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GORE, CROSSTECH, and designs are trademarks of W.L. Gore & Associates, Inc. DUPONT, KEVLAR, NOMEX, and designs are trademarks or registered trademarks of affiliates of DuPont de Nemours, Inc. Summer 2020 Fire Fighter Quarterly vol. 103 no.3 Wildfire Season Comes Early 24 MDC Virtual Fill the Boot 30 27 Hurricane Laura Disaster Relief Cover Features Departments 14 COVID-19: The Fight 10 2020 Fallen Fire Fighter Memorial n 5 From the General President Is Not Over Virtual remembrance pays tribute to COVID-19 remains a our fallen brothers and sisters. n 7 From the General serious threat, taking the Secretary-Treasurer lives of 16 IAFF members. 30 Fill the Boot Goes Virtual The IAFF and MDA launch virtual Fill n 8 Noteworthy News the Boot to continue fundraising during COVID-19. n 22 Local Scene n 24 Across the IAFF n 36 Retirees n 44 Never Forget n 46 Last Alarm Download the IAFF App The IAFF app is available for Apple and Android devices. Download the latest update today using this QR Code. Connect with the IAFF Visit Fire Fighter Quarterly online at www.iaff.org/magazine 3 QUARTERLY Harold A. Schaitberger General President Harold A. Schaitberger, Publisher Edward A. Kelly General Secretary-Treasurer Mark Treglio, Supervising Editor IAFF EXECUTIVE BOARD 11th District Jane Blume, Managing Editor Sandy McGhee Doug Stern, Staff Writer Kristin Craine, Staff Writer Tim Burn, Staff Writer 1st District 1283 S. Detroit Avenue James Slevin Tulsa, OK 74120 Kristin Hazlett, Graphic Designer Michelle Yuen, Assistant Graphic Designer 167 Rockaway Avenue (918) 855-8228 (Cell) Garden City, NY 11530 Mesha Williams, Staff Writer Meghan BouHabib, Editorial Assistant (917) 757-6388 (Cell) 12th District Craig Renfro, Advertising Director • (972) 416-9782 • [email protected] (347) 903-1529 (Office) Walter J. Dix (347) 343-5720 (Fax) 11 NW 36th Avenue Periodical postage paid at Washington, DC and 1750 New York Avenue, N.W. Lauderhill, FL 33311 additional mailing offices. Washington, D.C. 20006-5395 2nd District (954) 444-8111 (Cell) Postmasters send changes of Published quarterly Mark Woolbright (954) 349-0331 (Home) address to: Subscription price $18 per year. 115 McMenamy Road IAFF Fire Fighter Quarterly (Print) St. Peters, MO 63376 13th District 1750 New York Avenue, N.W. (ISSN 2333-3669) (314) 393-9755 (Cell) Fred LeBlanc Washington, D.C. 20006-5395 (636) 397-1572 (Office) 317 Avenue Road Fire Fighter Quarterly (Online) (636) 397-3809 (Fax) Kingston, Ontario K7M 1C8 (ISSN 2333-3685) (613) 328-2195 (Cell) Official publication of and 3rd District © Copyright 2020 by the Jay Colbert 14th District INTERNATIONAL ASSOCIATION 20 Henry Ave. Danny Todd OF FIRE FIGHTERS® Printed in USA Somerville, MA 02144-2604 5150 Stage Rd. Suite 103 (617) 307-8076 (Cell) Memphis, TN 38128 Publications Mail Agreement No. 40065725 Canada Post: Return undeliverables to 901-386-3129 (Office) P.O. Box 2601, 6915 Dixie Rd, Mississauga, ON L4T 0A9. 4th District 901-409-6549 (Cell) Andrew K. Pantelis (901) 377-6549 (Home) INTERNATIONAL EXECUTIVE STAFF AUXILIARY TO THE IAFF 3060 Mitchellville Road Terra McKenzie Suite 217 15th District Jeff Zack Chief of Staff President Bowie, MD 20716 David Burry Mathew Golsteyn Chief of Operations (217) 424-5687 (301) 674-3448 (Cell) 16 Indian Pond Place [email protected] CBS, NL A1X6P8 Doug Steele Legal Counsel www.aiaff.com 5th District (709) 744-2709 (Home) Patrick J. Morrison Assistant to the General Thomas Thornberg (709) 689-7574 (Cell) President for Occupational Health, Safety and IAFF CHAPLAIN 23594 Ulysses St. NE Medicine Father Thomas Mulcrone East Bethel, MN 55005 16th District (612) 290-8015 (Cell) James B. Johnson Mark Treglio Assistant to the General IAFF Headquarters Office (612) 222-5706 (Office) 3195 Dayton-Xenia Road President for Communications and Media 1750 New York Ave. NW Suite 900-303 Dave Bernard Assistant to the General Washington DC 20006 6th District Beavercreek, OH 45434-6390 (202) 737-8484 (Office) President for Information Systems Mike Carter (202) 360-1318 (Cell) (202) 737-8418 (Fax) Scott Marks Assistant to the General 2234-30 Avenue NE President for Canadian Operations IAFF Canadian Office Calgary, AB T2E 7K9 CANADA TRUSTEES 350 Sparks St. Suite 403 (403) 630-7655 (Cell) Mark S. Ouellette Jim Brinkley Assistant to the General Ottawa Ontario, Canada K1R7S8 556 Aeolian Drive President for Member Services, Technical 7th District (613) 567-8988 (Office) Ricky Walsh New Smyrna Beach, FL 32168 Assistance and Information Resources P.O. Box 5604 (386) 314-5837 (Cell) James Ridley Assistant to the General West Richland, WA 99353 Alex Forrest President for Education, Training and Human IAFF FINANCIAL CORPORATION (509) 999-3090 (Cell) 303-83 Garry Street Relations Carrie Tucker Chief Operating Officer 8th District Winnipeg,MB R3C-419 Canada Dave Lang Assistant to the General President Mark Sanders (204) 783-1733 (Office) for Governmental and Public Policy E-18 MEDIA 10527 Winding Way (204) 791-4980 (Cell) Ryan Weber Assistant to the Marty Sonnenberg Harrison, OH 45030-2043 (204) 255-0383 (Home) General Secretary-Treasurer for Finance and Executive Producer (513) 260-2381 (Cell) (204) 253-0496 (Station) Membership (204) 772-2531 (Fax) 9th District Elizabeth Del Re Assistant to Ray R. Rahne Anthony Mejia the General President for Grants 3444 S. Newland Ct. 2201 Cherry Avenue Administration and HazMat/WMD Training Lakewood, CO 80277 Signal Hill, CA 90755 (303) 619-2462 (Cell) (562) 989-3667 (Office) EMERITI OFFICERS Michael J. Crouse (303) 988-0177 (Home) (562) 212-2055 (Cell) Ernest A. “Buddy” Mass President Emeritus Terry A. Ritchie 10th District GENERAL COUNSEL Alfred K. Whitehead Kevin Gallagher Frank Lima Doug Steele Secretary-Treasurer Emeritus Bruce Carpenter 1571 Beverly Boulevard Thomas H. Miller James A. Fennell Los Angeles, CA 90026-5704 Vice President Emeritus William V. Taylor (213) 507-6317 (Cell) Russell P. Cerami Lorne West (213) 485-2091 ext. 1 (Office) James L. Hill James T. Ferguson Elliott Hastings Larry Osborne Dominick C. DiPaulo Trustee Emeritus Robert E. Palmer William McGrane Charles L. Buss Dennis Lloyd Gerald O. Holland 4 FIRE FIGHTER QUARTERLY Leading the Charge in a Pandemic COVID-19 has fundamentally changed how we live and work and affected all PPE. We continue to maintain that the very of us in many ways. It is especially tragic for the families of our 16 brothers we nature of pre-hospital response requires that fire have lost to this deadly virus. As with every member we lose in the line of and EMS personnel are “level one” along with duty in the U.S. and Canada, the IAFF pledges to be there for the families as other critical healthcare workers. And just long as they need us. recently, through our lobbying efforts, our Our efforts to pass legislation adding COVID-19 under the U.S. Public members will be tier one, level one to receive a Safety Officer Benefit (PSOB) program ensures that every one of these vaccine when it is safe to do so. families receives the full federal benefits they deserve. Without this important This union also understood from the very legislation, our members who die or are permanently disabled due to beginning that the mental and emotional toll Harold A. Schaitberger COVID-19 would be forced to prove they contracted the virus on the job. for our members and their families could be The IAFF will continue our focus on making sure that this virus doesn’t take severe. Many have experienced new stressors about the unknowns of any more of our brothers and sisters. But with more than 26,000 members COVID-19. Unfortunately, no behavioral health guidance for fire fighters has testing positive, nearly 11,000 in quarantine and hundreds hospitalized, this been issued from any federal agency. Again, we developed and made readily pandemic clearly remains a serious threat. available our own behavioral health guidance for members struggling with That’s why we work every day to protect all of you on the frontlines of the day-to-day stress and concerns for their own safety and their families’ COVID-19 … developing resources to ensure you are prepared to respond safety. safely and fighting to keep you safe by providing guidance and protocols and And throughout this pandemic, the IAFF Center of Excellence for working with local, state, provincial and federal governments to make sure Behavioral Health Treatment and Recovery has remained open — with safety you have the protections, resources and information you need to respond to precautions in place — to provide treatment to our brothers and sisters. We the communities you protect every day. also adopted new admission screening and protocols and required all COVID-19 has brought many new challenges — inconsistent and patients and staff to always wear PPE. Additionally, we are offering online sometimes flawed guidance and safety protocols, shortages in personal recovery meetings, telemental health services and a new series of behavioral protective equipment (PPE), lack of access to priority testing and economic health information guides on a variety of COVID-19 topics.