Oklahoma Firefighter February 2019 newspaper

February 2019 Volume 36, Issue 1

Official publication of the Oklahoma State Firefighters Association

OSFA Working for You! STAVROS SCHOLARSHIP FoundatiON Pete & Lela

Five $1,000 Scholarships

17th Annual OSFA Volunteer Fire Caucus

Apply By March 1 More Details on Page 14

Jan. 26 in El Reno • 74 Volunteers from 46 FDs attended

Quapaw Nation Fire/Emergency Dept.

Becomes OSFA’s First Tribal Member

More Details on Page 15

Story on Page 16

OSFA STATE FIRE SCHOOL May 2-5, 2019 At Tulsa FD’s Fire Training Facility & Tulsa Comm. College NE

The #1 Free Fire Training Event in the Southwest United States 4 Days u 100+ Classes u All for FREE

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I N S I D E

OSFA Executive Board Members’ Comments............................................................. 5-6 OSFA Executive Director’s Report - Steve Lumry ...........................................................7 OSFA Now Offers Individual Pay Health Insurance to Members ............................... 9 Firefighter Near-Miss Report - Greg Lindsay ............................................................... 10 OSFA Women’s Auxiliary Report -Marti Carpenter ....................................................12 ORFA Report - President Juan Rodriguez .................................................................... 13 Chaplain’s Corner - Chuck McDade ..............................................................................13 Oklahoma Firefighters at 2019 Gubernatorial Inauguration .................................... 16 Museum News - Gene Brown ................................................................................... 18-19 Oklahoma Fire Spotlight -- Ardmore FD ...................................................................... 26 Executive Board Meeting Highlights ....................................................................... 24-25

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2February 2019Oklahoma Firefighter

Oklahoma FirefighterFebruary 20193

klahoma Firefighter February 2019

Volume 36 — Issue 1

Official Publication of the Oklahoma State Firefighters Association 2716 N.E. 50th Street Oklahoma City, OK 73111 (405) 424-1452 • 1-800-308-5336 Fax (405) 424-1032 osfa@osfa.info • www.osfa.info Published monthly by and for members of the Oklahoma State Firefighters Association to educate its membership, to improve the fire service, and to enhance the value and dignity of their profession, either paid or volunteer.

Editor in Chief Steve Lumry stevel@osfa.info

Managing Editor Penelope Soldan penelopes@osfa.info

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Letters to the Editor: Oklahoma Firefighter encourages the

open exchange of ideas, opinions and concerns among members of the fire service community.

Letters to the Editor should: concentrate on issues, not personalities; be typed; be signed by the writer and include writer’s telephone number; and be mailed (or emailed) to the Oklahoma State Firefighters Association: 2716 N.E. 50th St., Oklahoma City, OK, 73111 (osfa@osfa.info).

Oklahoma Firefighter reserves the right to publish, edit and condense letters according to space limitations and the editor’s judgement. Great care will be taken to ensure the message in the letter is not altered. Anonymous letters will not be published.

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Get your Oklahoma Firefighter newspaper the minute it goes to press!

Read it on your smart phone, laptop or other digital device!

It’s an easy and convenient way to stay on top of what’s happening in your Association!

Plus, every page in the digital newspaper is in color!

And the digital version also features videos!

Simply call (405-424-1452) or email the OSFA office (osfa@osfa.info) and request digital editions!

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4February 2019Oklahoma Firefighter

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Oklahoma FirefighterFebruary 20195

PREsident

n

Dereck Cassady

In late December, OSFA entered into an agreement with Manhattan Life and Custom Benefits to provide major medical insurance, affordable supplemental health plans, dental, vision and cancer insurance, as well as accident policies.

All these plans are available at very good rates. It doesn’t matter if you’re paid, volunteer or retired. As long as you’re an OSFA member, you are eligible for these plans.

In the first three weeks, over 200 members have made contact and asked questions about the plans, which tells us it’s definitely something that was needed.

We are very glad this is something we could add for our members.

With February here, that means legislators are back at the Capitol and a new

session has begun.

With numerous new legislators in the Capitol this year, I encourage every one of you to make sure you are on a first-name basis with your legislator. These are the people that will be voting on our issues.

1st vice PresidenT n

Mike Kelley

OKC FD

mkelley@local157.org • 405-623-4338

Hopefully everyone has had a great start to their

2019! Your OSFA is working hard preparing for the

upcoming legislative session and a full slate of conferences etc.

Obviously, our #1 legislative priority is securing a COLA for our retirees. We will provide talking points and will be notifying you, our members, when we need you to weigh in with your individual legislators.

There are many new legislators, meaning personal connections will be more important than ever.

By the time you read this, we will have held the 2019 Volunteer Caucus.

I’m impressed every year by the commitment and professionalism of our volunteer brothers and sisters.

At the conclusion of the day, we will know what issues are the most important and we can take action as an organization. One of the ongoing issues is training. and Sheri Nickel continues to do an excellent job administering the grant program and making sure that volunteers have access to valuable training.

I recently read an article on expectations by Jerrod Sergi, and this paragraph states it better than I could: “Just take care of each other. That’s it. Just look out for one another. I think we forget just how much we count on each other to get this job done. We are a team and we should act like one. We don’t talk behind each other’s back in the firehouse.

“Your crew members need to know that you require an environment where problems are brought to the surface and handled at the lowest level possible. They need to understand that you want them to be a phone call away if something comes up while off duty.

“We pride ourselves on words like family and brotherhood. We shouldn’t just toss those words around so gently. Ensure your crew knows how much you care about them. I tell my crew all the time that I am here for them. My job as their company officer is round the clock. Your crew should be able to pick up the phone and call anyone on that shift roster without the first words out of their mouth being, ‘I hate to bug you, but ...’

“If this idea of family and cohesion is important to you, it will be important to them. We must take care of each other.”

Your OSFA is here for you and we are just a phone call away.

If I can be of assistance to any of my brothers and sisters, I would be honored to do so. Hopefully, that is the atmosphere within your station, shift and department. Nobody understands a firefighter like another firefighter and we need to take care of one another!

Stay safe brothers and sisters!

Ponca City FD

IAFFLocal2479@ yahoo.com • 580-761-5338

The #1 priority for the OSFA during this legislative session will be a COLA for the retirees. We are going to be all-hands-on-deck to see this through to the end.

Our lobbyists will work diligently with legislators on the COLA. They will also be watching all bills that affect firefighters.

We need you to be watching for texts and email alerts in case we need you to contact your legislator on a certain issue. If we ask you to make that contact, we will supply you with talking points so we are all sending the same message to the Capitol.

If you have any questions on where OSFA stands on any of the issues, feel free to call the office.

The class list for the OSFA State Fire School is finalized, and registration should open up very soon. Be watching the OSFA website and app, as well as OSU-FST’s website, for the release of the class schedule.

Once again the Educational Advisory Committee has worked very hard to put together the best list of classes possible. For the first time, we will have every fire service entity in the state of Oklahoma as well as NFPA involved in Fire School.

Aside from our regular classes with Forestry and the State Fire Marshal’s office, this year we have partnered with NFPA and FMAO for a one day Public Safety Summit. There should be some great Public Education classes.

We have also partnered with the PFFO to bring in some labor classes.

Last but not least, we have the 125th Annual OSFA Convention June 5-8 in Ponca City. I urge all of you to get your hotel rooms early as the rodeo is in town that week/weekend also.

The host hotels are the La Quinta and Fairfield Inn. Just call either one and let them know you’re coming to Convention. Rates are $79 a night.

We have been putting a lot of hours in planning this year’s OSFA Convention, and we hope to make it one you will remember.

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6February 2019Oklahoma Firefighter

2nd vice PresidenT n

Eric Harlow

Guthrie FD

ericharlow200@gmail.com Greetings Oklahoma Firefighters!

I hope your new year is treating you all well. So far, the winter has been mild and it appears our winter wildfire season may be somewhat abbreviated according to the experts.

Mental health and well-being is still a very hot-topic in our profession, and this month I wanted to share an article courtesy of Fire Chief magazine that discusses a sometimes-forgotten member of our ranks ... the Fire Chief.

Traumatic stress: Who counsels the fire chief?

By Robert Rielage Former Ohio Fire Marshall There are a number of studies, programs and videos on the effects of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) on all of us in public safety.

For the first time, police officer suicides in the United States have exceeded line of duty deaths, which is also the case in firefighters.

The cumulative effects of handling emergencies – especially traumatic injuries to children or to one of our own – are among the leading causes of PTSD in first responders.

Recently, in a span of a few hours, personnel from one station in our department responded to both a non-breathing infant and a police officer who was struck while directing traffic. Neither patient survived.

We as fire officers or chiefs know to look for a change in mood or attitude in our members after a traumatic call, and to take the time to stop in to a station just to talk to crews and see how each member is coping.

For those showing some signs of delayed stress, we have help available to cope with the issues – employee assistance programs or chaplains – or just plain listening to the firefighter who needs to vent his or her frustrations, fears and grief over an emergency response.

Every chief or senior fire officer needs a confidant – someone they trust explicitly – to share their trials, concerns, triumphs and failures without judgment, who is capable of sage advice when the situation calls for it.

Police Officer LODD ‘One Of Our Own’ The LODD of the police officer and the death of the infant on the same night, worked by the same crew of firefighter/paramedics was especially troubling.

The police officer had not only worked for our jurisdiction for over 15 years, he had also served as a fire explorer and firefighter/EMT with our department before crossing over to law enforcement. He was known by virtually every member of the fire department.

He had also been honored less than six months prior to his death for assisting a blind woman from her burning apartment just

3rd vice PresidenT n

405-520-2893

prior to the arrival of the first engine company. He never stopped being one of our own.

As the funeral arrangements unfolded, my concern was whether the police chief and his senior officers had any signs of extended stress.

Each one of them was putting in exhausting hours, being present at every shift change and helping the family make arrangements.

He and his lieutenants were there for their police officers, but what about them?

That brought me to the question, “Who is there to counsel the chief?” Not too many years ago, I was shocked to learn of a young fire chief who took his own life.

We had met by chance at a fire conference, and his department was one I had the privilege to serve with while I was in the Air Force assigned to a nearby air base.

We had sat for a long time discussing how the department had grown and how the engine I had once driven and engineered was now the city’s “antique” fire truck.

After his death, I spoke with another member of his fire department and asked if there had ever been any signs indicating his stress or a breaking point? There had been none.

So in retrospect, I began to wonder, is the chief supposed to be so stoic that nothing is supposed to affect him or her?

Find A Confidant Who Understands Fire Service Stress What is the solution? I’m certainly not an expert, but it seems to me that every chief or senior fire officer needs a confidant – someone they trust explicitly – to share their trials, concerns, triumphs and failures with without judgment, who is capable of sage advice when the situation calls for it.

Who is that person for you? It could be your spouse, a close friend, another chief, a chaplain, clergy member or a trained professional counselor – anyone you unequivocally trust who also understands the stressors of the fire service. That person needs to be your barometer that can observe, frankly discuss and advise you.

I’ve had several such mentors, confidants and advisors during my career, and at the same time, I’ve been the person others have come to on several occasions. It’s up to you, but my advice is to find that individual and build your trust in him or her before you really need them.

Talking things through when you need to clear your head of doubts or fears is one of the best ways to avoid PTSD, but – equally as important – is to continue your solid leadership in a department that looks to you for guidance.

Need help? Call the National Suicide Prevention Hotline at (800) 273-8255 In closing, please keep your mental well-being and that of those within your department on your mind.

Don’t be afraid to reach out. Sometimes we are the one needing rescued and it’s not a bad thing. Stay safe!

Cliff Davidson

Ringwood FD

davidsoncliff@yahoo.com

•

580-554-1886

Hello everyone! I hope everyone enjoyed the holidays.

As always, another year flew by in a blink of an eye. I don’t know who all made a New Year’s resolution, but I wish you luck and success.

Your OSFA Legislative Committee has worked diligently to get prepared for the new legislative session. All proposed bills are turned in and ready for approval. Rest assured your OSFA staff and board members will be working diligently to get them signed by the Governor.

Our top priority is to get the cost of living adjustment for our retirees. This is long overdue! Then we have a Pension Correction Bill that is done on an annual bases to keep the pension system in line with IRS rules and regulations to maintain our qualified status.

We have a Title 19 Fire Protection Bill and a bill to make adjustments to the pension system to allow paid and retired firefighters to volunteer in their rural communities. The changes made are to protect the pension system. I myself think this bill will help a lot of Volunteer Fire Departments around the state.

As we know, a lot of the paid firefighters live in rural communities and would like the option of helping out in their communities. They can offer a wealth of knowledge and experience to their local department.

This will be a very interesting legislative session with all the new freshman legislators.

It will be interesting to see how the year goes. Hopefully they can learn to work together and do what is right for the citizens of the state of Oklahoma.

OSFA Administrative Director Sheri Nickel has done a great job of getting the Firefighter 1 online classes rolling for the new year. The grant and the partnership with OSU-FST has been a great benefit for the volunteers of the state.

Everyone stay safe out there.

Past PREsident n

Matt Lay

Tulsa FD

matthewlay@icloud.com • 918-760-9065 As we roll into Spring, its just another season of action for Oklahoma Firefighters. Here’s a few highlights of where we’ve been and where we’re going …

Inauguration: Fire Departments and Fire Service Leaders from all over the state were invited and honored at the swearingin of the 28th Governor of Oklahoma on Jan. 14. It was great to see a Presidential Appointee in U.S. Fire Administrator Keith Bryant back in town for this special occasion (See photos on Page 16).

Many thanks to OKC Local 157 Firefighters Tony Morgan, Adam Potter, Justin Beard, Caleb Anderson, and Katie Sondag for their help on the ground during the event. It was great for the state’s new administration to see that firefighters are always there when you call and there to meet the need.

Tulsa Fire Department: We continue to grow and will began a new academy of 30 firefighters on Jan. 28. These cadets will undergo five months of academically and physically rigorous training at the Tulsa Fire Safety Training Center collocated on the campus of Tulsa Community College NE. Get a closer look at this facility at the next OSFA State Fire School on May 2-5.

American Lung Association OKC Fight-for-Air Stair Climb: Join firefighters from all over the state for a little healthy competition and charity fundraiser on March 2 at the Valliance Tower in Oklahoma City.

Team up and try to take home the gold at this annual event that raises money for research, education, and patient programs through the American Lung Association. More info at FightForAirClimb.org/OklahomaCity.

Legislative: The start of the 57th Legislative session kicks off with the State of the State on Feb. 4 at the State Capitol. The OSFA Legislative Committee chaired by Jim Ed Nimmo and our lobbying team led by Don Armes have spent the last several weeks pouring over legislation to ensure that firefighters are able to benefit from the resolutions introduced, and prepared to defend our members from bills that may do otherwise.

Add to that, Tulsa Fire’s own Stan May has been named the new Vice-Chair of Appropriations for Public Safety for the House and Retired Tulsa FF Kevin Matthews has been named Caucus Chairman in the Senate. We’ve got a lot of people watching our backs and advocating on our behalf as we enter this session.

As always, if there’s anything the Board or Staff of the OSFA can do for you or your department, please don’t hesitate to let us know.

Take Care and God Bless.

Oklahoma FirefighterFebruary 20197

OSFA executive director n

Steve Lumry stevel@osfa.info • 405-424-1452

What does it mean to be a member of the OSFA?

This is a question that I am frequently asked, and to be perfectly honest, I ask of myself from time to time.

We recently attended an event in Miami, OK, where the Quapaw Nation Fire/ EMS Department decided to celebrate joining the OSFA (see story on Page 16).

During that event, Jeff Reeves, tribal fire chief and public safety director of the Quapaw Nation Fire/EMS Department, said it best: “Firefighting is like a brotherhood, and this (membership) includes us officially in this brotherhood.”

The only thing that I would change about Chief Reeves statement is to clarify that we are really a family, both a brotherhood and sisterhood, that includes all members of the fire service.

It doesn’t matter what your rank is, what your gender is, what the color of your skin is, or whether you are paid or volunteer. You are part of this organization (or can be) and you have a voice!

This was evidenced most recently by the assembly of well over 100 people who attended the 17th annual OSFA Volunteer Fire Caucus Jan. 26 at Canadian Valley Technology Center in El Reno.

The Volunteer Caucus is an extension of our annual convention. If you weren’t aware, during convention, various groups join together by breaking up into “caucuses” to debate the issues and come to a better understanding of how it affects their specific group.

They also join these caucuses to advance their ideas as a group as to what their needs are and what would be good for the fire service in Oklahoma as a whole.

L

ots of delegates attend numerous caucuses because they have interests invested in each of the different ones they decide to attend.

There are caucuses for retirees, for PFFO, for chiefs, for individual departments, or groups of departments from certain geographic regions of the state, all depending on the issues being addressed during that year.

Over the past 17 years, we have held the volunteer firefighter caucus separately on a Saturday in January or February to allow them complete input on the issues facing the volunteer service.

Are volunteers special? Is that why they are held separately?

I would say, “Yes, they are. In fact, all firefighters are special because of the type of work they do and ALL should have their say in how this Association operates and what the priorities should be.”

In that vein, many volunteers cannot afford, either by time or money, to spend the full week at convention.

However, I must mention to their credit, there are more volunteers that attend the full convention than many people realize. We commend them for their dedication.

Those who cannot dedicate that time or expense should not be shut out of the discussion just because they can only attend convention on Saturday morning.

That is why former OSFA Executive Director Jim Minx originally came up with the idea of the caucus so many years ago. Because, it is important to OSFA and the leadership to have the input from all the various pieces of the fire service and to help meld that into a cohesive program.

What does it mean to be a member of OSFA?

• It means being a part of something greater than yourself or your department.

• It means working together to make a difference in the fire service and the safety of firefighters and Oklahoma’s citizens that we serve.

• It means working out our differences to a common goal.

• It means being a member of the fire service family and all the good and bad that comes with being part of a family.

• It means that communication is a two-way street.

• It means participation on committees and the commitment of the OSFA to be on the road, as well.

• It means advocating for what is important to the fire service to efficiently complete our mission.

• It means you have a voice and that voice is loud and clear!

Just like it says on our letterhead, we are “Working to protect and improve the Oklahoma Fire Service since 1894.”

Until next time, STAY SAFE.

OSFA Staff / Museum Staff Executive Director Steve Lumry stevel@osfa.info

Administrative Director Sheri Nickel sherin@osfa.info

Museum Director Gene Brown geneb@osfa.info

Special Projects Tim Bartram timb@osfa.info

Administrative Assistant Trisha Chain trishac@osfa.info

Museum Assistant Quintin James quintinj@osfa.info

Publications Penelope Soldan penelopes@osfa.info

Receptionist Kristen Horton kristenh@osfa.info

Museum Assistant Robert Noll bobn@osfa.info

MEET KRISTEN HORTON Kristen Horton joined the OSFA staff in January.

She will greet those who come by or call the OSFA office and help answer any questions.

The 25-year-old was born in Elko, Nev., and raised in Windsor, Va. She has no ties to the Oklahoma Fire Service, but her husband is active duty military.

“We moved to Oklahoma City in October 2018,” Kristen said. “We lived in Tulsa for about four years and fell in love with Oklahoma.

“When it was time for my husband to choose orders, he put in for OKC. We were very excited to move back to Oklahoma, and he plans for us to retire in Jenks or Broken Arrow.”

When asked what she is looking forward to as a member of the OSFA staff, Kristen said: “Helping those who help us ... and donuts, of course!”

Help support your Oklahoma Firefighters Museum Expansion and the Oklahoma Fallen and Living Firefighters Memorial by purchasing an Oklahoma Firefighter license tag.

Money received from the purchase of each tag goes directly to financing upkeep on the Oklahoma Fallen and Living Firefighters Memorial and Oklahoma Firefighters Museum.

Oklahoma Firefighter tags cost $35 a year (on top of regular tag fees) and $20 goes directly to the Museum/Memorial.

Tags can be purchased from local tag agents any time during the year -- not just with your regular plate. And they can be customized to 6 letters as approved by the Tax Commission.

8February 2019Oklahoma Firefighter

LETTER TO THE EDITOR To the Editor of Oklahoma Firefighter: You printed an opinion letter written by David Fincher of the Lawton Fire Department. The letter was on Page 7 of the December 2018/January 2019 issue.

Pursuant to your position on letters to the editor, I have written a response to the issues raised by Mr. Fincher in his letter.

Dear Editor: The December issue of the OSFA newsletter contained a letter to the editor. The letter appeared under the title “The brotherhood of firefighters is dead.“ I have many concerns about what was written.

While I appreciate the writer’s opinion, I feel many of the conclusions were wrong. I will attempt to address as many of those claims as I can, point-by-point with my opinion.

The letter stated: “On the first day of my fire academy, I learned a phrase that is all too familiar in the fire service: ‘I am number one, my partner is number two, and everyone else is number three.’

The idea is, by being number one, I am going to do whatever it takes to get out of a situation that’s gone terribly awry. I also know that my partner is telling himself the same thing, so I shouldn’t worry about him too much. Person number three ... Sorry about your bad luck.”

My opinion: I was taught the phrase is me, us, them. Me first so there will be someone to save us. Us so we can save them.

The statement “sorry for your bad luck” is offensive to me. If a fire department employee taught, what was claimed was taught, the main point of the fire services existence was missed. I feel in such a situation, both the student and the instructor sorely need additional training to clarify the meaning of me, us, them in the fire service.

The letter stated: “Lately, I’m noticing a trend within the fire service that is becoming more and more popular: ‘I’m number one. Everyone else ... sorry about your bad luck.’”

My opinion: I am sorry that is the experience in some fire departments. It sounds like it may be the training being received. I assure you other city employees and firefighters I have met do not feel like that.

I work in Oklahoma City and I have not met one Oklahoma City Firefighter that feels that way. Although not every firefighter I know is a sweetheart, when the alarm sounds, every firefighter I have worked with is committed to serving the citizens we protect and not just themselves.

Whether it is a fire alarm or an EMS ride Oklahoma City Firefighters respond with a servant’s heart.

The letter stated: “I’ve witnessed a firefighter threaten to sue his city, because of an interpretation in contract language, if he wasn’t allowed to take a promotional test that he wasn’t eligible for.

Because of one individual, nine of his ‘brothers’ who previously had been eligible, suddenly weren’t allowed to take their test.”

My opinion: If an employee is eligible for a promotional test, and he is not allowed to test, it is a grievance issue. That is why we have a Union and the PFFO. If a department has a union, it should aggressively pursued the rights

of their members. That process should be used if you are unfairly treated.

If an employee is not eligible for a promotional test they should not be allowed to take a promotional test.

That is the way it is based on the contract.

The letter stated: “A rumor that keeps popping up involves ...”

My opinion: Really, rumors? Don’t waste my time or the OSFA newspaper on fire department rumors.

The letter stated: “Finally, the current word on the street is that there is a group of retirees who are upsetting the pension system by attempting to milk out an extra few dollars. These ‘brothers’ could potentially draw the attention of politicians, who we know won’t have any problem helping themselves to what we’ve all worked so hard for.

What would cause individuals to act this way? Entitlement? Greed? Selfishness?”

My opinion: I should not speak for others so, I will speak for myself. In 1994, I was offered a job in the fire service.

I was offered a clearly defined pension benefit for 25 years of work and the money I put into the system.

When I worked 10 years, I was told I was vested in the pension system, but I needed to work 10 more years and contribute more money to get 50 percent of my wages as my retirement benefit. When I worked 20 years, I was told if I worked five more years I was eligible for the Plan B benefit I was told about in 1994.

I signed up for Plan B. When I signed up, I was advised I should consider the drop-back rather than the forward drop. I was told that would allow me to stay longer if I needed to. I was told if I elected the forward drop I was locked in. OSFA said I was signing an agreement with the state that could not change. I was told a change in my circumstances would not allow any change in the forward drop agreement. I signed the forward drop agreement in 2015.

I was advised in 2018 there was a change in the unchangeable pension I had been promised. After I provided 23 years and eight months of work and the money I paid into my pension, the OSFA decided to renege on the promise they made. After receiving 95 percent of the work and money the OSFA wanted to change my benefits.

At this writing, I am 62 years old and have one year and one month to go. I deserve what I was promised 24 years ago. I deserve what I paid for. I want the OSFA to stand behind the promise they have been making for the last 24 years. The Oklahoma fire service got what they wanted. I cannot get those years back.

Now it is time for them to provide what they agreed to provide what they received.

This is not about entitlement, greed or selfishness.

This is about the OSFA doing what they said they would do. This is about keeping your word.

Whatever someone could do, or potentially could do, has nothing to do with what honor demands a person do. This appears to me to be a stand with those that would take from those that have worked and earned their reward. If brotherhood is dead, I believe it is those described above and the other takers that have killed it.

We want brotherhood? Then it is time to stand up. It is what a brother would do.

Mike Burris Oklahoma City Fire Department

EDITOR’S NOTE:

One of the issues being addressed lately in the Oklahoma Firefighter in Letters to the Editor is the issue of changes to Plan B. While everyone is encouraged to form their own opinions around this issue, the facts are:

1) OSFA does not control or run Plan B or the pension system. The pension system has its own board that makes the decisions for the pension system. That Pension Board is comprised of 13 members, only five of which are OSFA Board members. No one Pension Board member, including those affiliated with the OSFA, can control or speak for the pension system.

2) The pension board is legally charged with protecting the pension system for all members and beneficiaries including future generations, and take great interest in what the firefighters want and need.

3) A resolution (Legislative Resolution 15-01) was properly brought by a member in good standing before the 2015 Convention held in Oklahoma City to address his growing concern about the effects of Plan B on the main pension benefit plan (Plan A). That resolution was assigned for further study by a select Ad Hoc Committee comprised of a wide array of fire service members, including retirees with Plan B, actives approaching Plan B retirement, retirees without a Plan B, firefighters with less than 10 years, firefighters with more than 10 years but less than 20, Past Presidents, volunteer firefighters, union firefighters, and pretty much everything in between.

4) That select Ad Hoc Committee studied the issue thoroughly for a full year and examined every possible scenario including leaving it the same. They quickly determined that the pension system could not sustain indefinitely with Plan B accounts pulling from Plan A and continuing to compound the problem into a bigger problem each year moving forward.

A proactive stance had to be taken.

5) That Ad Hoc Committee completed their work in just enough time to properly and timely submit a new, revised resolution for the 2016 Convention (Legislative Resolution 16-05) that was thoroughly debated at the convention in Lawton that year. The resolution was published in advance for all to read and be informed and made available to anyone upon request prior to the convention. In fact, a special educational meeting was held on Friday afternoon for the delegates in attendance to further discuss and answer questions about the pension system, the growing crisis within the funding of the system, and the resolution proposed to correct the situation. Granted everyone felt that the resolution wasn’t a perfect fix for each person individually, but as a whole most folks understood it and the need for it.

6) Resolution 16-05 was brought up for debate on the convention floor on Saturday, June 11, 2016, as is the proper way to suggest and make changes to OSFA positions, and the resolution overwhelming passed the convention after healthy and spirited debate.

7) This resolution was provided to the pension system, where the pension board took it under advisement and ultimately adopted these suggested changes to improve the future funding of the system and help ensure its future health.

8) The pension system took the content from the OSFA resolution as approved by the full pension board and put it into proposed rules for the system.

This process requires it to go before the legislature and governor with ability for input from constituencies. The legislature allowed the rules to move forward and the governor approved the changes and they went into effect on June 30, 2018.

9) This has been a three-year process with lots of time for input, and much input was received. The input came from both sides of the issue at about the same ratio as the resolution passed the convention.

Now that you have the facts, feel free to form your own opinion on this issue.

Oklahoma FirefighterFebruary 20199

Question & Answers Oklahoma Firefighter asked last issue’s readers this question: How would you complete the following?

“You know you’re in Oklahoma when ...”

Here is what they said: w Chigger Burch, Lawton Retired: You go through all four seasons -- summer, spring, fall and winter -- in one day! w Clifford Lets, Oklahoma City Retired: Every restaurant, big or small, has chicken fried steak and pecan pie on the menu! w Sheri Nickel, OSFA: Diet Dr. Pepper is readily available in fountain drinks. :) w Wayne Mosley, Yukon Retired: When you can have a Tornado Warning with temps in the 80s, and a Severe Ice/Snow Warning with temps in the 20s -- all at the same time! w Bert Norton, Midwest City: When the car starts swaying from side to side from the wind blowing. w Richelle Treece, Bethel Acres: You don’t need to worry about missing an OU game if you’re working the EMS side, because every house you go in will have the game on. w Jesse Bain, Broken Arrow: When it’s 80 degrees during the day and 30 degrees and snowing a few hours later! w Aaron Burns, Broken Arrow Retired: Gentlemen still open the doors for ladies and each other. The thank you’s are sadly going away. w Jeremy Goodrich, Yukon: When you have to dress for snow and cold weather one day and shorts the next. w Brian Foughty, Moore Retired: Chicken fried steak, okra and mashed potatoes is the special on almost every diner’s menu. w Marti Carpenter, OSFA Women’s Auxiliary: The weather changes every five minutes! w Mike “Rookie” Billingsley, Nichols Hills Retired: You feel the wind blow. w Bre Horn, Marshall: You sit at an accident due to ice on a bridge for three hours. Then road gets cleared, and a mile up, the roads are dry and clear. w Juan Rodriguez, Lawton Retired: You’re watching the 10 p.m. news, and it is still 100 degrees. w Bryan West, OSU-FST: You hear the B.C. Clark jingle in December!

Next Month’s Question -What’s the closest you’ve ever gotten to wildlife?

Everyone is Welcome to Participate!

Email Your Response to penelopes@osfa.info

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SAFER Grant Sheri Nickel

SAFER Grant Coordinator

Year-3 of the OSFA SAFER Grant is now in full swing.

As of Feb. 7, there are three online Firefighter 1 classes being delivered.

Students in the regions of Drumright, Ardmore and Watonga are actively pursuing their Firefighter-1 certifications.

Through our partnership with OSU-FST, we will potentially be offering six other classes across the state. Be sure to follow the OSFA Facebook pages @OklahomaStateFirefigthersAssn and @OSFATraining and watch for when these classes will be opening.

ALL volunteer firefighters are now eligible for benefits.

• Tuition reimbursement upon the completion of Firefighter I (MUST pass the IFSAC test).

If student passes on first attempt, the tuition will be paid directly to OSU-FST.. Several attempts are given; however, tuition must be paid according to financial arrangements made prior to enrollment and once the student receives a “pass” status, tuition will be reimbursed to whomever paid the bill.

• If you purchased an Essentials book, you will be reimbursed with the presentation of the receipt. (I may have some on file.)

• If you travel more than 50 miles round-trip in

your personal vehicle, you are eligible for mileage reimbursement at 58 cents per mile. (Mileage calculated from MapQuest from fire station to skills location.)

• You will receive $55 per day per diem for each trip to career tech for skills days. You must sign in on class roster each skills day.

• If you require a hotel stay on the skills weekends, you will be reimbursed up to $92. (Must provide receipt).

NEW VOLUNTEER FIREFIGHTERS who have NEVER been in the Oklahoma Firefighters Pension System prior to Nov. 24, 2016, are eligible for full benefits which also include: • An Oklahoma Firefighter’s Pension physical to be performed in Oklahoma City by the assigned physician. (Does not have to receive a “pass” status).

• The FIRST 75 NEW firefighters, as defined above, that successfully complete the course and have been scheduled or have completed their physical, will be awarded a set of custom-fit bunker gear. Bunker gear will remain the property of the respected fire department in the event that the firefighter leaves that department.

As always, feel free to contact me anytime with questions that you may have. My phone is always on.

SAFER GRANT Recruitment & Retention First Time Firefighters - Firefighter 1 - Bunker Gear

Year-3 Opens Nov. 23, 2018

OKLAHOMA STATE FIREFIGHTERS ASSOCIATION

Funds dispersed on a first-come first-served basis

www.OSFA.info • sherin@osfa.info 405-424-1452 office • 580-554-7123 cell

Sheri Nickel - Grant Coordinator

OSFA Now Offers Individual Pay Health Insurance to Members You asked for it, and now we have it as a benefit of membership!

OSFA has partnered with Manhattan Life and Custom Benefits to provide customized health insurance benefits at group rates for all who are interested.

It doesn’t matter if you are a volunteer, paid, active, or retired -- you are eligible!

We have numerous options to choose from and believe that you will find a plan that is right for you.

There are no high-pressure sales tactics, and you choose only what you need or want or nothing at all. It is entirely up to you.

Plans to choose from include: • Affordable Choice and First Choice Medical:

Limited coverage medical insurance that will help with paying unexpected medical bills.

• Accident Coverage: Coverage for the occasional accident or minor injury.

• Cancer Coverage: Every firefighter should have this. You know the risk and are taking actions to minimize it, but it’s still there.

• Dental and Vision Coverage: If you need it, it’s available too.

Visit the OSFA website (www.osfa.info) and fill out a short form to get a quick medical quote to fit your needs.

If you have any questions on your potential medical coverage or plans, please contact Candice Barber at 800752-3419 or candice@cbenefits.com.

10February 2019Oklahoma Firefighter

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NEAR-MISS REPORT

By Greg Lindsay

Everybody Out? Each fire has the potential to present fire crews with unusual challenges.

When we enter a structure, we must have an observer on the exterior to keep an eye on conditions — someone watching the big picture.

Occasionally it becomes necessary to evacuate the building, re-evaluate the tactics, and apply necessary changes, but what do you do when the order to evacuate does not work out as planned?

The report this month was from an event that occurred in 2005 but submitted for publication in 2017.

Some of the lessons shared involve changes in fire science since the report. While innovative tactical approaches to firefighting have changed the options available for a fire attack mode, it does not prevent us from entering the building.

The highlighted report this month describes a nearmiss when a crew separates and the IC orders an evacuation.

Captain Barely Escapes Flashover Initial size-up Structure fire in a single-wide mobile home with smoke and flames coming from the bravo side window and unknown if there are occupants.

Event Description Our crew was the initial engine on a structure fire involving a single-wide trailer. Upon arrival, we found a mobile home with heavy smoke and flames coming from a window on the “Bravo” side of the structure. Our captain did a 360 while another firefighter and I pulled a 1 3/4” line for an offensive fire attack. Upon opening the door on the “Bravo” side, we experienced heavy smoke to the floor and moderate heat. Our captain met us at the door, and we started a right-handed search.

While conducting our search our captain stayed at the door and fed us the line, though we were unaware of this at the time. As we conducted our search, we found ourselves in a hallway along the “Delta” side of the building. We did not feel the door to our left, which was the fire room. There was zero visibility.

We searched the back bedroom with nothing found and returned down the hallway and found the door. We opened it and were immediately overwhelmed by the heat. We attempted to extinguish the room but with no success. During this time, our captain was attempting to join us. The fire separated us.

Our IC recognized what was happening from the exterior and ordered us to evacuate and to go defensive. Luckily, we located a door on the “Delta” side of the structure and were able to evacuate quickly.

We advised the IC that our captain was not with us. Our captain left the hose line to locate us. We went to the front of the building on the “Delta” side where there was another

OKC Fire Department door, which is not common, and opened it to try to locate him.

Just as we opened it, he fell out of the door, and the flashover happened. His turnouts were smoking from the heat, and he was in distress.

When this event occurred, the accepted tactic was to make entry and fight the fire from the unburned side of the structure.

With each discussion point, describe the contrast between previous and current tactics, also, how you decide which tactic to use.

• Given the original size-up, what operational mode would you use?

• What are the indicators you use to determine survivable spaces when determining where to search first?

• How do you assign crews when the 360 survey indicates a change in the expected tactic?

• Discuss evacuation. What are the procedures you use?

• Rapid intervention is crucial when self-evacuation fails. Share your Mayday Policy and how command implements the RIT. The lessons learned during this incident included keeping the crew together.

When it is required to divide the crew, follow the hose line in and out. The hose line is your lifeline when other senses diminish in a smoky environment. Additionally, communicate throughout the incident. Letting others know where and what you are doing, and maintaining an understanding where they are will help everyone remain oriented.

The lessons learned since this incident involve the fire science published in the last few years. When a room and contents fire has produced enough heat to vent through the window, it has developed sufficient heat to be at or near flashover temperature. The reporter indicates a transitional attack could have made a significant difference at this incident.

In addition, looking at the smoke and flame issuing through the window will indicate how the fire is venting. A bidirectional ventilation indicator, air entering through the bottom of the window while smoke and flame exit through the upper half, can indicate the structure does not yet have other open doors or windows and could mean the room is still isolated. If a handline is not available, consider strict door control while using a targeted search.

Have a good idea which room is involved and observe that door until a handline is in place to provide control. The reporter discusses Vent-Enter-Search, but any search that targets a specific area of the house while isolating the fire room could be considered similarly.

There were no injuries from this event and thankfully, they were here to tell the story. With every nearmiss, hindsight can provide options that could have changed the outcome.

These options are the lessons to share. The reason we share how an event has changed our story is so you can benefit from it. The Nearmiss website is designed to share those stories. Please consider navigating to www.Firefighternearmiss.com and sharing how a story in your career has changed you.

NVFC Announces 2019 Training Summit in Oregon The National Volunteer Fire Council (NVFC) will hold the fifth NVFC Training Summit June 14-15 in Portland, OR. Attendance is limited; pre-register soon to secure your space. In addition, applications are now being accepted for a travel stipend.

This two-day seminar will provide an opportunity to participate in valuable classroom training as well as exchange ideas and best practices with attendees from across the country.

The conference is open to all volunteer firefighters, EMS providers, department leadership, and other fire department personnel nationwide.

Attendees will be able to select six out of 12 breakout sessions to attend, with sessions addressing critical issues in first responder health and safety, recruit-

ment and retention, and fire prevention.

Full registration with course descriptions will be available soon.

The registration fee for the Summit is $99, which includes two days of training from industry leaders, a networking reception with vendor expo, and most meals.

To help more first responders attend, a travel stipend is available for select attendees. Stipends will be awarded on a monthly basis, with deadlines on the first of the month from February-April.

The stipend will reimburse up to $600 for any combination of the following: hotel room nights, ground and air transportation, and the event registration fee.

Full details and criteria are available on the application form. To be considered eligible for the travel

stipend, you or your department must be a current member of the NVFC. Membership options and benefits can be found at www.nvfc.org/BeYourBest.

The NVFC Training Summit will be held at the Doubletree by Hilton Hotel Portland, which is on the light rail line providing quick transport from the airport and downtown. The Doubletree is also within walking distance of shops, restaurants and other attractions.

Learn more about the Summit at www.nvfc.org/ summit. Questions? Contact Rachel Buczynski, conference planner, at Rachel@nvfc.org or 202-887-5700.

Oklahoma FirefighterFebruary 201911

12February 2019Oklahoma Firefighter

OSFA STATE FIRE SCHOOL

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Cary Provence

May 2-5, 2019 STATE-OF-THE-ART TRAINING At Tulsa FD’s Fire Training Facility & Tulsa Comm. College NE

The #1 Free Fire Training Event in the Southwest United States 4 Days u 100+ Classes u All for FREE

Offering Great Courses from all over the Nation!

Register Online at www.osfa.info

Globe Awards New Firefighter Turnout Gear to Barnsdall Rural FD Since 2012, Globe by MSA, DuPont Protection Solutions (DuPont), and the National Volunteer Fire Council (NVFC) have partnered to provide 403 sets of new, state-of-the-art turnout gear to volunteer fire departments in need.

An additional 13 departments in the U.S. and Canada will each receive four sets of gear through the 2018 Globe Gear Giveaway Program.

And the Barnsdall Rural Fire Department was selected to be outfitted with four sets of new Globe turnout gear.

“MSA and Globe’s mission is to see to it that men and women live and work in safety and health, and that speaks to the heart of exactly why we’re proud to support the NVFC,” said Globe chief operating officer Tom Vetras. “Firefighters deserve nothing less than the very best personal protective equipment. Our Globe Gear Giveaway program – in partnership with DuPont – is just one of the ways we’re happy to support the many NVFC initiatives that help improve volunteer firefighters’ overall health, wellness, and safety.”

Barnsdall Rural Fire Department serves over 1,100 residences across 122 square miles.

Barnsdall is a rural location with an abundance of ranchland and homes, which make wildfires very prevalent. The department responds to an average of 80 calls each year and provides additional assistance to the city and surrounding fire departments.

Only 10 of Barnsdall’s 24 volunteers have turnout gear, and all sets are over 10 years old and not compliant with recommended safety standards. Most of the department’s financial resources are utilized for equipment, leaving them unable to purchase new gear for their responders.

“We want to ensure that our team has the best chance to do a good job and stay safe at the same time,” said administrative assistant Brittanie White. “This new gear will help our dedicated team to have the protection they need when they are in the trenches and extend our limited resources beyond what we are currently able to provide.”

“Having standards-compliant, well-fitting gear is a critical component to keeping firefighters safe, healthy, and ready to respond,” said NVFC Chair Kevin D. Quinn.

To be eligible to apply for new turnout gear through the Globe Gear Giveaway Program, departments had to be all-volunteer or mostly-volunteer, serve a population of 25,000 or less, be legally organized in the U.S. or Canada, and be a member of the NVFC. To help departments meet this last requirement, Globe sponsored NVFC Department Memberships for the first 500 applicants.

educational advisory Report Yukon FD

Educational Advisory Committee Hello all! The year 2019 is already upon us, which means that the annual John F. Futhey II Oklahoma State Fire School is around the corner.

As the years keep rolling, so does this great school.

The word school doesn’t do it justice; this is an experience you won’t want to miss!

If you have never attended this yearly event, do yourself and your citizens a favor by coming to one of the top training events around.

The Educational Advisory Committee has been hard at work for the past several months to try and make the 2019 school one of the best yet.

You don’t want to miss this amazing school. We have top-notch instructors coming in from around the country to share their knowledge on everything from Incident Command to Fire Inspections, Haz-Mat to Active Shooter, First Due Fire Operations to Cancer Prevention and so much more.

The best part about it all is it’s free!

Thanks to our amazing vendors and sponsors, the OSFA is able to provide this first-class training to any and all who show up with a willingness to better themselves and their departments.

The OSFA and committee want to make this bigger each year, but we can only do that with your help.

Classes are offered a la cart style, so come and go to whatever you can. You don’t have to attend all four days.

Tulsa Fire Department has once again been gracious enough to allow the use of its first-class facility May 2-5, 2019. Mark your calendars now so that you don’t miss this incredible school.

Stay safe everyone. I’ll see you in May!

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Women’s Aux report

Marti Carpenter

Jr Board Member

Hello everyone!

I hope the New Year has been wonderful for everyone.

I know I am having trouble getting over the rush of the holidays.

We are so close to convention time and even closer to Ride to Remember! By the time you are reading this, we will be only 9-10 weeks from this event.

The ride is April 20. If this is something you would like to help with, please reach out to any board member (including myself) or Gene Brown.

Your help is greatly appreciated, and you will not regret attending this event. It is so amazing and humbling to greet the participants.

As you know, we hold our own convention in conjunction with OSFA each year. This year convention will be held June 5-8 in Ponca City. More details will be available soon along with an agenda for our meetings.

You don’t want to miss out on the Auxiliary activities this year. The ladies of Ponca City have promised a great convention and fun ladies luncheon.

Of course, my position will be vacated when I take over the role of Treasurer.

Are you the next Jr. Board Member? Come join our meetings and see if this commitment would be right for you. Either way, you’ll make new lifelong friends.

2018-19 OSFA Women’s Auxiliary Executive Board PRESIDENT Erica Koch ejv97@cox.net (405) 308-2010 VICE PRESIDENT Susan Walker sw233821@gmail.com (580) 351-4116 JR BD MEMBER Marti Carpenter marticarpenter@att.net (405) 590-4608 PAST PRESIDENT Tennie Green tennie.green@gmail.com (918) 440-7060

Oklahoma FirefighterFebruary 201913

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ORFA REport Juan Rodriguez

Hello firefighters!

I’ve been asked why a retired firefighter doesn’t receive the Oklahoma firefighter newspaper. Most of the time, it is because that person is not a member of the ORFA. I have even been asked why a name cannot be found at the Oklahoma Firefighters Memorial. Sometimes the name is not actually there because they are not a member.

These are two of the benefits of being a member of the ORFA. I don’t understand why any retired firefighter would

not be.

The president of ORFA along with the board of the OSFA, represent a significant portion of the state pension board. All of those pension board members are easily approachable and available.

They’re also selected at our annual convention where issues can be addressed.

Between conventions, there’s a legislative session that often affects our pensions.

It is these organizations that protect benefits often done by calling on the membership to contact their state representatives and senators at the right time.

In any event, there are firefighters, retired and active, that are working for the improvement and protection of my pension.

Other benefits that are important include death benefit for members and access to the burn apartment. The death benefit can be applied to funeral homes, making a difficult time much easier.

In my opinion, the best thing about membership is the camaraderie. We believe we have lost it when we retire. In reality, we haven’t. It’s still there.

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Chaplain’s Corner Chuck McDade

Midwest City Fire Department Chaplain

Just 15 Minutes A Day I recently read somewhere that just 30 minutes a day of physical activity, six days a week, can make an enormous difference in a person’s health.

(My wife informed me that channel surfing did not count as physical activity.)

With better health, we may well extend our life span, or To post prayer at the least the ability to enjoy the life span that we have. requests and It’s amazing what one can accomplish in just 30 minutes find up-toa day six days a week. In just 30 minutes a day, over time, one can learn a new language. With just 30 minutes a day, date info in a few months, one can learn to play a musical instruon the ment. The list goes on and on.

When we commit to focus our time and attention in a Oklahoma specific area, we can indeed accomplish a great deal.

Fire With all the reference to 30 minutes, I am sure that Chaplains, you are beginning to think the title of this article was a typo. Not so! go to www.

I have good news for those of you who are already okfirechapstruggling with time management. I want to recommend an exercise program that can improve the quality of your lains.org. life and those around you.

It does not require a gym membership nor expensive athletic clothing. You will likely never even break a sweat with this marvelous program.

What do you need? A quiet spot with a minimum of distractions, a cup of coffee (optional), and a comfortable chair will do. How’s that sound?

Oh yes, and you also need a Bible.

In just 15 minutes a day, you can calm your spirit and revive your soul. With just 15 minutes a day ( 1/96th of a day), you can strengthen your relationship with God and thereby improve every area of your life.

Five minutes of reading the Bible, five minutes of meditating on what you just read, and five minutes of prayer can have a very positive impact on your life.

Physical exercise is important, but much more so is spiritual exercise if we are facing days filled with medical crisis, house fires and auto accidents.

Use your time well, and may God bless your spiritual exercise.

Lawton FD Retired

If camaraderie is missing in my life, it is because I abandoned them, not the other way around.

I go to the annual convention and the Statewide Memorial and see people I have known since I became a firefighter. We discuss the issues and vote on the direction of the Oklahoma Fire Service.

I simply can’t leave my future in other people’s hands, I have to be involved.

I feel so fortunate to have been part of these organizations.

The OSFA has worked and evolved over 100 years to provide pension benefits for paid and volunteer firefighters while I was active.

The ORFA works to improve and protect pensions after I retired.

And all of the affiliated organizations that worked for the Memorial so I can be memorialized after I am gone.

May God Bless You All!

2018-19 ORFA Executive Board PRESIDENT Juan Rodriguez, Lawton • jrod911@gmail.com 1ST VICE PRESIDENT Tippy Pierce, Moore • fftip@swbell.net • 405-924-1104 2ND VICE PRESIDENT George Fina, OKC • gomsc38@gmail.com • 405-373-2409 3RD VICE PRESIDENT A.K. “Yogi” Cole, Tulsa • ycole@ipa.net • 918-231-3591 PAST PRESIDENT Dana Cramer, Norman • dcramer3@cox.net • 405-570-1387

14February 2019Oklahoma Firefighter

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STAVROS SCHOLARSHIP FoundatiON Pete & Lela

Pete Stavros, a retired Oklahoma City firefighter and OSFA Legislative Director Emeritus, established the scholarship fund in 2002.

It offers children and relatives of active or retired Oklahoma firefighters who are members of the OSFA help with college expenses.

Do you know a graduating high school senior who is related to an active or retired member of the Oklahoma Fire Service and the Oklahoma State Firefighters Association?

Have you told them about the Pete and Lela Stavros Scholarship Foundation?

Scholarship Award: $1,000 TO APPLY: Fill out and submit application form online at the Oklahoma City Community Foundation’s web site (www.occf.org/stavros).

If you do not have Internet access, call OSFA at 1-800-308-5336 for an application form.

DEADLINE: All scholarship materials must be submitted by March 1, 2019.

Recipients will be notified by mail. Scholarship packets will be disbursed during a special ceremony at the 2019 OSFA Convention in Ponca City.

Five $1,000 Stavros Scholarships Available -- Application Deadline March 1 Looking for scholarship opportunities for graduating seniors?

Students who are children or related to Oklahoma firefighters who are OSFA members are eligible for the Stavros Scholarship.

And five $1,000 scholarships will be handed out at the 125th OSFA Convention June 5-8 in Ponca City.

But hurry -- March 1 is the application deadline.

Go to www.occf.org/stavros.

Applicants must complete a General Application before applying to specific scholarship opportunities. Think of the General Application as setting up a Student Profile. Submitting a General Application does not mean that an applicant has applied for any scholarships.

After completing the General Application, applicants must submit the Supplemental Questions listed below to complete the application:

2. Describe three activities outside the classroom that you value and how they influenced your educational goals.

(Please limit to 500 words.)

1. Describe your career goals and how your education will help you achieve them. (Please limit to 500 words.)

SA for the coming year when you completed the General Application? (NOTE: If you answered “no”, please know that financial need may be considered for this scholarship,

3. Are you the child of, or are you related to, an Oklahoma firefighter(s) who is a member of the Oklahoma State Firefighters Association (active or retired)?

4. OSFA Member Name 5. Fire Department

6. Your Relationship to the OSFA Member 7. Service status

8. What will your college living arrangement be?

9. On the General Application/Student Profile, please make sure the person you requested to write a letter of recommendation on your behalf is your high school guidance counselor or principal.

10. Did you submit your household’s 1040 or your FAF-

and to be eligible for this scholarship you need to return to the General Application/Student Profile and attach a 1040 or FAFSA.) 11. Did you submit a picture? A yearbook style headshot picture is required.

All application materials will be reviewed by the Pete and Lela Stavros Educational Foundation and the Oklahoma State Firefighters Association to verify the applicant’s relationship to an OSFA member.

Funds may be used for educational-related expenses such as tuition, fees and books at any academically accredited two-year, four-year or vocational technical nonprofit institution in the United States. Payments are made directly to the school.

Pete Stavros and his wife Lela established this scholarship foundation in 2002. Pete passed away on Jan. 28, 2015, at age 83 after a lifetime of helping firefighters.

Offering $1,000 scholarships to the children and relatives of firefighters was always a dream of Pete’s.

17th OSFA Volunteer fire caucus

Oklahoma FirefighterFebruary 201915

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volunteer fire service Committee report Mike Weinkauf

Photos By Greg Roberts, Retired Norman

As a member of the Volunteer Fire Service Committee, I am again deeply humbled to get to serve all of you in this great state of ours. I want to say the past three years on this committee has been a great learning experience for me.

I have been able to visit with a lot of you and learn lots of things to take back to our crew at Orlando. It is also very humbling for me to see the great brotherhood and sisterhood that we have in the fire service.

It doesn’t matter if you are paid or volunteer, when we are all together it is one great thing to see how well we all take care of each other and how we can help each other to be better firefighters and patrons of our communities throughout the state.

In my short time as a fire chief, I have tried to promote different ways of thinking and doing things as opposed to doing tasks just because that’s the way we have always done them. If we stay on the island, we have put ourselves on, then how are we going to know that there are better more efficient ways to get the job done and get home safely to our families.

We can fall in that rut very easily and sometimes it can be a challenge to take the blinders off and realize that. It’s human nature. People don’t like change.

But if we can have an open mind and understand that our fires have changed and if they have changed, then we need to change our tactics and methods to adapt to the change.

Then we will all be better firefighters at the end of the day.

For example, the materials in structures have changed making the time it takes for Flashover much less than it was just even 10 years ago. It has definately changed the way we approach attacking the common structure fire. The ”that’s the way we have always done it” method doesn’t work as well as it used to.

There are many concerns now in the fire service of this great state of ours. Everything from utilizing decon for preventing cancers to how we approach the ever-changing behavior of the fires that we have today, and even how can we keep and retain firefighters in our departments. I don’t have the answers for all of them. Probably no one reading this does. That is why we must lean on each other to find and get the answers that we need to help our departments and our communities in the changing reality of the fire service. We have to be able to adapt to help our neighbors, most importantly take care of our fellow firefighter’s health while doing it.

This year’s OSFA Volunteer Fire Caucus was held Jan. 26 in El Reno. If you ever get the chance to attend the Volunteer Caucus, I strongly recommend going and seeing and hearing what it is all about.

It is a great venue for us volunteers to come together and try to get the concerns and answers from all of us together. It is hard to fix things or come up with ideas to make us better if we don’t communicate with each other. This is a great place to do this.

Highlights from this year’s Caucus: • Presentation from NVFC Vice Chair Steve Hirsch about cancer in the fire service and how we can come together to try and help our fellow firefighters in the service.

He also touched base on how heart health is

Orlando FD

still a concern along with PTSD among firefighters and how we can help those folks who are dealing with this and try to get them help before it is too late.

• Rodney Foster, president of the Fire Service Instructors of Oklahoma (FSIO), has developed an in-house curriculum that we can use to teach in our departments that will qualify your firefighters to use for the annual tax incentive.

If you have not heard or know of this, I strongly suggest you try and get the information and think about utilizing this tool for your department. This will be a great asset for your department to utilize so your firefighters can take advantage of the yearly tax credit incentive.

• Chase Rankin gave us an update on the Firefighters Pension and Retirement System. We are truly fortunate as Volunteer Firefighters to be able to participate in this great unique system that we have in Oklahoma. We should be grateful that the fore founders of the organization had the insight to take care of the volunteers in this state. I know I am for sure.

• Steve Lumry gave us an update on the resolutions from the previous year’s and a legislative update with the assistance of our OSFA Lobbyist Don Armes.

I want to personally thank Steve and Don and the retirees for all they do for us on the legislative side of the spectrum. If you get a chance to meet them or the retirees who are up at the capital on Wednesdays visiting with the Senate and House getting our message out to the elected officials of this great state, thank them for all they do for us.

• Drew Daily and Andy James provided us with an outlook on the upcoming fire season and how it compares to previous years. Drew also explained how they obtain the information to forecast the fire weather and Andy gave us an update on the forestry service as far as manpower and equipment.

• Mike Duncan moderated a round table of the State Fire Marshal, Forestry, Health Department, OSUFST, and OSFA. This was a great opportunity for people to ask questions and get answers for some of the concerns across the state.

• Dr. Erick Reynolds gave us an update on training opportunities for volunteers in today’s world from OSU-FST. I can’t remember the exact miles these guys haul skill trailers across this state to provide us with great training opportunities, but it is an astounding number of miles these guys log for us to get the training we all need throughout the state.

Thank you, Doc, for all you do for us and thank you to the OSU-FST staff as well.

In conclusion I would like to encourage all of you to try and attend some of the great opportunities that are out there for you to grow and learn to be better firefighters.

The State Firefighter School will once again be held in Tulsa the first week of May. This is a great venue for you and your department to receive some of the most top-notch training in the United States. Best of all it is free to all firefighters in the state.

The OSFA Convention will be held this year in Ponca City the first week in June and if you have not ever attended this event, I also suggest you try and attend it. It truly is a great experience that will show you how great and helpful the firefighters of this great state of ours are.

16February 2019Oklahoma Firefighter

Quapaw Nation Fire/Emergency Dept. Becomes OSFA’s First Tribal Member

QUAPAW, Okla. -- In January, the Quapaw Nation Fire and Emergency Medical Services (EMS) Department joined the Oklahoma State Firefighters Association.

A ceremony was held Jan. 24 at Quapaw Nation Fire/EMS Station 1 in Miami to celebrate the occasion.

The department is the first Native American tribe to become a full member of the association -- followed closely by the Iowa Nation.

Joining OSFA makes it official for Quapaw Nation’s Fire/EMS, but the fact is the tribal organization had firmly established itself as a member of the firefighters brotherhood in 10 years of growth and distinguished service.

“There is a bond, kind of a brotherhood, with all firefighters. So for us to become part of OSFA is a very good feeling,” said Jeff Reeves, Public Safety Director for the Quapaw Nation, based in northeast Oklahoma.

Steve Lumry, OSFA Executive Director, said, “We are extremely proud to announce that the Quapaw Fire/EMS is the first Native American Department to join the OSFA. We are looking forward to this ground breaking relationship.”

It caps an extraordinary period of growth and change for Quapaw Nation Fire/EMS and related safety divisions.

In 2008, the department had 14 employees and one fire station. Since then, the department has added two state-of-the-art fire stations – one at Downstream Casino Resort, and one in Wyandotte, Okla. – with 33 full-time firefighters/paramedics, plus three administrators and a Fire Marshal.

Other highlights include: • Addition of a comprehensive canine program that operates under the Quapaw Fire Marshal • All in-house training in certified programs • Expanded investigative capabilities under the

Officials of the Quapaw Nation, Quapaw Nation Fire/EMS and leadership of the OSFA at the Jan. 24 ceremony welcoming the first Native American tribe into the association Fire Marshal, including fire investigations and fire code enforcement • A Swift Water Rescue Team that has worked to help flood victims of Hurricane Harvey in summer 2017 (south Texas), and Hurricane Florence in fall 2018 (the Carolinas).

• Joining the Ottawa/Delaware County Wildland Fire Task Force, which works through Oklahoma Office of Emergency Management to assist with wildfire

2019 Gubernatorial Inauguration

fighting wherever it is needed in state.

“We are very proud of the growth and expansion of Quapaw Nation Fire and EMS, and all of the good community service they have contributed both at home and around the country,” said Quapaw Nation Chairman John Berrey.

“I congratulate them on joining the Oklahoma State Firefighters Association. We all look forward to continued growth and service together.”

Oklahoma Firefighters were well represented at the Jan. 14 ceremony

OSFA Snapshots

Oklahoma FirefighterFebruary 201917

Got something going on at your Fire Department? Share the news! Email photos to osfa@osfa.info

Enel Green Power invested $35,000 in the 175 fire departments that responded to the April 2018 fires. And OSFA is honored to be entrusted by Enel to deliver the checks

OKC Fire Chief Richard Kelley was presented the Patriotic Employer Award on Jan. 18.

The award recognizes employers who support participation in America’s National Guard and Reserve Force.

Presented Logan County Fire chiefs with checks from Enel during the monthly Chiefs Meeting held Jan. 21 in Guthrie

On Dec. 20, 2018, a new Tulsa FD truck was put into service -- Ladder 22 “The Hawk,” named after E. Stanley Hawkins, Fire Chief from 1964-1985 and 1960 OSFA President. Pictured in center photo are Marcia Hawkins (widow) and Danny Lynchard (chaplain).

In November 2018, Bob Howard Chevrolet donated $15,000 split between Deer Creek FPD and Edmond FD

Steve Lumry presents bunker gear from OSFA’s SAFER Grant to Westport/Peninsula and Pawnee firefighters Oklahoma Fire Pipes and Drums rehearsing at the Museum on Jan. 15

On Dec. 13, Tulsa Regional Fire Academy visited Museum & Memorial learning our history and remembering those who came before us

18February 2019Oklahoma Firefighter

SIREN Act Creating Rural EMS Grant Program Passes Congress, Signed By President Trump On Dec. 12, the U.S. House of Representatives voted 36947 to pass H.R. 2, the Agriculture Improvement Act of 2018 (commonly referred to as the “Farm Bill”).

H.R. 2 includes language from the SIREN Act, a bill supported by the National Volunteer Fire Council (NVFC) and the Oklahoma State Firefighters Association (OSFA) that creates a grant program within the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) for rural EMS agencies.

The Senate passed H.R. 2 by a vote of 87-13 on Dec. 11, and the bill went to President Trump to be signed into law.

The President signed the bill on Dec. 20, 2018, making it a law.

The SIREN Act reauthorizes the Rural EMS Training and Equipment Assistance Program at $20 million per year through FY 2023. Eligible entities include local and tribal government EMS agencies, as well as nonprofit EMS agencies, that are located in and/or serve residents of rural areas.

Rural fire departments that operate their ambulance service would be eligible for this funding. Funds can be used to train/educate personnel, obtain/maintain licenses and certifications, acquire EMS equipment (including Personal Protective Equipment), recruit and retain personnel, or develop new methods for educating emergency health care providers through the use of technology.

Individual awards will be capped at $200,000 and grantees will be required to put up a 10 percent local match.

“I would like to thank the authors of the SIREN Act for their leadership and support, as well as the House and Senate Agriculture Committees for including the SIREN Act in the final version of the Farm Bill,” said NVFC Chair Kevin D. Quinn. “Rural EMS agencies face significant challenges, including recruitment and retention and resource shortages.

Passing the SIREN Act and thereby creating a new Rural EMS Training and Equipment Assistance Program at HHS will allow agencies to obtain critically-needed resources.”

In October, OSFA President Dereck Cassady and Executive Director Steve Lumry went to Washington, D.C. with the Oklahoma State Fire Marshal Commission to address our congressional delegation regarding funding for grant programs that would benefit our local fire departments.

“This is in part a direct result of the proactive measures taken by OSFA and the State Fire Marshal Commission to meet our members’ funding needs” said Cassady, who is also the Ponca City Fire Marshal. The Ponca City Fire Department also operates the ambulance service for that area.

Lumry stated, “We went to Washington to advocate for all types of grant funding for Oklahoma fire departments, and this is the one of the early results of that effort.

“We wish to thank Senators Inhofe and Lankford, and Congressmen Lucas, Mullin, Russell, and Cole who all voted in support of this bi-partisan Act after our initial visit. We also express our gratitude to the NVFC for their tireless efforts on behalf of the volunteer fire service throughout the United States.”

The OSFA is a partner and the conduit for Oklahoma volunteer firefighters to the NVFC and their national resources.

The SIREN Act was introduced in the House by Representatives Greg Gianforte (R-MT), Dave Loebsack (D-IA), and Sean Duffy (R-WI) on April 5, 2018 and in the Senate

by Senators Dick Durbin (D-IL), Pat Roberts (R-KS), Tammy Baldwin (D-WI), and Debbie Stabenow (D-MI) on May 10, 2018.

On July 30, the NVFC sent a request to Representatives Mike Conway (R-TX) and Collin Peterson (D-MN) and Senators Pat Roberts (R-KS) and Debbie Stabenow (D-MI) asking them, as the respective Chairs and Ranking Members of the House and Senate Agriculture Committees, to include the SIREN Act in the Farm Bill.

n

Museum news Gene Brown

Museum Director

geneb@osfa.info • 405-424-3440 Hello Everyone!

Here at the museum, we received a new addition.

Stuart Fire Dept has donated their 1954 Ward LaFrance. It was delivered on Jan. 18. It has been in storage for quite a while.

The truck will be moved into the museum. We will clean it up and get it running. You will be able to see the progress as it happens.

This will be a great addition to the museum.

Thank you, Stuart FD and Chief Dillon Beck, for all your help.

We are still looking for volunteers to help around the museum. With the truck coming in, we can use all the help we can get to get it cleaned up. Please contact the museum for details.

This is the busy season for the museum and OSFA. Winter Workshop, OFCA Conference, Fire School, OSFA Convention.

Please mark your calendar to attend. We look forward to seeing all of you this year.

Be Safe!

VISIT YOUR OKLAHOMA FIREFIGHTERS MUSEUM Monday thru Saturday 9 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. • Sunday 1 p.m. to 4:30 p.m.

FREE for OSFA Members & Immediate Family

While in Washington D.C. working on a grant for Museum Expansion, we stopped by to visit former OKC Fire Chief Keith Bryant, who is now the Director of the U.S. Fire Administration.

From left are: Oklahoma State Fire Marshal Robert Doke, OSFA Museum Director Gene Brown, Chief Bryant, OSFA 2nd Vice President Eric Harlow and OSFA Executive Director Steve Lumry.

Stuart FD Donates Pumper to Museum The Oklahoma State Firefighter’s Museum received an addition to its fleet on Jan. 18, as the city of Stuart (OK) Fire Department donated a 1954 custom Ward LaFrance 1000 GPM pumper.

It arrived mid morning on a lowboy tractor trailer truck provided by Hughes County commissioners. Once the Ward LaFrance was unloaded, it was immediately placed in the museum’s south hall.

Museum personnel, led by Museum Director Gene Brown, put the vehicle on roll-around dollies and positioned it for display.

This pumper was manufactured in 1954 by the Ward LaFrance Truck Corporation, located in Elmyra, New York.

It was originally delivered to the Trenton (NJ) Fire Department and served as their Engine 9. After many years of front line service, it was designated a “Civil Defense” unit and was part of their CD fire service.

At some point it was sold to Wilson Fire Apparatus located in Ft. Smith, AR. Wilson FA in turn sold it to the Stuart (OK) fire department in October 1987.

This pumper remained with the Stuart FD until it was declared surplus and donated to the Oklahoma State Firefighter’s Museum in Oklahoma City.

The Museum is in the process of gathering equipment to place on our newest display to replicate its original condition at time of delivery.

If your department might have something that might fit this display or any of the other displays in the museum, please contact Gene at 405-424-3440.

More information about the Ward LaFrance Truck Corporation can be found at www.wardlafrance.com.

First Alert and National Volunteer Fire Council Provide Online Training for Volunteer FDs Known as the silent killer, carbon monoxide (CO) is especially dangerous because you cannot see, smell, or taste it. The only way to protect against the potentially deadly threat is with a CO alarm.

For this reason, First Alert and the National Volunteer Fire Council (NVFC) have developed a new CO awareness and CO alarm training course for fire departments nationwide.

Called “Protect Against the Silent Killer,” the course trains fire department personnel about the prevalence and symptoms of CO poisoning and proper CO alarm installation to help reduce the risk of CO incidents and deaths in communities across the country.

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, more than 20,000 emergency room visits and over 400 deaths are attributed to CO poisoning in the U.S. each year, making it the leading cause of accidental poisoning deaths.

The training provides insight about how carbon monoxide is created, the dangers it presents, and the symptoms and risk factors of CO poisoning.

The course offers detailed information on proper installation of CO alarms, appropriate in-home placement, and maintenance. The training also emphasizes the importance of alarm and battery replacement and discusses the various types of CO alarms.

“Protect Against the Silent Killer” is now available in the NVFC Virtual Classroom. Access the course at www.nvfc.org/access-the-nvfc-virtual-classroom.

The course will be free for the first 500 participants, compliments of First Alert, so sign up today! For more information on home safety, go to www.firstalert.com/.

Oklahoma FirefighterFebruary 201919

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in memoriam Andrew Corbin, Newalla FD

The Final Fire Alarm sounded for Newalla Senior Firefighter Andrew Corbin on Dec. 5. He was 42.

For almost two decades, Corbin sacrificed his time and energy to helping his community as a member of our department.

He also served as a crew chief on AWACS for over 20 years before retiring in 2016.

He lost a brief, but intense, battle with liver disease.

Newalla Fire Chief Brian Youngblood has authorized the retiring of SFF Corbin’s Badge #28 in recognition of his years of dedication and service.

Museum Expansion Update OSFA has released a video showing the design of the Oklahoma Firefighters Museum expansion project. CLICK BELOW TO VIEW. Progress is being made in fundraising efforts -- $1.3 million out of $9.5 million has been raised to date.

Donations can be made at OSFA.info or by purchasing an Oklahoma Firefighter car tag.

20February 2019Oklahoma Firefighter

www.osufst.org

1723 West Tyler, Stillwater, OK 74078 • (800) 304-5727 • (405) 744-5727 • Fax: (405) 744-7377

February 2019 CLASS SCHEDULE Current as of January 22, 2019

Courses are subject to change • Call or check online for changes in courses

All courses are FREE unless otherwise noted

OEM-FEMA G.191: ICS-EOC Interface (71562) Feb. 1 (8 hours) Fort Sill - Snow Hall , Bld 730 Snow All participants for this school must enter through Key Gate which is off of I-44.

If you are Pre-registered, your name and Department will be on a list at that Gate.

No other gate can be used for this school.

Advanced Fire Behavior (72319) Feb. 2 (8 hours) Red River Technology Center - Duncan Wildland Fire Fighting: Fundamentals (72320) Feb. 2-3 (16 hours) Gate Fire Department EMS Instructor Update (72395) Feb. 2 (8 hours) • $500 - All Participants Antlers Fire Training Ground Hazardous Materials Operations Certification (70245) Feb. 3 (8 hours) Tiawah Fire Department - Claremore NFA Hazardous Materials Incident Management N0243 (70515) Feb. 4-9 (40 hours) Edmond Fire Department Fire Officer I: NFPA 1021, 2014 Edition (71813) Feb. 4-8 (48 hours) • $3000 - All Participants Perry Fire Department Fire Officer II: NFPA 1021, 2014 Edition (70403) Feb. 5-8 (40 hours) • $3000 - Oklahoma Emergency Responders • $5000 - Out-of-state Public Responders Mustang Fire Department Hazardous Materials Technician Refresher - Part B (70585) Feb. 5 (8 hours) Cushing Fire Department Emergency Services Instructor (Instructor I) (71460) Feb. 5-8 (32 hours) Hugo Fire Department Hazardous Materials Operations: Core Competencies (70859) Feb. 8-10 (24 hours) Choctaw Nation - Dale Cox Comm. Center NIMS ICS 400 (EMI) Advanced Incident Command System (71774) Feb. 9-10 (16 hours) Fairland Fire Department

Vehicle Rescue Technician Level I Part A (71977) Feb. 9-10 (16 hours) Glencoe Fire Department Fire Fighter II Vehicle Extrication Evaluation (71978) Feb. 10 (4 hours) Glencoe Fire Department Hazardous Materials Operations for WMD Refresher (72181) Feb. 11 (8 hours) Stillwater Community Center Emergency Services Instructor (Instructor I) (72387) Feb. 11-14 (32 hours) • $3000 - All Participants Edmond Fire Department Hazardous Materials Operations for WMD Refresher (70587) Feb. 12 (8 hours) Owasso Fire Department Training Center Hazardous Materials Operations for WMD Refresher (70588) Feb. 13 (8 hours) Owasso Fire Department Training Center Hazardous Materials Operations for WMD Refresher (72151) Feb. 13 (8 hours) Del City Fire Department MGT 405: Mobilizing Faith Based Organizations in Preparing for Disaster (71797) Feb. 13 Canadian Valley Tech Center - Chickasha Hazardous Materials Operations for WMD Refresher (72152) Feb. 14 (8 hours) Del City Fire Department Hazardous Materials Operations for WMD Refresher (72182) Feb. 14 (8 hours) Stillwater Community Center Hazardous Materials Operations for WMD Refresher (72153) Feb. 15 (8 hours) Del City Fire Department Hazardous Materials Operations for WMD Refresher (72183) Feb. 15 (8 hours) Stillwater Community Center Grain Bin Emergencies - Awareness (72045) Feb. 15 (4 hours) Fort Sill - Snow Hall , Bld 730 Snow S130/190 Basic Wildland Firefighting Training (72056) Feb. 15-17 (24 hours) Fort Sill - Snow Hall , Bld 730 Snow

Air Management Course (71836) Feb. 16 (8 hours) Northeast Technology Center - Pryor Hazardous Materials Awareness for WMDHazMat Emergencies (71920) Feb. 16 (8 hours) Dickson Fire Department - Ardmore Wildland Fire Fighting: Backfiring Operations (72025) Feb. 16 (8 hours) Fort Sill - Snow Hall , Bld 730 Snow Wildland Fire Fighting: Engine Company Tactics (72028) Feb. 16 (8 hours) Fort Sill - Snow Hall , Bld 730 Snow First Responder (Emergency Medical Responder) Refresher (72039) Feb. 16-17 (16 hours) Fort Sill - Snow Hall , Bld 730 Snow Oklahoma Emergency Vehicle Drivers Training (72041) Feb. 16 (8 hours) Fort Sill - Snow Hall , Bld 730 Snow Oklahoma Emergency Vehicle Drivers Training TtT (72042) Feb. 16 (8 hours) Fort Sill - Snow Hall , Bld 730 Snow Rope Rescue Technician Level I Part A (72043) Feb. 16-17 (16 hours) Fort Sill - Snow Hall , Bld 730 Snow Wilderness Search and Rescue (72044) Feb. 16-17 (16 hours) Fort Sill - Snow Hall , Bld 730 Snow Grain Bin Emergencies - Operations (72046) Feb. 16 (8 hours) Fort Sill - Snow Hall , Bld 730 Snow Wildland Fire Fighting: Fundamentals (72047) Feb. 16-17 (16 hours) Fort Sill - Snow Hall , Bld 730 Snow Wildland Fire Fighting: Skills (72048) Feb. 16-17 (16 hours) Fort Sill - Snow Hall , Bld 730 Snow Wildland Training (FFT1) for Structural Firefighters, G-131 (72049) Feb. 16 (8 hours) Fort Sill - Snow Hall , Bld 730 Snow Emergency Services Instructor (Instructor I) (72244) Feb. 16-24 (32 hours) Sallisaw Fire Department

Oklahoma Emergency Vehicle Drivers Training (72390) Feb. 16 (8 hours) Piedmont Fire Department Station #1 Oklahoma Emergency Vehicle Drivers Training (72526) Feb. 16 (8 hours) Piedmont Fire Department Station #1 Oklahoma Trauma Education Program (OTEP) (72034) Feb. 16 (2 hours) Fort Sill - Snow Hall , Bld 730 Snow Nasal Narcan for the First Responder (72037) Feb. 16 (2 hours) Fort Sill - Snow Hall , Bld 730 Snow Introduction to the Active Attack Integrated Response (72051) Feb. 16 (4 hours) Fort Sill - Snow Hall , Bld 730 Snow Hazardous Materials Awareness for WMDHazMat Emergencies Certification (71921) Feb. 16 (1 hour) Dickson Fire Department - Ardmore Hazardous Materials Awareness for WMDHazMat Emergencies (72005) Feb. 17 (8 hours) Little Axe Fire District - Newalla Wildland Fire Fighting: Backfiring Operations (72026) Feb. 17 (8 hours) Fort Sill - Snow Hall , Bld 730 Snow Wildland Fire Fighting: Engine Company Tactics (72029) Feb. 17 (8 hours) Fort Sill - Snow Hall , Bld 730 Snow VFIS Traffic Incident Management System (72032) Feb. 17 (4 hours) Fort Sill - Snow Hall , Bld 730 Snow Introduction to the Active Attack Integrated Response (72052) Feb. 17 (4 hours) Fort Sill - Snow Hall , Bld 730 Snow Oklahoma Trauma Education Program T t T (72035) Feb. 17 (2 hours) Fort Sill - Snow Hall , Bld 730 Snow Hazardous Materials Operations Certification (70861) Feb. 17 (8 hours) Choctaw Nation - Dale Cox Comm. Center VFIS Traffic Incident Managment Trainthe-Trainer (72033) Feb. 17 (4 hours) Fort Sill - Snow Hall , Bld 730 Snow

Oklahoma FirefighterFebruary 201921

www. osufst.org

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Dr. Erick Reynolds OSU FST Director

erick.reynolds@osufst.org 405-744-5727 (W) • 405-409-0961 (C)

CLASS SCHEDULE, continued Nasal Narcan for the First Responder Train the Trainer (72038) Feb. 17 (2 hours) Fort Sill - Snow Hall , Bld 730 Snow

EMS Instructor Update (72396) Feb. 23 (8 hours) • $500 - All Participants Bartlesville Fire Department

Hazardous Materials Awareness for WMDHazMat Emergencies Certification (72006) Feb. 17 (1 hour) Little Axe Fire District - Newalla

Hazardous Materials Awareness for WMDHazMat Emergencies (72496) Feb. 23 (8 hours) Shattuck Fire Department

First Responder (Emergency Medical Responder) Refresher (72468) Feb. 19-21 (16 hours) • $63000 - Industrial / Military OG & E Corporate, 321 N. Harvey, OKC

Hazardous Materials Awareness for WMDHazMat Emergencies Certification (72497) Feb. 23 (1 hour) Shattuck Fire Department

OEM-FEMA G.557: Rapid Assessment Workshop (72487) Feb. 19 (8 hours) Broken Arrow Public Safety Complex NFA - Leadership in Supervision: Perspectives in Thinking F0647 (72372) Feb. 22-23 (16 hours) EOC Eastern OK County Tech - Choctaw Advanced Fire Behavior (70774) Feb. 23 (8 hours) Northwest Technology Center - Fairview Fire Officer I: NFPA 1021, 2014 Edition (71622) Feb. 23-March 9 (48 hours) • $3000 - All Participants Woodward Fire Department Vehicle Rescue Technician Level I Part A (71981) Feb. 23-24 (16 hours) Quapaw Fire Department

Fire Fighter II Vehicle Extrication Evaluation (71984) Feb. 24 (4 hours) Quapaw Fire Department Fire Officer I: NFPA 1021, 2014 Edition (71904) Feb. 25-March 1 (48 hours) • $3000 - All Participants Edmond Fire Department Oklahoma Executive Fire Officer Leadership Program (OKEFOLP) (70259) Feb. 26-Nov. 14 (160 hours) • $1,800 - All Participants Fire Service Training - Stillwater OEM-FEMA G.288: Local Volunteer and Donations Management (71564) Feb. 26-27 (16 hours) Fort Sill - Snow Hall , Bld 730 Snow Pipeline Emergency Awareness for Communications Officers (71456) Feb. 26 (3 hours) Comanche Co. EOC, - Lawton

Oklahoma Executive Fire Officer Leadership Program This program is a partnership between OSU-Fire Servce Training, Oklahoma Fire Chiefs Association (OFCA), Oklahoma State Firefighters Association (OSFA) and the office of the State Fire Marshal.

The 160-hour program utilizes the curriculum from the International Public Safety Leadership & Ethics Institute and has been developed to bring the concepts of leadership and ethics to the forefront of an individual’s career.

fire service training

Brothers and Sisters!

Winter is here and the fuel load is enormous out there thanks to a lush Summer 2018!

Be careful out there. When it goes, it will be interesting and very dangerous!

FST is entering a new year of partnership with OSFA in regards to the grant received by OSHA two years ago to train volunteer firefighters.

During 2018, FST offered 58 classes in partnerships with the OSFA and in support of the grant.

Planning is underway and a new slew of on-line Firefighter 1s are kicking off as we speak. There will be as many as 15 Firefighter 1s offered across the state of Oklahoma during 2019.

These Firefighter 1s have been strategically placed so that if folks want to pursue this training and certification, there is one being offered within a reasonable distance just about anywhere in Oklahoma.

Watch for advertisements for these upcoming courses! Together we are better!

The OSHA Susan B. Harwood Grant

curriculum is being finished as we speak for the 2019 fiscal year. This grant will focus on atmospheric monitoring in confined spaces.

Oklahoma State University Fire Service Training and our Grain Rescue and Confined Space Rescue trailer is headlining the National GEAPs conference

Cohort No. 4, 2019 Feb. 26-28 March 27-28 April 23-25 May 29-30 July 23-25 Aug. 28-29 Sept. 24-26 Oct. 30-31 Nov. 14 Graduation Applications Closed Dec. 7, 2018 Tuition: $1,800

in March in New Orleans, La.

We recently traveled to Morgantown, WV, to view new FLAG props in action.

We were pleased with what we saw and are currently working through the purchasing processes to these props for FST. These props should be in service sometime in 2019, we hope!

We continue to be extremely busy conducting training all across Oklahoma.

And as I have said many times, we appreciate all of our very valuable training partners across Oklahoma.

The 2019 Oklahoma Executive Fire Officer program will be kicking off shortly, and we have an absolutely topnotch group of young, up and coming fire officers that will be a part of this cohort.

The fire service in Oklahoma is in good hands for the future, and this program only helps to support that vision of what we want our Oklahoma Fire Service to be in the future!

Spring will be here soon!

Tell your love ones just how important they are to you!

I recently buried my Dad. I knew it was coming, but it was still incredibly hard!

Mend fences, say you are sorry, tell family and friends thanks for all they do in your life!

Be nice! Stay safe out there!

REQUIREMENTS: • 10 years in fire service • 3 years as an officer • Application (www.osufst.org) • Resume • 2-3 page letter stating why you should be chosen • Letters of commitment from your organization, your chief or officer and a community leader

Scholarships available to pay tuition for one volunteer firefighter from each quadrant of the state For more information, contact Jason Louthan at Jason.Louthan@osufst.org

22February 2019Oklahoma Firefighter ADMINISTRATIVE STAFF Chase Rankin

Michael L. Smith/Edmond Application For “Disability In The Line Of Duty” Pension, Effective November 1, 2018: Motion was made by Harlow and seconded by Kelley to approve the Application for “Disability in the Line of Duty”, effective November 1, 2018. Ayes: Cramer, Kelley, Cassady, Vanhorn, Freeman, Davidson, Harlow, Hunter and Rodriguez. Nayes: None. Motion carried.

Trevor T. Johnson/Lawton – Application For “Disability In The Line Of Duty” Pension, Effective November 1, 2018: Motion was made by Cramer and seconded by Rodriguez to approve the Application for “Disability in the Line of Duty”, effective November 1, 2018. Ayes: Cramer, Kelley, Cassady, Vanhorn, Freeman, Davidson, Harlow, Hunter and Rodriguez.

Nayes: None. Motion carried.

Christopher Compton/Moore Application For “Disability In Line Of Duty” Pension, Effective November 16, 2018: Motion was made by Cramer and seconded by Harlow to approve the Application for “Disability in the Line of Duty”, effective November 16, 2018. Ayes: Cramer, Kelley, Cassady, Vanhorn, Davidson, Freeman, Harlow, Hunter and Rodriguez. Nayes: None. Motion carried.

James E. King/Nicoma Park – Application For “Disability In The Line Of Duty” Pension, Effective November 1, 2018: Motion was made by Harlow and seconded by Rodriguez to approve the Application for “Disability in the Line of Duty”, effective November 1, 2018. Ayes: Cramer, Kelley, Cassady, Vanhorn, Davidson, Freeman, Hunter, Harlow and Rodriguez.

Nayes: None. Motion carried.

Kyle R. Honeycutt/Norman Application For “Disability In Line Of Duty” Pension, Effective October 24, 2018: Motion made by Cramer and seconded by Harlow to approve Application for “Disability in the Line of Duty”, effective October 24, 2018 after review of the documents submitted by the Doctor’s, OJI report, the City of Norman’s documents and review of the evidence presented in Executive Session. Ayes: Cramer, Kelley, Cassady, Davidson, Vanhorn, Hunter, Harlow and Rodriguez.

Nayes: Freeman. Motion carried.

Edward J. McCrane/Norman Application For “Disability In The Line Of Duty” Pension, Effective October 24, 2018: Motion was made by Cramer and seconded by Harlow to approve the Application for “Disability in the Line of Duty”,

effective October 24, 2018 after review of the documents submitted by the Doctor’s, OJI report, the City of Norman’s documents and review of the evidence presented in Executive Session. Ayes: Cramer, Kelley, Cassady, Davidson, Vanhorn, Hunter, Harlow and Rodriguez. Nayes: Freeman. Motion carried.

Donald A. McMasters/Sand Springs - Application For “Disability In The Line Of Duty” Pension, Effective August 3, 2018: Motion was made by Rodriguez and seconded by Hunter to approve the Application for “Disability in the Line of Duty”, effective August 3, 2018. Ayes: Cramer, Kelley, Cassady, Freeman, Davidson, Vanhorn, Hunter, Harlow and Rodriguez.

Nayes: None. Motion carried.

Craig A. Cooper/Shawnee Application For “Disability In The Line Of Duty” Pension, Effective August 11, 2017: Motion was made by Cramer and seconded by Harlow to approve the Application for “Disability in the Line of Duty”, effective August 11, 2017. Ayes: Cramer, Kelley, Cassady, Freeman, Davidson, Vanhorn, Hunter, Harlow and Rodriguez. Nayes: None.

Motion carried.

Curtis R. Lamaster/Shawnee Request To Modify Pension From “Service” To “Disability In The Line Of Duty”: Motion was made

by Harlow and seconded by Rodriguez to approve the Request of LaMaster to modify from “Service” to “Disability in the Line of Duty”.

Ayes: None. Nayes: Cassady, Kelley, Harlow, Davidson, Cramer, Hunter, Freeman and Rodriguez.

Motion failed.

Angelo Rivers/McAlester – Request For Restoration To Active Service Pursuant To Title 11 O.s.

Section 49-109 (B). Motion was made by Kelley and seconded by Harlow to approve Rivers request for restoration to active duty with the McAlester Fire Department.

Ayes: Cramer, Kelley, Cassady, Vanhorn, Davidson, Freeman, Hunter, Harlow, and Rodriguez.

Nayes: None. Motion carried.

Request To Modify The Approved Pension Physical Agility Test – City Of Shawnee: Deputy Chief Starkey discussed the changes they would like to make to the Physical Agility Test. Motion was made by Cramer and seconded by Rodriguez to approve the Pension Physical Agility Test for the City of Shawnee. Ayes: Cramer, Kelley, Cassady, Vanhorn, Davidson, Freeman, Hunter, Harlow, and Rodriguez. Nayes: None. Motion carried.

Vicki Mulbery

Executive Secretary

James Reynolds

n November 16, 2018 MEETING

Member Services Coordinator

Terri Williams

Executive Director

6601 Broadway Ext., Oklahoma City, OK 73116 405-522-4600 • 1-800-525-7461 toll free • 405-522-4643 fax www.okfirepen.state.ok.us

Martha Pierce

Accounts Payable Administrator

Than Dinh

Assistant Director (COO)

Controller

Tim VanHorn

Keely Swonger

Thelisha Clark

Records Administrator

Latoya Battle

Assistant Controller

Assistant Director (CFO)

Data Processor

n CONSENT AGENDA (December 21, 2018) CHECKS TERMINATED IN NOVEMBER 2018 (Deceased): Apache Betty V. Wilson Bartlesville James R. Brown Billings Gussie Faning Boise City Emma Hart Chandler Dennis D. Beaty Collinsville Teresa Monroe Enid Bruce E. Johnson

$5,000.00 DEATH BENEFIT: Bethany Burns Flat Custer City Fairland Fairview Greenfield Gotebo Lawton OKC Mustang Perry Soper Stillwater Tulsa Tulsa

Henryetta Lawton Lindsay Mustang Longdale OKC OKC

Carol Gaithier Clause J. Hall Tina L. Scruggs Jerry L. Rice Mary C. Ashby James C. Butler Virginia O’Daniel

Sandra J. Eagan, Widow Of Ronald R. Eagan Swearingen Funeral Home On Behalf Of Thomas H. Gillham Mary K. Fischer, Widow Of Charles E. Fischer Sandra Boyd, Widow Of Raymond Boyd Fairview Funeral Home Of Behalf Of Charles G. Obermiller Fairview Funeral Home On Behalf Of Dale D. Grove Shirley Vickery, Widow Of Guy A. Vickery Becker Funereal Home, Inc., On Behalf Of Claude J. Hall Ruby Eylane McCutchen, Widow Of John M. McCutchen McNeil’s Funeral Service On Behalf Of Jerry L. Rice Janice Billingsley, Widow Of Gary W. Billingsley Miller & Miller Funeral Home On Behalf Of Raymond Fails Strode Funeral Home On Behalf Of Frank L. Smith Cheryl E. Collins, Widow Of Ronald M. Collins Pamela Sue Cabbiness, Death Recipient Of Jack L. Heminger

APPLICATION OF CHILD FOR PENSION: 12/10/2016

Boynton

Ryan G. Barton, Child Of Grant E. Barton Deceased 12/09/2016

APPLICATION FOR VESTED BENEFIT: 12/01/2015 10/25/2021 01/16/2028 05/31/2017

Bluejacket Dewey Grady County Strong City

Donald B. Chamberlain Paul E. Green Robert M. Fulton Harold E. Gwartney Jr.

APPLICATION FOR SURVIVING SPOUSE FOR CONTINUATION: 12/01/2018 12/01/2018 12/01/2018 12/01/2018 12/01/2018 12/01/2018 12/01/2018 12/01/2018 12/01/2018 12/01/2018 12/01/2018 12/01/2018 12/01/2018

Agra Bartlesville Butler Fairland Guymon Haskell Marietta OKC OKC OKC Perry Tulsa Tyrone

Ponca City Porter Stillwater Talala Tulsa Waukomis

Doris Nix Bill G. Kilpatrick Frank L. Smith Constance G. Schmidt Mary Mitchell Hazel Meyer

APPLICATION FOR ENTRANCE INTO THE PENSION SYSTEM: Broken Arrow Broken Arrow Broken Arrow Cleveland Comanche Cushing Cushing Del City Del City Del City El Reno Kingfisher Kingfisher Lawton Lawton Lawton Lawton Lawton Lawton Muskogee Sand Springs Sapulpa Sapulpa Seminole Skiatook Skiatook Spencer Spencer Tahlequah Watonga

Willa J. McEntire, Widow Of Dempsey McEntire Terry Brashear, Widow Of Buddy J. Brashear Denise F. Baker, Widow Of Raymond Baker Sandra Boyd, Widow Of Raymond Boyd Barbara Costner, Widow Of Richard L. Costner Deloris Damme, Widow Of Carl D. Damme Jerry L. Hill, Widow Of Bill Hill Sharon L. Cobb, Widow Of Carl G. Cobb Donna K. Crabtree, Widow Of Johnny L. Crabtree Ruby E. McCutchen, Widow Of John M. McCutchen Bunnie Klinglesmith, Widow Of Donald Klinglesmith Patricia Pilkington, Widow Of James H. Pilkington Tammie Sherrill, Widow Of Alan E. Sherrill

Tyler Desmet Bryan Jeffers Jacob Tidwell James Palkovich Jr. Austin Brewer Hunter Hall Jackson Hollman Brady Skillings Casey Womack Corey Sudduth Joshua Castrop Jonathan Willman Blaise Withrow Justin Baker Elijah Hoyt Kyle Peterman Antonio M. Phillips Jacob Smith Drew Weske Evan Wallace Samuel Mosier Zach Bryant Austin Mason Brenton Jenkins Keifer Burks Ruben Luna Kale Daniels Hunter D. Garrison Robert Duncan Richard D. Vermillion

APPLICATION FOR SERVICE PENSION:

REFUND OF CONTRIBUTIONS:

Hired

Bixby Calvin Cherokee Clinton Dibble Horntown Ketchum Lone Grove Savanna Stroud Sumner Sumner Wellston

Chad A. Dale Broken Bow Shawn Bridgeman Coalgate Lance Gutierrez Frederick Shadd Stover Poteau Ricky Prince Wewoka

09/22/2013 06/01/2013 04/09/2012 11/30/2010 12/07/2010

12/01/2018 09/11/2018 11/13/2018 12/13/2018 12/01/2018 12/01/2018 12/01/2018 09/01/2018 12/03/2018 11/01/2018 12/01/2018 12/01/2018 12/01/2018

Bryan L. Wood Michael S. Taylor Troy T. Eshleman Dennis P. Caler John A. Sharp Philip G. Lee Robert R. Long Jr. Greg L. Allen Doyle V. Mitchell Jr. Ronal J. Gilman Ronald A. Luckey Amber J. Miller Brian E. Cole

Terminated 11/23/2018 05/10/2017 11/19/2018 08/14/2017 11/28/2018

Oklahoma FirefighterFebruary 201923

Vicki Mulbery

n Dec. 21, 2018 MEETING Erik Day/Moore - Application For “Disability In The Line Of Duty” Pension, Effective December 1, 2018: Motion was made by Kelley and seconded by Combs to approve the Application for “Disability in the Line of Duty”, effective December 1, 2018. Ayes: Cramer, Kelley, Cassady, Vanhorn, Davidson, Lay, Kohls, Manek, Combs and Rodriguez.

Nayes: None. Motion carried.

Joshua B. Davis/Yukon – Application For “Disability In The Line Of Duty” Pension, Effective December 15, 2018: Motion was made by Cramer and seconded by Long to approve the Application for “Disability in the Line of Duty”, effective December 15, 2018.

Ayes: Cramer, Kelley, Cassady, Vanhorn, Davidson, Lay, Kohls, Combs, Manek and Rodriguez. Nayes: None. Motion carried.

Jeffrey Spencer/Braman - Application For “Disability In The Line Of Duty” Pension, Effective August 3, 2017: Motion was made

by Kelley and seconded by Lay to approve the Application for “Disability in the Line of Duty”, effective August 3, 2017. Ayes: Cramer, Kelley, Cassady, Vanhorn, Davidson, Kohls, Manek, Combs, Lay, and Rodriguez.

Nayes: None. Motion carried.

John Bacon/Claremore – Request To Modify Pension From “Service” To “Disability In Line Of Duty” Pension: No action taken.

Jack Ross/Commerce – Request For Approval Of Disability In The Line Of Duty – Applied For Disability In 2012 And Was Requested To See State Physician For Approval- Evaluation Just Received: Motion was made by Rodriquez and seconded by Vanhorn to approve the “Disability in the Line of Duty” Pension. Ayes: Cramer, Kelley, Cassady, Davidson, Vanhorn, Combs, Manek, Lay, Kohls and Rodriguez. Nayes: None.

Motion carried.

Timothy S. Mcintosh/Lawton - Request To Modify Pension From “Service” To “Disability In The Line Of Duty”: Motion was made by Rodriquez and seconded by Combs to approve the Request of McIntosh to modify from “Service” to “Disability in the Line of Duty”. Ayes: Nayes: Cassady, Kelley, Davidson, Cramer, Vanhorn, Combs, Lay, Kohls, Manek, and Rodriguez. Motion carried.

Don W. Thomason/Oklahoma City - Request To Modify Pension From “Service” To “Disability In The Line Of Duty”: Motion was made by Cramer and seconded by Lay to send Thomason to the State Doctor for further review. Ayes: Nayes: Cassady, Kelley, Lay, Davidson, Cramer, Combs, Kohls, Manek, Vanhorn, and Rodriguez. Motion carried.

Approval Of Physical Agility Test/Deer Creek: Firefighter Brett Zimdars discussed the changes they would like to make to the Physical Agility Test. Motion was made by Cramer and seconded by Lay to approve the Physical Agility Test presented by the Deer Creek Fire Department. Ayes: Cramer, Kelley, Cassady, Davidson, Combs, Lay, Kohls, Manek and Rodriguez. Nayes: Vanhorn.

Motion carried.

Chase Rankin

4545 N. Lincoln, Suite 265, Oklahoma City, OK 73105 405-522-4600 • 1-800-525-7461 toll free • 405-522-4643 fax www.okfirepen.state.ok.us

Terri Williams

n CONSENT AGENDA (January 18, 2019) CHECKS TERMINATED IN DECEMBER 2018 (Deceased): OKC Ernestine Jennings OKC Bobby J. Mowles OKC Deanna Storie Okmulgee Ann Wares Perkins Sherilyn Smith Sallisaw Jane A. Remer Sentinel Minnie Cole

Arapaho Evelyn O. Reed Gotebo Randy L. Gonzalez Locust Grove Virginia Brantley Mulhall Sylvia L. Andrews Muskogee Mary Merryfield

$5,000.00 DEATH BENEFIT: Agra Bartlesville Butler Enid Guymon OKC OKC OKC OKC Oktaha Perry Tulsa Tyrone Wyandotte Wyandotte Wyandotte

Palmer Marler Funeral Home On Behalf Of Dempsey McEntire Stumpff Funeral Home On Behalf Of Buddy J. Brashear Denise Bakerwidow Of Raymond Baker Ladusau-Evans Funeral Home On Behalf Of Bruce E. Johnson Resthaven Fuberal Home On Behalf Of Johnny L. Crabtree James Butler, II, Child Of James C. Butler Sr. Rodney B. Butler, Child Of James C. Butler Sr. Kevin D. Butler, Child Of James C. Butler Sr. Criswell Funeral Home On Behalf Of Carl G. Cobb Jordan Seth Stevens Exec. Estate Of Leonard A. Stevens Bunnie Klinglesmith, Widow Of Donald G. Klinglesmith Moore Southlawn Chapel On Behalf Of James H. Pilkington Weeks Funeral Home On Behalf Of Alan E. Sherrill Danny McCall, Child Of James (Jim) McCall James McCall, Child Of James (Jim) McCall James M. McCall, Grandchild Of James (Jim) McCall

APPLICATION FOR SURVIVING SPOUSE FOR CONTINUATION: 01/01/2019 01/01/2019 01/01/2019 01/01/2019 01/01/2019

OKC Pawnee Purcell Tulsa Tulsa

Susan Houston, Widow Of Raymond L. Houston Patty S. Majors, Widow Of Alford J. Majors Claudine Herell, Widow Of Tommy L. Herrell Carol Ridenour, Widow Of Robert L. Ridenour Marilyn Srader, Widow Of David M. Srader

APPLICATION FOR SERVICE PENSION: 01/01/2019 12/19/2018 01/01/2019 01/27/2019 01/01/2019 01/01/2019 01/01/2019 01/01/2019 12/08/2018 01/01/2019 11/01/2018

Broken Arrow Caddo Chelsea Farifax Hollis Lone Wolf New Hope Norman Oaks Shawnee Waukomis

Douglas W. Owens Eddie D. Ervin Timothy J. Schulze Johnny R. Shipman Brian L. Gollihare Doug W. Blevins Alan Derichsweller Bobby A. Anderson Chad H. Strong Michael D. Tischer Dale R. Hornberger

APPLICATION FOR VESTED BENEFIT: 11/09/2024 04/17/2023 09/25/2019 01/01/2016

Buffalo Davis Heavener Kendrick

Michael W. Barton Michael S. Summers Brad D. Turner Richard Burks

REFUND OF CONTRIBUTIONS: Tracy Warnke Michael Wieczorrek Joshua Nielsen

Hominy Watonga Woodward

Hired

03/27/2012 04/01/2013 10/16/2012

Terminated 12/21/2017 11/15/2018 05/08/2018

Shidler Carolyn Long Talhina Bennie Thompson Taloga Ethel Cox Tryon Sharon Lewis Wetumka Kenward K. Maxwell Wyandotte Jim M. McCall APPLICATION FOR ENTRANCE INTO THE PENSION SYSTEM: Broken Arrow Broken Arrow Broken Arrow Broken Arrow Broken Arrow Broken Arrow Cordell Cordell Duncan Duncan Duncan Harrah Kingfisher Kingfisher Madill Pryor Pryor Seminole Tulsa Tulsa Tulsa Tulsa Tulsa Tulsa Tulsa Tulsa Tulsa Tulsa Tulsa Tulsa Tulsa Tulsa Tulsa Tulsa Tulsa Tulsa Tulsa Tulsa Tulsa Tulsa Tulsa Tulsa Tulsa Tulsa Tulsa Tulsa Tulsa

Garret Blocker Dylan Delso Bryan Jeffus Easton M. Meaux Chris Rivera Eric Schraeder Jason Dudgeon Trever Merrell Colton Frederick Daniel Gardner Dalton Morse James Drain Kelby O. Benda Justin B. Houck Dylan Mathews Noah E. McNight Blake M. Matlock Brenton L. Jenkins Brett Allen Malaki Barnett Michael Black Trey Blankenship James E. Campbell Shawn Caywood Nigel Crawley Jr. Dylan Duncan Shaun Elizondo Daulton Esmeyer Erick Franzen Antonio Gallardo Ramus Matt Heath Rodney Holiman Zachary Hudson Levi Hutton Robert McKnight IV Justin Montgomery Sam Mosier Burl Nicholson Chelsea Owens Tavianna Polley-Davis Ryan Reed Cade Reyerson John Skidgel Hayden Sparks Blake Teel Conner Wagnon Colin Ward

24February 2019Oklahoma Firefighter

n

OSFA Executive Board Highlights

The OSFA Executive Board met November 15, 2018 in the boardroom of the OSFA at 2716 NE 50th Street, Oklahoma City, Oklahoma at 0903.

Roll Call: Dereck Cassady, Present and presiding; Mike Kelley, Present; Eric Harlow, Excused; Cliff Davidson, Present; Matt Lay, Present; Juan Rodriguez (ORFA), Present on conference call.

Others: Steve Lumry, Gene Brown, Sheri Nickel, Tim Bartram, Trisha Chain, Dr. Erick Reynolds, Caroline Reed, Don Armes, Julia Jernigan, Eric Hamilton, Chase Rankin.

Guests: Tony Young – Heroes Fore Charities, Paddy Metcalf – OSU Fire Service Training, Evan Tipton – HUB International Group Insurance, arriving 0932, Andy – HUB International Group Insurance, called in 0938 Correspondence: Thank you card from Lela Stavros.

Heroes Fore Charities Golf Tournament Presentation – Young Young offered to partner with the OSFA as the representation of the fire service charity in the Heroes Fore Charities Golf Tournament. The other charities involved have representatives speak at the tournament and set up tables to sell merchandise at the event.

Fire Marshal Commission Report: Lay and Lumry There is a vacancy due to Stan May’s resignation, and have hired a supervisor.

They are working on an application for OSFA’s State Fire School involving cannabis issues.

Robert Doke set up a meeting in Washington D.C. with a FEMA representative and will attend with Brown, Lumry and Harlow December 3-6.

Fire Service Training Report: Reynolds and Metcalf FST is busy with lots of training events and received an AFG grant they will use to purchase new FLAG props. They have hired a new office manager, two employees in the training center, and will have an opening as Debbie Tuttle is retiring.

They have completed a Firefighter-1 course at Duncan and are finishing the Woodward class. Structural Firefighter course was completed at Black Dog Fire Department and will be starting a course in Alva. FST expressed appreciation for their partnership with OSFA. COMMITTEE REPORTS n Legislative: Arms, Jernigan Committee will meet Dec. 11. There are many new members in the legislature and they are busy getting to know the members. It would be an opportune time for retirees to contact their new local legislators, as the COLA will be the biggest priority.

A bill has passed to name a bridge on I-235 after retired Oklahoma City Deputy Chief Jon Hansen. We worked with Representative Sanders on funding for the

signage on this project and have opened a renewed communication with him. n Safety & Health – Has not met.

HUB International Group Insurance Presentation - Tipton, Andy Tipton expressed his appreciation for allowing him to attend the meeting and discussed his role as a benefit consultant with HUB International. HUB International would allow members to sign up online or through a toll free number dedicated to OSFA members, with the call center being in Wisconsin. HUB International would assist with marketing efforts, find subsidies for members and attend local events.

HUB International employees are paid by commission with a percentage of monthly premiums from the provider, with no cost to the OSFA. Lumry informed them a decision would be made within a month.

COMMITTEE REPORTS (continued) n Educational Advisory: Lumry TCC is now charging for use of their facilities and will be roughly $5,000 for the duration of the event, if use is the same as last year. Vendor opportunities will be different this year with a two-hour lunch on Friday, option to stay Saturday, and an upgrade available to attend the welcome reception Thursday night. n Volunteer Fire Service: Bartram The agenda for the volunteer caucus is provided, the Oklahoma Cattlemen’s Association will be cooking burgers for lunch and the Tech Center is charging for use of the facilities and will be roughly $500. Committee has discussed developing an informational course for Title 18 and Title 19 board members to take. n EMS: Lumry The committee had a productive meeting with Dale Adkerson, who requested to serve on the committee permanently.

Adkerson clarified many questions the committee had and will be submitting some classes for the State Fire School. n Benevolent: Lumry The first meeting was November 8 and committee is gathering information and writing a get well soon card for office to sign and send to members who are sick. n Membership: Lumry Committee met November 8. New benefits include $84 rate anytime at Aloft in downtown Tulsa and the FireRescue GPO buying cooperative, both links on our website. The subcommittee to discuss 457 plans met, but were not able to find options. n County Sales Tax: Waiting to receive answered questions from the Attorney General’s office

November 15, 2018 MEETING

n Public Education: Lumry Committee is continuing to work with FMAO and NFPA to bring public safety classes to the State Fire School. The PFFO has shown interest in submitting classes for the State Fire School and Cassady and Lumry will attend their board meeting to discuss. Lumry expressed appreciation to all partners for their help with the John F. Futhey II State Fire School.

Museum Report: Brown Wheels were delivered to Stuart and hopefully the truck will be in the museum in December, where they will refurbish. Brown and Lumry will travel to Lindsay to discuss their Boardman pumper. Brown thanked Davidson for electrical parts for the Sentinel Room.

The Museum and the OSFA have new hats and they are considering purchasing some for the retirees or volunteers.

OKCFD is donating their public education trailer to the museum and Dr. Reynolds is allowing it to be stored with the utility trailer. The trailer will be a great addition to incorporate into the expansion and can be available to departments who don’t have one.

Museum Expansion Committee: Lumry The museum will have a new name (Oklahoma Firefighters Museum and Family Educational Center) and logo with the expansion, and there is a marketing video with artist renderings.

The Firefighters Pension System and Fire Marshal’s office are both interested in leasing the office space. The new event center will seat 400 people at round tables and the building will have a large west window that will face the Fallen and Living Firefighter Memorial. El Reno is interested in donating a ladder truck that will be displayed facing 50th Street.

Lumry and Brown have attended board meetings for the Adventure District’s Business Improvement District (BID).

Consideration for increasing parking fees for the WCWS and including RV hookups in the expanded parking lot. A committee meeting will be held November 29.

Volunteer Recruitment & Retention Report: Nickel The media covered the Firefighter-1 class in Lawton on TV and the newspaper and many inquiries have been made about the SAFER grant. The media is being contacted about the class in Woodward. Both classes had 45 students.

The Quapaw Tribe with 35 members is the first department joining the OSFA with the new tribal membership. Nickel has been attending meetings of the county Chiefs, metro Chiefs, and Rural Fire Coordinators.

Bartram stated interest in attending a monthly Emergency Manager meeting of all tribes to present OSFA membership benefits.

NVFC Report: Nickel NVFC is promoting their Lavender Ribbon Report and a copy can be available

Upcoming Dates to Remember: April 3-5, 2019 OFCA Conference Claremore May 2-5, 2019 OSFA State Fire School Tulsa June 4, 2019 38th ORFA Convention Ponca City

June 5-8, 2019 125th OSFA Convention Ponca City June 5-8, 2019 87th OSFA Women’s Auxiliary Convention - Ponca City for the Board if requested.

Lumry stated a letter was received requesting the appointment of a member representative.

ORFA Report: Rodriguez Rodriguez apologized for not being present last month. The Medicare subcommittee has completed its goal and will be encouraging members to consult with the State Insurance Commissioner.

They are wanting to be more involved in the Benevolent Committee and are considering not continuing the annual ORFA golf tournament.

Old Business: Board discussed 2019 proposed budget, approval will be voted on in the December meeting.

New Business: American Income Life’s annual beneficiary update letters have been delivered.

Executive Directors Report: Lumry The return from 2019’s membership drive is around 20% already, the Brent Hatcher Benevolent Fund has 420 members and a $2100 benefit, the electronic newspaper subscription is almost 500.

No progress has been made on the training/benevolent 501(c)3 fund. The Building Authority has approved Brown and Lumry to be signatories. Phil Ott has requested to be a member of the EMS committee.

Wilbert Funeral Services has offered free burial vaults or urns for members and Lumry will be contacting them for details. The auditor meeting went well.

A contract with the Sheridan in downtown OKC has been made for the 2020 Convention. Lumry, Brown, Nickel and Bartram have been on the road attending meetings throughout the state.

Adjourn: 12:43 p.m.

Next meeting: December 20, 2018

n

OSFA Executive Board Highlights

The OSFA Executive Board met December 20, 2018 in the boardroom of the OSFA at 2716 NE 50th Street, Oklahoma City, Oklahoma at 9:00 a.m.

Roll Call: Dereck Cassady, Present; Mike Kelley, Present; Eric Harlow, Present; Cliff Davidson, Present; Matt Lay, Present; Juan Rodriguez (ORFA), Present.

Others: Steve Lumry, Gene Brown, Sheri Nickel, Tim Bartram, Trisha Chain, Eric Hamilton, Julia Jernigan, Chase Rankin.

Guests: Jeannie Bordelon – LegisOK President.

LegisOK Presentation: Bordelon LegisOK is a comprehensive legislative information and bill tracking service. The service can offer information about bill authors, sponsors, scorecards by members, every version of text and proposed language, and videos of all committee meetings and floor sessions.

It offers a tool used to text or email a link that doesn’t expire to contact legislators with talking points and ways to report back to the account administrator.

LegisOK has also collected information about campaign financing info and has created spreadsheets with committee member emails.

Correspondence: Thank you card from the Fina family.

Fire Marshal Commission Report: Lay Four new agents have been hired and the next meeting will be in Tulsa.

COMMITTEE REPORTS

Museum Report: Brown Brown and Lumry will meet with new OKC councilwoman Nikki Nice to discuss continuing agreements held with previous councilman on potential help regarding the Museum Expansion.

Brown is working on getting the Stuart truck to the museum after the first of the year, and returning the Lawton truck.

Redbook sales are going well.

Museum Expansion Committee: Brown Brown has received new contacts from the Science Museum to help with the technology subcommittee.

Volunteer Recruitment & Retention Report: Nickel Between the Duncan and Woodward Firefighter-I classes, all but one student passed, making 43 firefighters from 23 different departments Firefighter-I certified. Nine classes are scheduled for the upcoming grant year, with limits of 30 students in each class. The grant has been opened to include existing firefighters along with new firefighters.

NVFC Report: Davidson The SIREN Act, a reauthorization of rural EMS training and equipment assistance program, was signed into law.

The NVFC Training Summit is in Portland, OR in June. CFSI’s program is in April, as well as NVFC’s spring meeting.

OFCA Report: Lumry Staff visited Claremore to discuss Conference logistics and planning is

Oklahoma FirefighterFebruary 201925

December 20, 2018 MEETING

going well.

ORFA Report: Rodriguez The Medicare Committee has set another meeting. Rodriguez requested the Board to approve one free edition of the Oklahoma Firefighter to be sent to everyone, whether member or not, in order to increase ORFA membership.

Executive Directors Report: Lumry The return from 2019’s membership drive is around 33% with 187 departments and 3,944 members already, the Brent Hatcher Benevolent Fund has 420 members, ORFA membership is increased to 4,433 and the electronic subscription is almost to 520.

Lumry, Brown, and Harlow made the trip to Washington D.C. to meet with FEMA representatives to discuss multiyear grants for the Museum Expansion.

Due to requirements to show usage of grant, it was decided to apply for the grant next year instead of immediately.

The request for matching funds for the endowment has been submitted and the Building Authority bank account is set up.

Attendees for the volunteer Caucus is already at 53, Winter Workshop hotel reservations have been made for the Board, the Heroes Fore Charities Golf Tournament is August 26, and the Memorial Golf Tournament is September 18.

Lumry met with Kent Lagaly, Alan Sanders, and James Hock to discuss OKTIMS goals that include changing the definition of ‘first responders’ and changing the Move Over Law. A com-

mittee has been formed to discuss those goals and Lumry requested the Board to appoint two representatives to serve on the committee.

The second American Income Life letter went out, and the company paid out the policy for a member who had been deceased for three years. Lumry was invited to speak at PFFO Convention in February.

Both Tulsa’s regional fire academy and OKCFD’s fire academy visited the Museum.

Lumry is researching options for different phone and internet providers.

A proposal from Cox includes features like faster internet, call forwarding from office phones to cell phones, and displaying the office number when calling from a cell phone.

Oklahoma Policy Institute Executive Director David Blatt has requested a $2,500 contribution from the OSFA. Board discussed legislative priorities.

Lay suggested blending CPI-U catchup and COLA wording on legislative talking points.

Old Business: Board reviewed 2019 OSFA and 2019 Firefighters Museum and Memorial budgets.

New Business: The website for health insurance offerings through Manhattan Life is set up and will be ready to go live in January. (www.osfains.com) Adjourn: 11:26 a.m.

Next meeting: January 17, 2019

n Legislative: Lumry Committee met December 11 and discussed legislative talking points, which were passed out to Board. n Educational Advisory: Bartram The committee will review course applications at the January meeting.

Committee has discussed hosting a Crossfit-type competition to take place Friday night. n Volunteer Fire Service: Lumry The Volunteer Caucus is January 26 and members will prioritize legislative topics they have already approved, as they are still being worked on. n EMS: Committee will discuss new bill introduced to increase millage for rural EMS districts. n Public Education: Brown Committee is still working on lessons in a box and an education subcommittee has been formed to reach out to the State Board of Education.

Nine Executive Directors have led the Oklahoma State Firefighters Association over the years, and five are pictured above. From left: Jim Minx (1988-2006); Chris Bain (2006-10); Herb Bradshaw (2011-13); Phil Ostrander (2013-18); Steve Lumry (2018-Present)

26February 2019Oklahoma Firefighter

n OKLAHOMA FIRE SPOTLIGHT

ARDMORE FIRE DEPARTMENT Fire Chief: Cary Williamson AFD formed: 1895 Joined OSFA: 1902 Personnel: 33

Number of stations: 3 Number of engines: 4 Number of ladders: 1 Number of brush pumpers: 4

1 Haz-Mat unit Square miles covered: 56 Runs per year: Approx. 2,400 Population: Approx. 25,000

BY GREG ROBERTS Norman FD Retired If you would like to see your FD featured in a future issue, please contact Greg Roberts at 405-424-1452 or groberts1960@ gmail.com

On April 19, 1895, a fire which started in the Harper and Cecil Livery stable on North Caddo (A St. NE) almost completely consumed the young City of Ardmore.

In the wake of this tragedy, the Ardmore Fire Department was founded as a 25 member volunteer fire department, and the first horse drawn steam pumper engine was purchased for $1,800.

Ardmore FD Station 3 - Opened in December 2018

1907 OSFA Convention in Ardmore

Ardmore FD Station 1

Quint 3. 2009 Sutphen 1500 pump/500 tank/75’ ladder Brush Pumper

Quint 1. 2018 Sutphen 1500 pump/500 tank/75’ ladder

Ardmore FD Station 2

Oklahoma FirefighterFebruary 201927

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28February 2019Oklahoma Firefighter