INTERNATIONAL FEMA/Jocelyn Augustino WE WILL NEVER FORGET contents SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER 2011 JOURNAL OF THE INTERNATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF FIRE FIGHTERS/VOL 94. NO. 5 FEATURES ON THE COVER: September 11: 10 Year Remembrance A Decade of Change ......................................................................18 2011 Media Awards Contest Winners Fighting Back P.28 Attacks on fire fighters continue ......................................................10 General President’s Message 2011 Media Awards Winners ..................................................28 Ten Years Later ..................................................................3 General Secretary-Treasurer’s Message Executive Board Approves 2011-2012 Budget ......................5 Fighting Back P. 10 Letters to the Editor ....................................................6 Local Scene ..................................................................8 Always on the Frontline ............................................33 Across the IAFF ..........................................................34 On the Road ................................................................42 Retirees ........................................................................43 In Memoriam/Last Alarm ..........................................46 September 11 On The Cover We Will Never Forget P. 18 2 September/October 2011 From the General President Ten Years Later he memory of the September 11, 2001, members and our profession have faced in the terrorist attacks that claimed so many lives history of the IAFF. Tin New York, at the Pentagon and in We all see it. More and more is being asked of our Shanksville, Pennsylvania, will never fully vanish. members who serve their communities, while at Ten years later, the memorials that were held at the same time some are too willing to place our Ground Zero and across North America on members in greater jeopardy, seemingly bound September 11 help us always remember and and determined to make sure we are less and less never forget. in control of our own safety and security. Honoring each of their lives, their service and Indeed there are those who stand with us during sacrifice is profoundly important to everyone in ceremonies to honor the fallen. There are those the fire service and to the families of the fallen. who like to sing the praises of the work our fallen In 2002 we etched every single name of our did while on this Earth, then go back to their Harold A. September 11 fallen on the solid granite walls of offices and with no more consideration than they Schaitberger our Fallen Fire Fighter Memorial in Colorado give to any other line in a budget are making Springs one at a time, letter by letter, with love and decisions that put our members’ lives and the dignity, because in this profession, where loss is a communities they serve more at risk. part of what we all call the job, it is our duty to These politicians love us when the cameras are “To honor the honor and reflect on each loss and each life, one at rolling and their own jobs are on the line during an legacy of the a time. election year. And Lord knows they sure love us And this year in Colorado Springs, we once again when we arrive within minutes in the dead of fallen, I believe gathered, to honor and celebrate 87 times the night with ladders, axes and hoses. it is our duty to individual lives and stories of our brothers and But when the political winds shift, these sisters we lost over this past year just like the 343 politicians turn their backs. They scapegoat you make the job FDNY brothers we lost on September 11. and blame the fiscal problems that are a result of safer for those They were sons and daughters. They were the recession on you. They forget who you are and parents, friends, neighbors and coaches. Each had what you do. They seek to silence you, to take away still pulling their own unique story. And each of them your wages, your benefits and your rights. They cut sacrificed everything. Whether they died in New your staffing and put you at even greater risk. their shifts.” York at Ground Zero or while fighting a wildland The challenge for all of us in this difficult time is fire, in a building collapse, or from one of the to stand together in solidarity and defend the insidious diseases contracted over a career of honor of our fallen by standing up for the rights of exposure in this profession, where loss is part of the living to make your dangerous jobs a little less the job — it is our duty to honor and reflect on dangerous. each loss and each life. I believe every one of our brave 87 souls we paid And even though we do this well, we all wish we tribute to this year in Colorado Springs, and all didn’t have to do it so often. 343 of our FDNY brothers we lost 10 years ago, To honor the legacy of the fallen, I believe it is would say, “Tell the truth. Use my service, my duty our duty to make the job safer for those still and sacrifice to better the chances that my brothers pulling their shifts. We must learn valuable lessons and sisters will not be placed on the magnificent from the tragic loss of a fire fighter. We must walls of our memorial.” consider the circumstances and conditions and We will always remember the price that our fallen strive to work harder and smarter. brothers and sisters paid. But our hard work now If we can accomplish that, we will ensure that we will ensure that fewer in our profession make that don’t have to gather nearly as often for solemn sacrifice later. ceremonies to remember the fallen because more of our brothers and sisters will make it home safely at the end of their shift and be able to enjoy a well-earned retirement after a career serving others. And we must make that commitment now, in what is one of the most difficult times our International Fire Fighter 3 INTERNATIONAL Harold A. Schaitberger General President Harold A. Schaitberger, Thomas H. Miller General Secretary-Treasurer Editor Jeff Zack, Supervising Editor IAFF EXECUTIVE BOARD 10th District James T. Ferguson Jane Blume Bill Glanz 1st District 3029 Buchanan Street Director of Communications, Director of Public Affairs and Kevin Gallagher San Francisco, CA 94123-4201 Managing Editor Media Relations 2004 E. 29th Street (415) 760-8063 (Cell) Brooklyn, NY 11229 (415) 474-4121 (Fax) Kristin Craine, Staff Writer Kristin Davis, Graphic Artist (718) 934-4933 (Office) 11th District Tim Burn, Staff Writer Mesha Williams, New Media Assistant (917) 767-9639 (Cell) Sandy McGhee (718) 332-0001 (Fax) 1283 S. Detroit Avenue Cindy Payne, Administrative Assistant 2nd District Tulsa, OK 74120 Craig Renfro, Advertising Director • (972) 416-9782 • [email protected] Mark Woolbright (918) 599-8176 (Office) (918) 855-8228 (Cell) 115 McMennamy Road Periodical postage paid at Washington, DC Postmasters send changes of address to (918) 599-9176 (Fax) and additional mailing offices. IAFF St. Peters, MO 63376 1750 New York Avenue NW (314) 393-9755 (Cell) Published bi-monthly. 12th District Washington, D.C. 20006 (636) 397-1572 (Office) Larry Osborne Subscription price $18 per year. (636) 397-3809 (Fax) 8743 Ricardo Lane International Fire Fighter Jacksonville, FL 32216-3536 (ISSN 0020-6733) 3rd District Official publication of and © Copyright A. Michael Mullane (904) 641-5407 (Home) (904) 219-8656 (Cell) 2011 by the 50 North Bayfield Road INTERNATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF North Quincy, MA 02171 13th District FIRE FIGHTERS ® Printed in USA (617) 328-7202 (Home) Bruce Carpenter (617) 288-2100 (Office) 12 Lockview Crescent Publications Mail Agreement No. 1492438 Return undeliverable Canadian St. Catharines, ON L2M 2T3 addresses to: 2835 Kew Drive Windsor, Ontario N8T3B7 4th District (905) 687-2455 (Cell) William V. Taylor 206 Inlet Drive 14th District INTERNATIONAL STAFF Danny Todd Pasadena, MD 21122 Peter L. Gorman Chief of Staff Kelli Tucker (410) 317-5546 (Office) 3740 Northcliffe Drive Jim Lee Chief of Operations President of Auxiliary to the IAFF (443) 324-2529 (Cell) Memphis, TN 38128 (512) 587-0413 Baldwin Robertson Legal Counsel (410) 317-5548 (Fax) (901) 377-6549 (Home) [email protected] Rich Duffy Assistant to the General 5th District 15th District www.aiaff.com President for Occupational Health James A. 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