For the Record 10/12

Line-of-Duty Deaths

Five U.S. emergency personnel recently died in the line of duty. Two career firefighters, one volunteer firefighter and one inmate firefighter died in five separate incidents. Four deaths were health related and one death was the result of a motor vehicle accident.

INMATE FIREFIGHTER JIMMY RANDOLPH, 44, of the California Department of Corrections in South Sacramento, CA, died on Aug. 19. While assigned to the Buck Fire in Hemet, Randolph became ill and was transported to Desert Regional Hospital in Palm Springs on Aug. 18, where he remained until he died.

CAPTAIN ROULOS DAVIS, 49, of the Chattanooga, TN, Fire Department died on Aug. 20. Shortly after arriving at Station 14 in St. Elmo, Davis became ill. Immediate aid including CPR was given by fellow firefighters. Davis died shortly after arriving at the hospital. Davis was a 25-year veteran of the department.

ASSISTANT CHIEF TIMOTHY J. LAMERE, 47, of the Constable, NY, Volunteer Firemen Inc., died on Aug. 21. A day earlier, shortly after returning home from department training, Lamere collapsed. He was transported by Northern Ambulance to Alice Hyde Medical Center, where he died.

PARAMEDIC DAVID RESTUCCIO, 58, from the Staten Island University Hospital in Staten Island, NY, died on Aug. 27. Restuccio was driving an ambulance transporting a patient to Staten Island University Hospital when the ambulance was struck head-on by an SUV. The ambulance overturned and Restuccio was trapped inside. Restuccio was extricated from the ambulance and transported to Staten Island University Hospital, where he died. Restuccio worked for the hospital for 10 years and was retired from FDNY.

CHIEF RICHARD J. SCHAEFER, 52, of the Hopkinton Fire Department in Contoocook, NH, died on Sept. 2 after he suffered a heart attack while working a shift at the Hopkinton State Fair. He was transported by ambulance to Concord Hospital, where he died.

—Jay K. Bradish

Fire Grant Expands RSLN

The Cumberland Valley (PA) Volunteer Firemen’s Association (CVVFA) was awarded a Fire Prevention and Safety Grant from the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) to continue lifesaving and injury prevention strategies for firefighters working on the roadways helping others. The competitive grant is part of the Assistance to Firefighters Grant program. The grant of $396,000 will allow the CVVFA Emergency Responder Safety Institute (ERSI) to produce a number of new free learning modules. Almost 2,000 students are participating in the network by taking the tested modules that help train them to be safer while helping others on the highway.

All Responder Safety Learning Network  (RSLN) curriculum is carefully vetted by a blue ribbon team of consultants that include the foremost experts on roadway incident scene safety and traffic control. Because roadway safety is a multidisciplinary problem, ERSI has enlisted professionals from the law enforcement, transportation, towing and recovery industry, government as well as the fire service.

Each module is validated to current best practices as included in the draft NFPA 1091 Traffic Control and Incident Management Professional Qualification Standard, the Strategic Highway Research Program (SHRP 2), and the National Unified Goal for Traffic Incident Management (NUG). Plans are to include all material from these source documents in a format of 20- to 30-minute tested modules. Student feedback on existing modules has been positive.

CCFS Awarded FP&S Grant

The Center for Campus Fire Safety (CCFS) has been awarded a $250,000 Fire Prevention and Safety (FP&S) grant from the U.S. Department of Homeland Security for an educational project targeting campus fire safety professionals.

The grant provides funding for CCFS to continue its critically acclaimed Firewise Campus training seminars across the country. These classes afford fire safety professionals a chance to gain an understanding of successful training methodologies for the college age group, as well as receive tools and resources that they can use to effectively educate students and work further to provide a fire-safe campus environment.

“Washington and the fire service members on the peer review boards continue to recognize that campus fire safety is an area of concern and understand the importance and value of investing in it,” said Paul D. Martin, CCFS president.

A primary mission for CCFS is to assist its campus based colleagues, administrators, government officials and members of the fire service to work together and raise the consciousness of college students about fire safe behaviors at a critical point in their lives.

 “Through a balanced approach to fire protection and application of the three E’s— education, engineering and enforcement, America will see senseless and tragic fire deaths and injuries prevented,” said Martin. “And that is what CCFS is all about.”

HFSC Awarded Federal Grant

The nonprofit Home Fire Sprinkler Coalition (HFSC) has been awarded a 2011 federal Fire Prevention and Safety Grant that will be used to help U.S. fire departments conduct more local educational outreach and to increase consumer interest in the life safety benefits of home fire sprinkler systems.  The grant helps to extend the educational work HFSC has done since 1996.

Key to HFSC’s grant award is fire department stipends that will underwrite local fire sprinkler educational activities. HFSC has been offering varied fire service educational stipends since 2010, helping qualifying fire departments achieve their local public safety goals.

“These grant-funded stipends have made it possible for fire departments with virtually no public education budget to improve local awareness of the dangers of home fires and the power of home fire sprinkler systems,” says HFSC Communications Manager Peg Paul.  “We’ve heard time and again that without this financial support local departments would not be able to do this important educational outreach.” 

To sign up for the BFLFD Program and to learn about the grant activities, please visit HFSC online at HomeFireSprinkler.org.