IAFC discusses service priorities with legislators

Top members of the International Association of Fire Chiefs (IAFC) met with multiple members of Congress at their congressional offices in Washington D.C. last week to discuss the critical role fire departments play in local response across the country.

A delegation including Fire Chief Rhoda Mae Kerr, the president and chairman of the IAFC’s board, Fire Chief John Sinclair, first vice president, and Fire Chief Tom Jenkins, second vice president, sought to raise awareness with congressional leaders on the administration’s proposed cuts to major fire and emergency service programs at the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) in fiscal year 2017.

“We still have a major problem with fires in the U.S.,” Kerr said. “Home fires still cause the majority of all civilian fire deaths, civilian injuries and property loss due to fire. It’s important that our federal representatives understand this.”

The IAFC’s primary concern is the way that proposed cuts would affect fire departments across the country that are responsible for dealing with home fires and forest fires, and also often provide emergency medical services to citizens in dire need of rescue.

An estimated $14.9 billion was lost due to damages caused by fires in 2011 alone, while the number of annual fire department calls has almost tripled since 1980 from 10.8 million to 31.6 million in 2013.