Executive Manager