Honoring Fallen Firefighters in Minnesota

Traveled to Minneapolis/St. Paul over the weekend to participate in the 2nd annual Minnesota Fallen Firefighters Memorial Service.

A group of very dedicated fire service leaders in the state set out to create a fitting statewide memorial a few years ago.  Seems they had created a large bronze statue

that was displayed for years in a central location at the Minneapolis airport.  But when the airport was remodeled, the statue was relegated to a hidden corner in the baggage claim area.  They got the state legislature to provide a piece of land on the grounds of the state capitol in St. Paul ( a beautiful capitol campus!).  Then they set out to raise nearly $700,000 to design and create the memorial itself.  It was all built with fire-service raised money.  No grants or handouts from the state.  As you can see from the picture, it is a dramatic memorial.  The vertical poles you see are for each decade and the names and year of death for each of the fallen are engraved on the poles.

One of the most challenging parts of the project, other than raising money, was identifying past Minnesota fallen firefighters.  After lots of hard work and public appeals, they have identified 208 fallen firefighters dating back to the late 1800s.  The next step was to identify the descendents or current family for these men and women who had given their lives.  Last year, after much hard work, the memorial was dedicated with nearly 4,000 in attendence.  A memorial state flag was presented to family/loved ones of 102 of the fallen in that initial service.  Another 7 families were recognized this year.  There are still 99 families to be found.  10 or so are for deaths that occurred since 1965, but 89 are from prior to 1965....so it is a real detective story to track down these folks.

The Minnesota Fire Service Foundation and the members of the MN fire service have created something very special here.  It was a blessing to have the opportunity to be there and help out.  I did some media prior to the service

- talking about the memorial, it's value to surviving family members, and the search for additional family members.  I also had the chance to give a brief keynote speech during the actual service that included Governor Dayton, the Commissioner of Public Safety, and a key member of the state House of Representatives.

As I listened to the descriptions of how some of the older LODDs occured, it struck me how different the fire service used to be.  Many of the deaths were from falling off the back of moving fire engines.  When I started, we still rode on the back step and I know exactly what that is like.  It is a good thing that we have removed that dangerous practice from the fire service!  There were also quite a few who died by falling through the pole hole in the fire station (in the days before doors and guard rails around the pole hole).  The good news is that we build stations a lot safer today.

Thanks to all of my friends in Minnesota.  The hospitality was great!  You have created a very special thing in this memorial.  It was a privilege to be a part of the service.

North of the Border

This week's expedition on behalf of the International Association of Fire Chiefs (IAFC) took me north of the border to Regina, Saskatchewan, Canada.  The purpose of this trip was to represent the IAFC at the annual meeting of the Canadian Association of Fire Chiefs (CAFC).  CAFC is the professional association that represents fire chiefs from across Canada.  It also serves as the Canadian Division of the IAFC, although not all members of CAFC hold membership in the IAFC.  It was a very enjoyable and productive few days with my colleagues.  Although a national border may seperate us, the issues that we face as chief fire officers are much the same.  Firefighter health and safety/reduction of line of duty deaths, effective and efficient deployment of resources in times of constrained economic resources, fire sprinklers, building codes, etc are all on their agenda.  I'm glad that I was able to be there to connect with friends and to learn about the fire service in Canada.

This trip was also enjoyable because it took me to a place that I haven't visited before and I got to see some new things.  The flight out of San Diego was spectacular with a great view of the Grand Canyon at sunrise. We had a welcoming party on hand when we arrived at Regina, although I'm not entirely sure that the pilot knew why they were there !

Sunday was not a full day, so we took the opportunity to visit the thriving metropolis of Moose Jaw, SK. Moose Jaw has quite the history.  While it is now a tourist destination, retirement center, and a regional hub for agriculture and mining, it used to serve as the center for bootlegging during the Prohibition period and Mr. Al Capone is said to have visited frequently.

I have to confess that there wasn't much to see and do in Moose Jaw on a Sunday morning.  We did, however, come across a rather large moose at the visitor's center.

In addition to being the home of a VERY large moose, the town is also home to the Snowbirds - the Canadian military precision flight demonstration team.  That's one of their planes mounted behind the moose.  I've seen the Snowbirds perform, so it was neat to see their home.

Regina is a thriving town of just over 200,000 citizens.  It is the capital of Saskatchewan and serves as regional hub for agriculture and mining.  It is a town in the middle of hundreds of miles of wheat fields, occasionally interrupted by a potash mine or a coal mine.  It's also pretty flat there.  I was told a couple of variations of the same joke.  One was that if your dog runs away, you can watch it run all the way to Winnepeg.....or you can see it run for a month.  Let's just say that it is very, very, very flat there.  Interestingly, Regina is the home of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP).  Their training center is there - it is huge and looks like a college campus.  Every Mountie is trained there and then dispatched to their posts throughout Canada.  The opening ceremonies for the conference were held in the auditorium at "The Depot".  We got to see the oldest building in Regina - the chapel on the grounds of the training center.  It was built in the early 1890s and has been beautifully restored.

Stained glass windows at front of chapel.  Notice the Mounties in the stained glass!

Also at the training center is the RCMP Heritage Center which is a large and beautiful museum dedicated to the history of the RCMP.  We had a reception there following the opening ceremonies for the conference and it was fascinating to wander the halls and galleries and see the many exhibits tracing the history of the RCMP and law enforcement in general in the Wild West of Canada!  I also ran across this creature in one of the exhibit areas! 

I'm glad that I had  the chance to experience Regina and all it has to offer.  Thanks to my Canadian friends for their warm hospitality!

The Glamour of Travel

This week's trip was a quick one to Washington, DC for a meeting at the International City/County Managers Association (ICMA).  ICMA had invited representatives of professional associations representing senior government leaders to come together to talk about challenges in local government leadership.  It was an interesting meeting that I'm sure will open the doors for additional cooperation and collaboration.  Interestingly, one of the biggest issues facing the government professions is a dramatic reduction in the number of young people who are choosing local government as a career choice.  Although not surprising, it is a very real problem that is going to have a significant impact on the future leadership pool in local government.  Another big issue was infrastructure sustainability.  Over the last half century, we have invested in major infrastructure in this country.  Bridges, roads, water and sewer systems, buildings (like fire stations), etc. with little thought given to planning for the ongoing maintenance and eventual replacement.  The result is we are now seeing a significant crumbling of the nation's infrastructure.  We need to come up with solutions or face the gradual failure of these critical systems.  Good meeting - glad the IAFC was represented.

But this trip was also an illustration of the fun (or not so much fun) of business travel.  The basic premise was simple.  Fly from SoCal on Wednesday, attend the meeting on Thursday and fly back home on Thursday evening.  However, things rarely work out that simply any more!  The trip to DC was pretty uneventful even though I was flying on 9/11 and arriving in DC in the midst of the 2 Million Muslim March and the 2 Million Biker Rally.  I don't know where those 4 million people were, but I didn't see them in DC!  Spent the night in a typical DC hotel room:  about the size of my walk-in closet at home, for $250/night.  Got some work done on the computer in the room, so a productive day.  On Thursday, did the meeting at ICMA until about 1:30 then ran to the airport to find a quiet spot for an IAFC Board conference call.  Ever try to find a quiet spot at an airport these days?  Then just about flight time, a series of big thunderstorms moved into the DC area.  We were supposed to take off at about 5 PM and didn't leave until about 9:15.  Did you know that there aren't nearly enough chairs at the airport for everyone who would like to sit?  Needless to say, I missed my connection in Salt Lake City - the last of the day.  Since it was a weather delay, the airline isn't responsible for a hotel room.  Fortunately, my wonderful wife got on the phone while I was in the air and lined up a great hotel that we had visited while doing site visits for FRI - the Little America Hotel.  If you're ever in Salt Lake City, I highly recommend it.  Arrived at the hotel a bit after midnight.  After a too brief 5 hours of sleep, got up and back to the airport for the first flight out in the morning.

What started as a quick trip turned into a very long ordeal - especially on the return home.  While the meeting was worthwhile, I've also been reminded why they call frequent travelers 'road warriors'.  It is often a long, hard battle to get anywhere these days.

An Inside and Behind the Scenes View

I've been home for nearly two weeks, so it was time to hit the road again this past weekend.  This time, Dotty had the opportunity to go along on what was a once-in-a-lifetime experience.

We traveled to Richmond, Virginia to attend the Federated Auto Stores 400 NASCAR race at Richmond International Raceway.  Let me start out by clearing up one thing:  not a penny of IAFC or North County Fire money was spent on this event.  Each of us who were there paid our own expenses.
 

The IAFC Team in the Winners Circle at Richmond International Raceway

We arrived at the track at a bout 11 AM on Saturday morning.  First on the agenda was to connect with Henrico County Fire Department Assistant Chief Mike Cox who had arranged for us to get an inside look at the planning and logistics necessary to provide public safety for the 70,000-90,000 fans and racing professionals who would be at the race.  We toured the command posts, check-in area, the infield medical care center, and the on-track fire facility.  We met the fire and rescue personnel who would be working the race on the crash trucks and were given the opportunity to see the pickups with fire and rescue equipment that would be used during the race.  Chevrolet and Amkus have provided some VERY nice equipment for the fire personnel to use.

These pickups are the primary fire/rescue vehicles that respond to on-track incidents. They carry a crew of 4: crew chief, paramedic, and two firefighters

After the behind-the-scenes public safety part of the day, we spent just a little time visiting the 'midway' area where all of the souvenir trailers were set up - it was already busy and race time was still 5 hours away at 7:30 PM.  At about 3 PM we met up with our hosts from Shell.  The IAFC is developing a business relationship with Shell around the area of safety and emergency response.  Shell surprised us a few weeks ago with an offer to place the IAFC logo on the trunk lid of the #22 Penzoil Ford Fusion car owned by Roger Penske and driven by Joey Logano.

The #22 car trunk lid with IAFC logo

Shell had arranged for us to also get an up close and personal tour of the behind the scenes places that not many get to see.  We started with a meet-and-greet with Joey Logano, the driver.

Joey Logano - #22 Driver

A very nice young man (23 years old) who is a hot ticket in NASCAR right now.  After visiting with him for a while, we toured the pit area.  Then we proceeded to the garage area where we saw the #22 car and all of the other cars as they went through final prep for the race.  We then got to visit the inspection area where all of the cars are inspected by NASCAR officials to measure compliance with all of the different rules to make sure the playing field is level.  It was fascinating to see the inspection process.  We then hung around in the pits until almost race time.

As race time approached we were able to stand on pit road with all of the cars, crews, and drivers, right up and through the invocation and the national anthem.

Pit Road before Opening Ceremonies

 As the crews got the drivers in the cars, we went to our initial seat for the first part of the race - on top of the pit box, right behind the crew chief!

Back side of pit box where we watched a portion of the race

 We stayed there through the first 1/3 of the race of so.  While you get a great view of the pit and it was interesting to listen in on the radio traffic with Logano, you really can't see much of the race itself.  So eventually we left our seat and went up to the executive suites where we could view the race from a more conventional angle.

 It was fascinating to watch....and it was LOUD.  My ears are still ringing like I attended a rock concert!  The race finished and we got out of the track and back to our hotel about midnight - 11 hours or so after we arrived.  A VERY long day!

A big thank you to our hosts at Henrico County Fire - they do an outstanding job of providing for the public safety during this huge event.  They were terrific hosts and went the extra mile to show us around and answer all of our questions.  Also a huge thanks to our friends at Shell.  The hospitality was wonderful and they gave us the opportunity to see and experience things that we would never have otherwise seen.  We look forward to continuing a great working relationship with them to improve safety both for the public and first responders.  As a special surprise, they have arranged for the trunk lid with our logo that was in the race to be delivered to IAFC headquarters in a few weeks where we can proudly display it.