MFRI BULLETIN A P R I L - J U N E
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REMEMBERING OUR FALLEN HEROES by Gary E. Warren, Deputy Chief (Retired) Baltimore County Fire Department Chief of Operations and Special Operations
As we continue to mourn the loss of our sister and brothers from the Baltimore City Fire Department, as well as so many others throughout the state this past month, it is also a time to remember those who have died before them in the line of duty. When a tragedy occurs, the fire service family from all over the world comes together as one. This was demonstrated during the Baltimore City funerals. Why is this? Chief Edward F. Croker, FDNY, said it best: “I have no ambition in this world but one, and that is to be a fireman. The position may, in the eyes of some, appear to be a lowly one; but we who know the work which the fireman has to do, believe that his is a noble calling. Our proudest moment is to save lives. Under the impulse of such thoughts, the nobility of the occupation thrills us and stimulates us to deeds of daring, even of supreme sacrifice.” Today, Chief Croker’s comments would have spoken of firefighters and first responders, not firemen, but his words still hold true. When you join the fire service, you become part of a family dedicated to protecting life, property, and the environment, and are willing
to sacrifice everything to complete that mission. Maryland has a rich fire service history and has unfortunately experienced many line of duty deaths throughout
the years. From the Eastern Shore to Western Maryland, our line of duty death scrolls have been published. To find our sisters’ and brothers’ line of duty death information, you can visit the Maryland Fire-Rescue Services Memorial’s website at mdfirerescuehero. org. If you visit Annapolis, make time to visit the memorial to honor our heroes. What are the lessons that these heroes want us to learn from their sacrifices? We must celebrate their lives, remember their names, and ensure the lessons
they left us are instilled in the future generations, so their memory will live forever. This is a time to remember all our fallen heroes from across the state. Remember the words of John 15-12, “Greater love hath no man, than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends.” We must never forget their sacrifices! Let us think about that “Greater Love.” When you examine the career or volunteer fire service from our past centuries, you will be hard pressed to find a profession outside the realm of first responders and our Nation’s military that embodies “Greater Love.” This is the bedrock for these professions; to give yourself to something bigger than we could ever be, all for the person beside you inside a hostile environment, or the person you have never met. We will lay down our lives, leaving so much pain and destruction in our absence, and all for what some might ask? We do this because it is the oath we took; it is what we signed up for, or love of the job and each other. We are the people that do not live for tomorrow, we cherish and seize every day. We kiss continued on page 4
MESSAGE FROM THE EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR The Maryland Fire and Rescue Institute of the University of Maryland is the state’s comprehensive training and education system for all-hazard responses. The Institute plans, researches, develops, and delivers quality programs to prepare agencies and individuals to protect life, the environment, and property.
A few years ago, we completed a Strategic Planning process to provide a road map and blue print for the Institute. This plan was developed by more than 35 members of the Institute representing virtually all positions, as well as, our partner groups throughout the State.
Bulletin Staff
At the present time, we are completing our third year of this five-year plan and I am happy to report much progress. Our accomplishments during this time have been both tangible (people, programs, and equipment), as well as philosophical (vision, mission, and culture). Many of these achievements have greatly improved our processes, overall efficiency, organizational morale, customer service, teamwork, and organizational communications.
Editor: Diane May Graphics: Ana Maizel Assistant Editor: Jenna Robles Assistant Editor: Jennifer Ginn Assistant Editor: Karen Haje Contact MFRI tel: 301-226-9921 fax: 301-314-0752 www.mfri.org bulletin@mfri.org The Maryland Fire and Rescue Institute Bulletin (MFRI) University of Maryland (ISSN 1074-2298) is published quarterly by the Maryland Fire and Rescue Institute of the University of Maryland, College Park, MD 20742. Periodical postage paid at College Park, MD 20740. Postmaster: Send address changes to Maryland Fire and Rescue Institute, Bulletin, 4500 Campus Drive, University of Maryland, College Park, Maryland, 20742. The MFRI Bulletin is distributed as a public service of the University of Maryland. The Bulletin is dedicated to the publication of information that will help educate its readers on the subjects of fire protection, emergency medical services, rescue, leadership, and training. This publication may contain some articles and illustrations provided by readers. MFRI does not necessarily agree with information nor endorse any products depicted in the Bulletin. Address all communications to Editor at MFRI. For change of address, send mailing label and new address. The MFRI Bulletin is produced entirely in house. We extend our sincere gratitude to our contributors who make this publication possible.
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It is important to acknowledge that none of our achievements have been accomplished by any one single person, but rather various members of our teams that have come together to collaborate in pursuit of the goals and objectives for the greater good of the Institute. Working in this fashion, we have been able to make many improvements and demonstrate that we are more productive together. When our teams are more productive, we deliver an increased level of customer service; this allows us to operate as a world-class organization in the emergency services training field locally, nationally, and internationally. I want to thank all of our faculty, staff, instructors, and partner members who have participated in this process. Without your dedication, support, and hard work, none of these organizational achievements would have been possible. However, our work is not done as we have many more goals/objectives to achieve over the next two fiscal years. At the same time, we must start the process to begin another strategic-planning process to ensure that we continue to meet the needs of our customers and partners. In the words of Ben Franklin, “Without continual growth and progress, such words as improvement, achievement, and success have no meaning.”
MICHAEL E. COX JR.
2022 MARYLAND WEEKEND AT THE NFA PROVIDES STATEWIDE TRAINING The 2022 Maryland Weekend at the NFA was held on February 26th and 27th at the National Emergency Training Center (NETC) facility in Emmitsburg, Maryland. The training program was attended by 46 students from across the State and three courses were delivered including Health and Safety Program Manager, Fire Investigation: First Responders, and New Fire Chief: Challenging Issues. During the orientation on Friday evening, NFA Superintendent Eriks Gabliks provided welcoming remarks to the students and discussed some trends in current fire-service culture. Tyler Shaw, State Weekend Coordinator, also delivered the orientation of NFA expectations. He included a review of major events and activities over the weekend. Other members of the Maryland State Firemen’s Association and National Fallen Firefighters Foundation also provided brief presentations. Plans for the 2023 Maryland Weekend at the NFA have begun.
2022 ANNUAL NATIONAL FIRE SERVICE STAFF AND COMMAND COURSE
THE ANNUAL NFS STAFF AND COMMAND COURSE HELD FOR SENIOR LEVEL OFFICERS After a one-year hiatus due to COVID, under the direction of Deputy Director Marlatt, and the efforts of James Hearn, Coordinator and Maxim Saunders, Assistant Coordinator, the National Fire Service Staff and Command Course went off without a hitch. This account would be incomplete and inaccurate if there was no mention of Karen Haje, former Executive Coordinator, Executive Coordinator Rhonda Desper, and Barry Hannah for their integral contributions to the success of the program. The 72 participants in this year’s offering represented 23 States to include participation of three of our own; State Programs Manager Alexander Perricone, QA/ QI Manager John Carnegis, and former Logistics Section Chief Patrick Campbell. This year’s program featured opening remarks from MFRI Executive Director Michael E. Cox Jr., and a welcome from Anne Arundel County, Fire Chief Trisha Wolford. Among the topics covered were Cancer in the Fire Service, Situational Awareness, Community Medicine, Intelligence Analysis for the Fire Service, and Fire Dynamics/Test Burns. Photos top: LESRTC Technician Jim Hearn presents; bottom: participants attend interactive discussion.
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Fire and EMS Operations During Civil Disturbances continued from front page
because it is the oath we took; it is what we signed up for, or love of the job and each other. We are the people that do not live for tomorrow, we cherish and seize every day. We kiss our kids goodbye and hug our spouses before we walk out the door. We love so whole heartedly every chance we can,
towards danger, whether it be a fire or EMS incident. None of us can preach from the pulpit when it comes down to evaluating the extreme risk we allow ourselves to make, for what we perceive as the greater good. Often our risk vs. reward decisions are blinded by the illuminating glow and roar of the fire
learn from their tragedy to ensure that they did not die in vain and strive to make sure we do not have similar lineof-duty deaths.
because in our line of work, tomorrow may never come.
dragon we seek to tame. We talk about our actions back at the station as we drink coffee around the kitchen table and tell each other how we should not do that in the future but knowing we will. We lived to talk about it, but did we learn from what happened?
great resource that every firefighter should subscribe to is Chief Billy Goldfeder’s Secret List – Firefighter Close Calls located at https://www. f i r ef i g ht er clo s ec a l l s . c om /s ec r etlist. Chief Goldfeder sends out all line of duty death reports and close call information. We must remain committed to our fire service family, their loved ones, and the heroes’ families left behind, by pledging to learn from our history to ensure a safer future. It is important to remember the quote from writer and philosopher George Santayana, “Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it.” Our fire-service family, at home and work, understand what our job entails - our sacrifices and the commitment that we have to our proud history. Our families want us to come home at the end of our shift. It is our responsibility to learn, teach, and never forget our brothers and sisters who have made the ultimate sacrifice.
We ask ourselves, why did this happen, how could this have happened, and how will we honor these brave souls who gave themselves tirelessly to our noble calling? We honor these women and men by our commitment to train, by striving to better ourselves in their memory, by embracing their tragedy to renew our commitment to honor them and our craft. Today we have NIOSH reports, internal departmental investigations, and what each of us have learned from these members that have been applied to training. We must still ask this question that has been echoed in firehouse kitchens and turnout floors across the country: are our proud traditions a hindrance and burden that we bear that does not allow change? Tradition is the culture, and we have the ability to change this culture. We have a passion of running
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Each line of duty death has multiple contributing factors that undoubtedly resulted in the death of a member. Most of the lessons learned in these reports are copied and pasted from report to report. We are the masters of insanity - insanity is doing the same thing repeatedly and expecting a different outcome. If we absorb the line of duty death reports, apply the lessons learned to our departments, train our members to be street smart aggressive firefighters while performing continuous risk assessments, then we can change our culture, reforming our tradition. Ultimately, the best way we can honor our fallen brothers and sisters is to
Staying current on fire service issues is essential to our success. In addition to reviewing NIOSH reports, another
FACULTY AND STAFF SPOTLIGHT
JENNA ROBLES
Jenna brings experience in government and private sector to MFRI as Editorial Assistant in the Planning Section. Ms. Robles holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in creative writing from Point Park University.
MEAGAN BYRD
Meagan is the new Administrative Assistant in the Finance Administration Section at MFRI. She possesses over nine years of administrative experience in healthcare. She holds a bachelors degree in Kinesiology from the University of Maryland, College Park. Meagan loves art, travel, and researching new innovations in public health.
SPRING 2022 SKILLS WEEKEND SUCCESSFULLY HELD AT MFRI HEADQUARTERS MFRI recently hosted the 2022 Spring Skills Weekend where nearly 50 students participated in skill development in Fire, EMS, Rescue, and Hazardous Materials disciplines. The biannual enhancement weekend was held on April 9th and 10th and actual evaluations were conducted on April 23rd and 24th by veteran instructors from across the State. This process is designed to provide an overview of all the skills necessary to teach each respective emergency discipline. If students are successful, they are granted the ability to instruct for their sponsoring agency. Sponsors include MFRI regional offices, Anne Arundel County Fire, Baltimore County Fire, BWI Airport, Cecil County Department of Emergency Services, Community College of Baltimore County, Frederick County Fire, Howard County Fire, Montgomery County Fire, and Ocean City Fire. Many thanks go out to the following team players for making this event a success – Tim Delehanty, MFRI Logistical Services Section; MFRI Skills Instructors; and MFRI Leadership. The 2022 Fall Skills Enhancement will be held on September 24th and 25th and the Skills Weekend will run October 8th and 9th at MFRI HQ. If you are a sponsoring agency and have candidates to submit, please look for an informational email soon or contact Todd Dyche at tdyche@mfri.org or by phone at 301-729-0431.
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INSTRUCTOR HIGHLIGHT
He was hired by MFRI as an Emergency Services Instructor in 2013, teaching Fire, HazMat, Rescue and Management.
What inspired you to be an instructor?
I originally wanted to be a support instructor just for something to do on the side. Once I taught my first Fire 1 class I was hooked. I really enjoy meeting people and hearing their stories and experiences in the fire service. Hopefully they take something I teach them and use it to stay safe in the fire service.
MATTHEW BRISKEY Mr. Briskey lives in Frostburg, Maryland. He began his career as a volunteer firefighter at the Eastern Garrett VFD at the age of 18. Currently he is a volunteer firefighter at the Mount Savage VFD. Mr. Briskey works as a desktop architect for Frostburg State University.
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What can students expect from your class?
Coming from a mostly educational background, I tend to treat my classes as college level courses. I like to encourage discussions on the material and try to make the things we’re learning interesting and fun.
What is your best advice to a student taking courses at MFRI? Do the work, pay attention, absorb the knowledge. Don’t just go through the motions.
2022 MARYLAND DAY DRAWS FIREFIGHTER ENTHUSIASTS TO MFRI EXHIBIT Since 1999, the University of Maryland has hosted its Annual Maryland Day. It is UMD’s largest event and draws more than 80,000 visitors to campus each year, with over 300 family-friendly booths, entertainment and educational activities. Each year MFRI participates in the festivities. MFRI’s exhibit provided a fun-filled exploration into firefighting that included an Advanced Life Support mobile teaching laboratory, Residential Sprinkler System Trailer and a portable extinguisher prop. Fire prevention materials such as coloring books and fire hats were also shared with attendees.
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