MESSAGE FROM THE PRESIDENT Chief Michael E. Figolah, Mount Prospect Fire Department

From the May 2005 newsletter... Chief Mike Figolah, President
The IFSA continues to press forward on a number of new fronts while always looking to enhance the existing programs. This report will give some of the highlights to each category.

New Appointed Director Named

I want to welcome Jim Saletta, Huntley Fire Chief to the IFSA Board of Directors. Jim is a new Appointed Director. Jim has a passion for burn prevention that developed at an early age while attending Our Lady of Angels School when the horrific fire raged through the grade school. Jim and his staff have taken on coordinating the license plate program and will surely be an asset to the organization. Welcome aboard!

Camp "I Am Me" Preparations

You may remember an article in the last newsletter that talked about the "Camp That Almost Didn't Happen." The article highlighted some of the difficulties the IFSA experienced in preparation for the 2005 Camp I Am Me. Many of the challenges were in regards to the increased demands of providing insurance for the many facets at camp. Think about the logistics for providing insurance coverage for 100 campers, close to 100 staff members, and for the health center that we must operate 24 hours a day for the entire camp. I am happy to announce that we have already had meetings and discussions with Camp Duncan and our insurance underwriters to address issues for future camps. These discussions have lead to some very productive measures that should significantly reduce the potential for serious issues. Much of the credit goes to Jerry Gruppe, of Volunteers Firemen's Insurance Services Inc. (VFIS). Jerry let us know that he was there in the beginning to make camp happen and he will be there to make sure camp continues to happen. A very big thanks to Jerry and VFIS for all that they have done to make sure that will be available to burn survivors for the years to come.

Get Fired Up About Fire Safety Program Update

The Get Fire Up About Fire Safety (GFUAFS) fire/burn prevention program was developed many years ago for those responsible for educating children about fire/burn safety. This program was distributed to every school and every fire department in Illinois. You may also recall that the GFUAFS program was translated into Spanish last year. The latest version soon to be released puts this program onto a CD interactive media. All of the information available now in the English and Spanish version will be formatted so that fire/burn prevention educators, teachers, and children can use them in a new interactive format. Teachers and fire service instructors will be able to print lessons plans, pre & post tests, and exercises for their age/grade specific audience. Children can interact with the CD, which is designed to learn while having fun. While the new CD version is 95% completed, the finished product should be available by summer '05. Thanks to Terry Pluta, Dottie Ahbe, and Mary Werderitch for all of their time and effort with this terrific educational product.

Illinois Safe Schools Committee Member

In the wake of the Breslan, Russia incident where hundreds of children, parents, and teachers lost their lives in a school, our Governor's office developed the Illinois Safe School Committee to improve the disaster readiness of our schools. The committee includes police, fire, teachers, emergency management personnel, regional superintendents, OSFM staff, Illinois State Board of Education members, and other agencies responsible for school safety plans and mitigation. The IFSA was chosen to sit at the table with the Illinois Fire Chiefs and the Illinois Fire Service Association as representatives of the fire service. This opportunity afforded our organization to provide input in one of our top priorities, which is a requirement to educate Illinois school children on fire/burn prevention. Thus far the committee has made progress on disaster planning through a variety of drills. We are promised that fire/burn prevention education will be the next round of discussions. Stay tuned!

Fireworks

The twists and turns with fireworks continue. After Governor Blagojevich vetoed HB 1000, which removed class "C" consumer fireworks from regulation, I met on several occasions with a representative from the fireworks industry in an effort to try to reach compromise on fireworks issues. Why would we want to negotiate with the very people that we have been adversaries with for so long? Because it was clear that they were going to continue to bring legislation to Springfield until they were successful or …

J.T. Somer, our State Fire Marshal facilitated the meetings. After several meetings over several months a Memorandum Of Understanding (MOU) was reached. Clear here to review the MOU.

All parties signed this document. I believe that the time and effort put forth on this document was a good investment. In negotiations you always have to give up some of your issues, but the end result should be advantageous to reducing injuries and deaths by fireworks. In the MOU we gave up the following to receive the advantages:

  • The $1,000,000 insurance for those obtaining a permit to shoot class "C" consumer fireworks - while the insurance requirement was particularly important, it had tremendous value to obtain the package of advantages. A significant factor that contributed to the final decision to give up the insurance requirement was the fact that insurance only became a factor after everything else failed. When I looked at fireworks tragedies that have occurred in the past it was apparent that insurance would not have saved the loss of life, insurance wouldn't affect the care and treatment of the burn survivor of a fireworks injury. The advantages gained for this trade will prevent some of the injuries and deaths.
  • The MOU put a burden on the local fire department to conduct training to those applying for a permit for class "C" consumer fireworks. This only affects the 3 counties that allow fireworks. Those counties are Sangamon, Stevenson, and Macon. The fire departments in Illinois will be provided with a DVD for instructions. The applicant will be required to watch the DVD and the department can charge for this service. The State Fire Marshal and I discussed adding a chapter on the DVD to educate the fire departments on Illinois fireworks law as we realize how confusing the laws are.

The advantages to the MOU are as follows:

  • The OSFM will have the ability to approve and reject class "C" consumer fireworks in Illinois that doesn't meet the standards developed in Rules. Like anything else, fireworks come in varying quality. The OSFM will establish and maintain a list of approved class "C" fireworks, which means that you, as an enforcing agency, will be able to pull up this list and know if it is a class "C" fireworks, if it is approved for use in those Illinois counties that allow class "C" fireworks, and have an established standard.
  • A 5-year moratorium on fireworks legislation - realize that the fireworks professional that negotiated the MOU does not represent the entire fireworks industry, but he has been the party responsible for all of the class "C" consumer fireworks bills that we have had to defend over the last couple of years. If both parties agree to go back and make a change, there is a provision to do that.
  • Proximity - it was felt by all parties involved that the NFPA codes that regulate safe distances for class "C" consumer fireworks were not stiff enough. It was agreed to take the largest consumer fireworks and set them off sideways to determine a safe distance based upon live tests. It was agreed that these distances would exceed the current NFPA standards.
  • Any sales of class "C" consumer fireworks over 499 pounds must be reported to the OSFM for Homeland Security concerns.
  • All forms dealing with permits, licenses, and other paperwork dealing with fireworks will be standardized and developed by the OSFM.

One of the advantages that you will not find in the MOU is the ability to work with Mr. Scott, of Bethany Fireworks on an issue that we have found ourselves to be adversarial for the last several years. There wasn't an issue that was discussed that we didn't reach consensus on. While we didn't get everything our way, neither did they. We each made sacrifices and concessions.

I also want to recognize JT Somer and his staff for their hard work on the fireworks issue. Very few people will understand the difficult political position a Fire Marshal and his office gets put into on these types of issues. I have tremendous respect for his dedication to protecting the citizens in Illinois.

After the MOU was signed everyone involved was in a state of euphoria for a couple of days. Then SB1821 hit the proverbial streets of Springfield. We were assured that Senator Watson would carry legislation necessary to meet the requirement outlined in the MOU. Unfortunately, SB1821 did not. SB 1821 in its original form would have legalized class "C" consumer fireworks sales and use in Illinois, which was never part of the MOU discussion. This piece of legislation passed in Committee and also received enough votes on the Senate floor to pass. Representative Boland picked up SB1821 as the House sponsor and has agreed to modify the bill to fit the terms and conditions of the MOU. As I write this article, the IFSA is filing an amendment to follow the MOU and delete retail sales. It is too early to know what track this bill will take in the House. The options include: passing the House with our recommended amendment and going back to the Senate for concurrence, having the bill die in the House, or the bill go forward in the House without the amendment language that we can support and the fire service having to work against the bill.

You may remember about a year ago when there was a push to legalize fireworks in Illinois to raise revenues to help shore budget shortfalls. Governor Blagojevich at that time said that he would not support fireworks legislation that would put children at risk. He backed that up by vetoing HB1000. Hopefully we don't have to rely on the Governor's veto power again, but we are already working with the Governor's office in case we need his help again.

There have been many victories in regards to fireworks legislation over the last several years due to the fire service's support. Your calls, letters and personal visits to your legislators are directly responsible for these successes. We will most likely need that help again!

Information Needed

If your jurisdiction has passed a local ordinance restricting fireworks, please let us know. We are now tracking that information. Please forward that information to the IFSA office at (847) 390-0911 or by e-mail at ifsa@ifsa.org. Or give me a call at (847) 870-5660.

Mike Figolah
President, Illinois Fire Safety Alliance