[House Hearing, 115 Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
U.S. FIRE ADMINISTRATION AND
FIRE GRANT PROGRAMS REAUTHORIZATION:
EXAMINING EFFECTIVENESS AND PRIORITIES
=======================================================================
HEARING
BEFORE THE
SUBCOMMITTEE ON RESEARCH AND TECHNOLOGY
COMMITTEE ON SCIENCE, SPACE, AND TECHNOLOGY
HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
ONE HUNDRED FIFTEENTH CONGRESS
FIRST SESSION
__________
JULY 12, 2017
__________
Serial No. 115-21
__________
Printed for the use of the Committee on Science, Space, and Technology
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Available via the World Wide Web: http://science.house.gov
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COMMITTEE ON SCIENCE, SPACE, AND TECHNOLOGY
HON. LAMAR S. SMITH, Texas, Chair
FRANK D. LUCAS, Oklahoma EDDIE BERNICE JOHNSON, Texas
DANA ROHRABACHER, California ZOE LOFGREN, California
MO BROOKS, Alabama DANIEL LIPINSKI, Illinois
RANDY HULTGREN, Illinois SUZANNE BONAMICI, Oregon
BILL POSEY, Florida AMI BERA, California
THOMAS MASSIE, Kentucky ELIZABETH H. ESTY, Connecticut
JIM BRIDENSTINE, Oklahoma MARC A. VEASEY, Texas
RANDY K. WEBER, Texas DONALD S. BEYER, JR., Virginia
STEPHEN KNIGHT, California JACKY ROSEN, Nevada
BRIAN BABIN, Texas JERRY MCNERNEY, California
BARBARA COMSTOCK, Virginia ED PERLMUTTER, Colorado
BARRY LOUDERMILK, Georgia PAUL TONKO, New York
RALPH LEE ABRAHAM, Louisiana BILL FOSTER, Illinois
DRAIN LaHOOD, Illinois MARK TAKANO, California
DANIEL WEBSTER, Florida COLLEEN HANABUSA, Hawaii
JIM BANKS, Indiana CHARLIE CRIST, Florida
ANDY BIGGS, Arizona
ROGER W. MARSHALL, Kansas
NEAL P. DUNN, Florida
CLAY HIGGINS, Louisiana
RALPH NORMAN, South Carolina
------
Subcommittee on Research and Technology
HON. BARBARA COMSTOCK, Virginia, Chair
FRANK D. LUCAS, Oklahoma DANIEL LIPINSKI, Illinois
RANDY HULTGREN, Illinois ELIZABETH H. ESTY, Connecticut
STEPHEN KNIGHT, California JACKY ROSEN, Nevada
DARIN LaHOOD, Illinois SUZANNE BONAMICI, Oregon
RALPH LEE ABRAHAM, Louisiana AMI BERA, California
DANIEL WEBSTER, Florida DONALD S. BEYER, JR., Virginia
JIM BANKS, Indiana EDDIE BERNICE JOHNSON, Texas
ROGER W. MARSHALL, Kansas
LAMAR S. SMITH, Texas
C O N T E N T S
July 12, 2017
Page
Witness List..................................................... 2
Hearing Charter.................................................. 3
Opening Statements
Statement by Representative Barbara Comstock, Chairwoman,
Subcommittee on Research and Technology, Committee on Science,
Space, and Technology, U.S. House of Representatives........... 4
Written Statement............................................ 6
Statement by Representative Daniel Lipinski, Ranking Member,
Subcommittee on Research and Technology, Committee on Science,
Space, and Technology, U.S. House of Representatives........... 8
Written Statement............................................ 10
Statement by Representative Eddie Bernice Johnson, Ranking
Member, Committee on Science, Space, and Technology, U.S. House
of Representatives............................................. 12
Written Statement............................................ 14
Witnesses
Dr. Denis Onieal, Acting Administrator, United States Fire
Administration
Oral Statement............................................... 17
Written Statement............................................ 20
Chief John Sinclair, President and Chair of the Board,
International Association of Fire Chiefs; Fire Chief, Kittitas
Valley Fire and Rescue (WA)
Oral Statement............................................... 30
Written Statement............................................ 32
Captain John Niemiec, President, Fairfax County (VA) Professional
Fire Fighters and Paramedics-International Association of Fire
Fighters Local 2068
Oral Statement............................................... 40
Written Statement............................................ 42
Mr. Steve Hirsch, First Vice Chair, National Volunteer Fire
Council; Training Officer, Sheridan County Fire District #1,
Thomas County Fire District #4, and Grinnell Fire Department
(KS)
Oral Statement............................................... 51
Written Statement............................................ 53
Dr. Gavin Horn, Research Program Director, Illinois Fire Service
Institute
Oral Statement............................................... 66
Written Statement............................................ 69
Chief H. ``Butch'' Browning, Jr., President, National Association
of State Fire Marshals, Louisiana State Fire Marshal
Oral Statement............................................... 84
Written Statement............................................ 86
Discussion....................................................... 95
Appendix I: Answers to Post-Hearing Questions
Dr. Denis Onieal, Acting Administrator, United States Fire
Administration................................................. 110
Appendix II: Additional Material for the Record
Letters submitted by Representative Barbara Comstock, Chairwoman,
Subcommittee on Research and Technology, Committee on Science,
Space, and Technology, U.S. House of Representatives........... 114
Letter submitted by Representative Daniel Lipinski, Ranking
Member, Subcommittee on Research and Technology, Committee on
Science, Space, and Technology, U.S. House of Representatives.. 124
U.S. FIRE ADMINISTRATION
AND FIRE GRANT PROGRAMS REAUTHORIZATION:
EXAMINING EFFECTIVENESS AND PRIORITIES
----------
WEDNESDAY, JULY 12, 2017
House of Representatives,
Subcommittee on Research and Technology,
Committee on Science, Space, and Technology,
Washington, D.C.
The Subcommittee met, pursuant to call, at 10:07 a.m., in
Room 2318 of the Rayburn House Office Building, Hon. Barbara
Comstock [Chairwoman of the Subcommittee] presiding.
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Chairwoman Comstock. The Committee on Science, Space, and
Technology will come to order.
Without objection, the Chair is authorized to declare
recesses of the Committee at any time.
Good morning, and welcome to today's hearing titled ''U.S.
Fire Administration and Fire Grant Programs Reauthorization:
Examining Effectiveness and Priorities.'' I now recognize
myself for five minutes for an opening statement.
The purpose of today's hearing is to review the United
States Fire Administration and the Assistance to Firefighters
(FIRE) and Staffing for Adequate Fire and Emergency Response
(SAFER) grant programs. The hearing will help inform
legislation to address current program authorizations that
expire on September 30, 2017.
Fire prevention and safety is literally a matter of life
and death. In 2015 there were 1.34 million fires reported in
the United States, causing over 3,000 civilian deaths and over
15,000 injuries. In addition to this devastating human loss,
fires caused $14.3 billion in property damage.
As I travel throughout my district and visit with my
firefighters and paramedics and first responders, I am
constantly reminded of the sacrifices that these brave men and
women make on a daily basis to protect their fellow citizens in
our community. Last year, sadly, 69 of those brave men and
women across the country lost their lives in the line of duty.
Fire prevention has improved dramatically in the last 40
years since Congress passed the Federal Fire Prevention and
Control Act in 1974, which created the U.S. Fire Administration
and the National Fire Academy, but these numbers are still too
high.
USFA and NFA are tasked with data collection, public
education, as well as research and training efforts, to help to
reduce fire deaths and make our communities and residents
safer.
We will hear from the Acting Administrator of the U.S. Fire
Administration today about how the agency works to fulfill its
mission and learn how we can enhance its efforts to improve
fire safety in the United States.
Firefighting activities and funding are primarily the
responsibility of states and local communities. However, for
the last 15 years the Federal Government has awarded
competitive federal grants directly to local fire departments
and unaffiliated emergency medical services organizations to
help address a variety of equipment, training, and other
firefighter-related and EMS needs, and oftentimes those are
dealing with new technologies too that we want to make sure you
have the best and the latest.
FIRE Act awards provide funding for equipment and training
to ensure the safety of our nation's first responders. SAFER
Act awards help departments address hiring, recruiting and
retaining firefighters to help maintain and increase the number
of trained firefighters in local communities.
I know that many professional and volunteer departments in
my district rely on these grants so they can continue to
provide high-quality fire and emergency services both to their
communities, and I know in the instance of my community, they
often are helping people throughout the country as well as
internationally acclaimed.
So a fine member of one of those departments is here today
with us, Captain John Niemiec, from the Fairfax County Fire and
Rescue Department. I look forward to hearing his testimony on
the needs of the firefighters in his department and around the
country.
We have a panel representing state and local fire
departments and organizations from around the country:
Washington State, Kansas, Louisiana and Illinois. All have
different needs, and I look forward to their input on how we
can improve the fire safety in all communities and support our
nation's first responders.
Last month the horrific Grenfell Tower fire in London that
killed over 80 people reminded us we cannot take fire safety
for granted. Closer to home, it was just two years ago that a
Metro fire injured 70 and killed a Virginia resident who was a
grandmother of three. In each case, first responders ran
towards the flames and prevented additional lives from being
lost.
I look forward to working with my colleagues on both sides
of the aisle to move this timely legislation to ensure our
nation's firefighters and paramedics have the tools they need
to fight and prevent fire.
And with that, I look forward to hearing the testimonies of
our witnesses.
[The prepared statement of Chairwoman Comstock follows:]
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Chairwoman Comstock. And I now recognize the Ranking
Member, the gentleman from Illinois, Mr. Lipinski, for his
opening statement.
Mr. Lipinski. I thank you, Chairwoman Comstock.
The authorizations of the U.S. Fire Administration
Assistance to Firefighters Grant, or AFG, program as well as
the Staffing for Adequate Fire and Emergency Response, or SAFER
grant program, expire in just 2 months. Without Congressional
action, both programs will terminate on January 2, 2018, under
sunset provisions included in the last reauthorization. I hope
this Committee will work to get a bill to the President's desk
before that time to reauthorize these programs.
I thank our distinguished panelists for being here today
and for their service in keeping the American public safe from
fire and from other hazardous threats.
In the early 1990s, fires claimed 12,000 Americans lives
per year and caused $11 billion in damage, making the U.S. the
leader of all major industrialized countries in per capita
deaths and property loss from fire. A 1973 report by the
National Commission on Fire Prevention and Control, titled
America Burning, recommended the establishment of the U.S. Fire
Administration and the National Fire Academy.
Thanks in large part to the efforts of those institutions
and all of our first responders, the Nation is making progress
in lowering fire fatalities. Today's rate of just over 3,000
civilian fire deaths per year is significantly lower than in
the 1970s, but it is still one of the highest in the
industrialized world. Unfortunately, it will be difficult to
reduce fire fatalities and property loss without adequate
funding of the Fire Administration and fire grant programs.
While appropriated funding levels have remained somewhat flat
for the last few years, these levels are well below program
authorizations. Critical areas such as firefighter safety, fire
protection, and fire data collection and analysis, all of which
assist fire service professionals in the field and help keep
communities safe, are underfunded.
Career, volunteer, and combination fire departments all
face challenges in meeting their day-today needs. Local fire
departments are the boots on the ground for fire prevention and
protection, but when state budgets do not allow for adequate
funding to hire firefighters and ensure proper training and
access to life-saving protective gear and equipment, there is a
federal role in providing funding and technical assistance. The
Fire Grants Reauthorization Act of 2012 made significant
changes to the fire grant programs to address some of these
funding and technical obstacles. Changes included the
distribution of AFG fire funding among the various types of
fire departments, reducing the cost share requirement for
smaller departments, and waiving the matching requirements for
less affluent communities.
Whether in a booming local economy or a struggling one,
many of today's fire departments do more than fight fire. They
respond to medical calls, hazardous materials calls, and calls
about other hazardous situations, such as an active shooter. It
is critical that the more than one million firefighters across
the Nation have access to proper training to protect the public
and themselves while doing a very tough job. The National Fire
Academy curriculum reflects current firefighter duties to help
fire and emergency professionals prepare for all-hazards
responses. Achieving successful outcomes in all-hazards
responses often requires the use of advanced firefighting
technologies. Federal agencies including the Department of
Homeland Security, the National Institute of Standards and
Technology, and the National Science Foundation along with the
university research community, are investing in fire-related
research, including first responder protective equipment,
health and safety monitoring of emergency responders, and smart
information and communications technologies for real-time
situational awareness. I look forward to Dr. Horn's testimony
on how these technologies help firefighters and what research
needs and capability gaps require further investment.
I look forward to hearing from our panel--I look forward to
hearing our panel discuss the effects of these changes and
others to the fire service community, and what the Committee
should consider as we look at reauthorizing these programs.
Thank you for taking the time to appear before us today.
Chairwoman Comstock, before I yield back, I ask--I want to
ask unanimous consent to introduce into the record a letter
from the Property Casualty Insurance Association of America in
support of the SAFER grants program.
Chairwoman Comstock. Without objection.
[The information appears in Appendix II]
Mr. Lipinski. Thank you, Madam Chairwoman, and in the last
few seconds, I just want to say I was just in my district on
Monday at the Lagrange Fire Department, and they just have been
awarded a grant and they're telling me about how important that
these grants are for assuring community safety, and again, I
want to thank everyone who is here today, and thank you for
your service to our country and all of our communities.
I yield back.
[The prepared statement of Mr. Lipinski follows:]
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Chairwoman Comstock. Thank you, and I now recognize the
Ranking Member of the full Committee for a statement, Ms.
Johnson.
Ms. Johnson. Thank you very much, Chairwoman Comstock.
Thank you for holding this hearing today.
As the Committee considers reauthorization, it is helpful
to exam the effectiveness and priorities of the U.S. Fire
Administration, the Assistance to Firefighters Grant Program,
and the Staffing for Adequate Fire and Emergency Response Grant
program. I want to welcome all of our witnesses, and I
appreciate them being here to share insights today.
I'm pleased to announce earlier this year that the City of
Duncanville, in my district, received a grant. As with other
grant recipients, the award will help the Duncanville Fire
Department in its efforts to protect the health and safety of
the public and emergency response personnel.
The availability of these funds is critical to many
communities. Local fire departments respond to a myriad of
hazards, from structural fires and automobile accidents, to
wildfires, other natural disasters, and even terrorist attacks.
Faring better than many other programs, the U.S. Fire
Administration and the fire grants programs would remain flat
funded under this Administration's fiscal year 2018 budget
proposal. However, that budget request and the recent
appropriations for these programs have fallen well below the
authorized levels. In addition to providing fewer resources for
training, purchasing life-saving equipment, and hiring enough
firefighters to respond safely to emergencies, under-funding
also affects Congress's ability to conduct oversight of these
programs. When the agencies do not have proper funding to carry
out the required studies and reports, we lack the data and
feedback on the effectiveness of the programs. So I urge this
Committee to continue to support authorization levels that
acknowledge the significant demand for these important
programs.
This hearing is also an opportunity for us to review
changes made to the programs since the last authorization. In
2016, GAO reported that FEMA has incorporated a majority of the
changes Congress required in 2012. However, GAO also
recommended greater coordination between the Fire
Administration and FEMA, as well as the establishment of
clearer performance metrics for the grant programs.
The agencies still have work to do to meet those
recommendations. Coordination and collaboration among relevant
agencies is key. For example, while wildfires are handled by
the U.S. Forest Service, wildfires often approach and even hit
populated areas. I am interested in hearing more about
collaboration between federal agencies, state, tribal, and
local jurisdictions in addressing wildland-urban interface
fires.
Finally, the fire service community relies on advances in
fire-related scientific research and technological innovation,
including communications technologies, protective gear and
equipment, and firefighting tactics. I hope that Dr. Onieal and
Dr. Horn, you will provide us with an update on fire-related
research needs and any technology gaps that need addressing, as
well as federal agency collaborations and university
partnerships. The U.S. Fire Administration and the fire grants
program provide critical resources to address the nation's
emergency response challenges, and I look forward to hearing
from the witnesses how Congress can ensure they have the
support they need to assist the departments effectively across
the nation. It is an important role that you play, and I hope
to hear from you today.
Thank you, and I yield back.
[The prepared statement of Ms. Johnson follows:]
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Chairwoman Comstock. We will introduce our witnesses. Our
first today is Dr. Denis Onieal, Acting Administrator of the
U.S. Fire Administration. He joined the Jersey City Fire
Department in 1971 and rose through the ranks from firefighter
to deputy chief, then acting chief in 1995, leading a uniformed
force of 625 firefighter and officers. He was appointed
Superintendent of the National Fire Academy in 1995. He holds a
bachelor of science degree from New Jersey University, a
master's degree in public administration from Fairleigh
Dickinson University, and a doctor of education degree from
NYU. He taught in the master and doctorate programs in
education at NYU for five years, and has written numerous
articles in the fire field.
Our second witness today is Chief John Sinclair, President
and Chair of the Board for the International Association of
Fire Chiefs. He also serves as Fire Chief of the Kittitas
Valley Fire and Rescue in Washington State. Prior to this
position, Chief Sinclair served on the emergency medical
services section where he was involved with major issues facing
fire-based EMS. He currently represents the fire service on the
National EMS Advisory Council. He has also worked with the
American College of Surgeons Hartford Consensus I and II, as
well as assisted with the Department of Homeland Security and
Centers for Disease Control with their Bystander Response
Project.
Our third witness today is Captain John Niemiec, President
of the Fairfax County, Virginia, Professional Fire Fighters and
Paramedics, International Association of Fire Fighters. He is a
22-year veteran of the Fairfax County Fire and Rescue
Department. He also serves as an Executive Board Member of the
National Conference on Public Employee Retirement Systems, the
largest trade association dedicated to nonprofit public pension
advocating. He earned his bachelor's degree in occupational
safety and health from the National Labor College as well as a
certificate of completion from the George Washington
University's EMT/paramedic program.
I now recognize Dr. Marshall to introduce our next witness.
Mr. Marshall. Thank you, Chairwoman Comstock. I'm very
honored to introduce our fourth witness today, Mr. Steve
Hirsch. Steve is the first Chair of the National Volunteer Fire
Council and a resident of the largest agriculture producing
district in the country, the 1st District of Kansas. Steve
served as the Training Officer for Sheridan County, Thomas
County, and the Grinnell Fire Department of Kansas, and that's
about 2,000 square miles as I remember having just been out
there this past week doing some town halls. These are all 100
percent volunteer fire departments. Mr. Hirsch served as the
Secretary of the Kansas State Firefighters Association since
2000 and also serves as the Country Attorney for Decatur
County. He's a graduate of the one of the finest institutions
in the land, Kansas State University, as well as Washburn Law
School. I want to recognize his wife Anita, who's in the
audience as well, and I'm very proud that I've delivered a
couple of Anita's--I think they were both boys, weren't they
nephews, or is it one of each? One of each. Okay. So it's been
20 years ago, but there was one of each, so very proud that
she's here and certainly understand what a sacrifice it is to
let your husband go play these games. He's got to do all these
weekend chores. My dad was in charge of the fire department in
my hometown, and I trained many weekends with him training
volunteers as well, and I hate to admit this, Steve, but I had
to call on some of your friends' help one hot summer afternoon
when I had a little prairie fire get out of control, and they
sure saved my bacon, so I appreciate what you do, and of
course, we just had 650,000 acres of wildfire in Kansas that
destroyed over 5,000 head of cattle. So certainly saved
hundreds from that fire and appreciate all that you guys do for
us. Thanks.
Chairwoman Comstock. Great. Now, our fifth witness today is
Dr. Gavin Horn, Research Program Director for the Illinois Fire
Service Institute. His research interests lie in the areas of
firefighter health and safety research, first responder
technology development, material testing and design, and non-
destructive evaluation. He is a member of the Board of Trustees
for the Fire Protection Research Foundation and currently
serves as a Firefighter and Engineer with the Savoy Fire
Department in Illinois. He received his Ph.D. in mechanical
engineering from the University of Illinois at Urbana-
Champaign.
Our sixth witness today is Chief Butch Browning, President
of the National Association of State Fire Marshals as well as
the Louisiana State Fire Marshal. Over the past seven years, he
has led the reorganization of the State Fire Marshal's Office
to include cross training of personnel and the development of a
modern data management system. Over the past 29 years, he has
served at all levels of the fire service. He entered public
service as a Sheriff's Deputy for East Baton Rouge Parish and
later served as Fire Chief for the District 6 Fire Department
in Baton Rouge and for the City of Gonzalez. He is a graduate
of the National Fire Academy's Executive Fire Office program
and is a nationally registered emergency medical technician.
I now recognize Dr. Onieal for five minutes to present his
testimony.
TESTIMONY OF DR. DENIS ONIEAL,
ACTING ADMINISTRATOR,
UNITED STATES FIRE ADMINISTRATION
Dr. Onieal. Good morning, Madam Chair and Members of the
Committee. My name is Dennis Onieal. I serve as the Acting
United States Fire Administrator, responsible for managing the
USFA, our programs, training and facilities at the National
Emergency Training Center, and I'm pleased to talk to you this
morning about the USFA.
In a sentence, the USFA works to prevent local emergencies
from becoming natural disasters, and to the extent that a
community has a well-trained, well-led cadre of responders,
that emergency stays local. Poorly handled or so large the
local forces are overwhelmed, local emergencies become
disasters, triggering state and federal response, assets and
costs.
Sometimes the emergency is of such initial magnitude that
the local responders are overwhelmed, and when that happens,
it's important that the local forces integrate with state and
local agencies under the National Incident Management System.
Poorly prepared local forces won't integrate well, resulting in
increased loss of life and property, increased costs, and often
criticism of federal response.
The USFA supports the DHS and FEMA missions in four ways.
We train mid- to senior-level fire officers and specialists; we
collect and analyze incident data and provide information about
the 25 million fire department responses a year; we develop and
distribute fire prevention and public education programs; and
we assist in research.
There are several disturbing factors that I see affecting
our nation and citizens over the next few decades. First, as
you all pointed out, Americans are dying in fires, a little
over 3,000 a year, and we work closely with all affected
governments and groups to encourage the installation of
sprinklers and smoke alarms, conduct inspections, and practice
drills. But the methods and materials of construction are
changing rapidly. Today's modern fire home is a perfect storm
of conditions and outcomes--larger floor areas, increased fuel
loads, and new construction materials. These result in faster
spreads, shorter time to flashover, less time to escape, and
more rapid collapse.
Secondly, the Baby Boomers are hitting the local fire and
emergency services response system. We have more than 30 years
of data to show that senior citizens are the high-risk group
for fires, the high-risk group for accidents, and the high-
demand group for emergency medical services. The beginning of
the Boomers are turning 71 this past January, and the trailing
end turning 53, and their life expectancy is 85 years. We
anticipate 32 more years of high demand for emergency services
by our most vulnerable population.
Thirdly, the wildland fire issue including the wildland-
urban interface where civilization meets the forest is a
growing problem. What once was seasonal is now perennial,
beginning earlier and ending later each year. People are living
in the WUI, and once a wildland fire starts within miles of
their home, they're vulnerable. This is a nationwide issue from
the East in Florida and Tennessee to the West in Utah, Arizona
and California.
Fourthly, fire departments are now an essential element in
the response to active shooters. As a recent example, Chief
Tammy Kaya was the first arriving fire chief officer at the
Dallas police shooting. She continues to publicly state that
her success in managing the medical response was the training
that she received at the National Fire Academy.
To address these four concerns, the NFA provides cutting-
edge education and training to America's estimated 1.3 million
firefighters. Courses are delivered in classrooms at the
National Emergency Training Center in classrooms throughout the
United States in cooperation with accredited state and local
fire training agencies and colleges and universities. The NFA
also has a robust system of online instructor-mediated and
self-study courses.
Our National Fire Data Center continues to modernize the
National Fire Incident Reporting System browsing tool along
with other web tool applications to improve the overall
reliability, performance, ease of data entry, and
administration by fire departments and state users. This
modernization will allow users to access the NFIRS data
warehouse to access, share and compare data.
Finally, Madam Chair, I want to thank you and the
Committee's generous gifts of time and interest, and I
appreciate the opportunity to highlight the accomplishments of
the Fire Administration and the hard work of our staff. Your
continued support is instrumental as we work to make America
fire safe. I'll be happy to answer any questions.
[The prepared statement of Dr. Onieal follows:]
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Chairwoman Comstock. Thank you.
And I now recognize Chief Sinclair for five minutes to
present his testimony.
TESTIMONY OF CHIEF JOHN SINCLAIR,
PRESIDENT AND CHAIR OF THE BOARD,
INTERNATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF FIRE CHIEFS;
FIRE CHIEF, KITTITAS VALLEY FIRE AND RESCUE (WA)
Chief Sinclair. Good morning, Chairman Comstock, Ranking
Member Lipinski, and Members of the Subcommittee. I am Chief
John Sinclair, Fire Chief of the Kittitas Valley Fire and
Rescue Department in Ellensburg, Washington. Today I testify as
the President and Chairman of the Board of the International
Association of Fire Chiefs. On behalf of the 12,000 members of
the IAFC, I thank you for the opportunity to discuss the
effectiveness of the Assistance to Firefighters Grant program
including the SAFER grant program along with the U.S. Fire
Administration.
The role of America's fire and emergency service continues
to evolve to cover new missions such as EMS, hazmat and
terrorism response. The USFA and the AFG and SAFER grant
programs are important partners in helping the nation's fire
and emergency service meet this challenge. The AFG program was
created by Congress in 2000 to help fire departments provide
baseline emergency response for their communities. This FEMA
program uses a highly respected merit-based peer-review process
to evaluate grant applications and provide matching grants to
local fire departments. The AFG program helps fire departments
with equipment and training. The SAFER program helps fire
departments meet staffing needs, and the Fire Prevention and
Safety program supports fire prevention programs and research
to promote firefighter and civilian fire safety.
The AFG program has helped my department. Using AFG grants,
KVFR purchased personal protective equipment and self-contained
breathing apparatus for our firefighters. These purchases
improved their safety and helped improve regional
interoperability between local fire departments that eventually
led to a merger, making a more effective and efficient response
force.
The SAFER grant program plays a vital role in helping local
fire departments meet staffing needs. Besides providing
matching grants for career firefighters, the SAFER grant
program also provides grants for volunteer recruitment and
retention. Approximately 70 percent of the nation's
firefighters are volunteers. Nevertheless, fire departments
face trouble recruiting and retaining volunteers who must
balance firefighting and training requirements with job and
family commitments. By partnering with state chiefs
organizations in Virginia, Connecticut and Tennessee, the IAFC
is working on SAFER-funded initiatives to help local fire
departments recruit and retain volunteers. These programs
include marketing campaigns and leadership training to help
volunteer fire chiefs.
I want to recognize Representative Esty for her assistance
in a PSA helping with the Connecticut program. The Connecticut
campaign led to 900 events, distributed 68,000 marketing
materials, and resulted in 400 new volunteer firefighters. The
Virginia campaign resulted in more than 1,100 applications in
15 participating departments with 656 new members that came in.
I would also like to highlight the life-saving research
funded by the Fire Prevention and Safety Grant program. The
IAFC's FSTAR program translates the research funded by these
grants into actionable information that affects tactics on the
fire ground, including fact sheets on fire dynamics, structural
integrity and firefighter health to help fire departments
improve their operations. The FSTAR program has also produced
guidance to help doctors provide rigorous physicals to
firefighters to reduce the number of strokes, heart attacks,
and injuries.
Despite the effectiveness of the AFG and SAFER programs,
many fire departments still need assistance meeting basic
staffing, equipment and training needs. We ask the Subcommittee
to reauthorize AFG and SAFER programs. The IAFC endorsed Senate
bill 829. This legislation would authorize funding for the AFG
and SAFER grant programs through fiscal year 2023. Also, it
removed the January 2, 2018, sunset date that would eliminate
the programs. In addition, S. 829 would make technical and
administrative changes to improve the program's efficiency and
reduce waste, fraud, and abuse.
I would also like to recognize Dr. Onieal and the important
role that U.S. Fire Administration plays. The National Fire
Academy is the West Point or Quantico of the fire and emergency
services. Using both in-person and online training, NFA
educates tens of thousands of fire service leaders every year
about how to adapt to emerging issues and lead their
departments better. We congratulate the President for
appointing Chief Keith Bryant as the U.S. Fire Administrator.
I ask that the Committee also reauthorize USFA this year.
It is important that USFA continue to have dedicated funding.
This funding should be used to continue to develop policy and
guidance, revise curricula at the NFA, and maintain
infrastructure and information technology. I also encourage the
USFA to provide guidance to fire departments as they address
behavioral health and wellness issues.
I thank the Committee for the opportunity to testify at
today's hearing. The AFG and SAFER programs and the USFA are
important partners in helping local fire departments address an
evolving all-hazards mission. On behalf of the nation's fire
chiefs, I look forward to working with the Committee to
reauthorize these critical programs. Thank you very much.
[The prepared statement of Chief Sinclair follows:]
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Chairwoman Comstock. Thank you.
And I now recognize Captain Niemiec for five minutes to
present his testimony.
TESTIMONY OF CAPTAIN JOHN NIEMIEC,
PRESIDENT, FAIRFAX COUNTY (VA)
PROFESSIONAL FIRE FIGHTERS
AND PARAMEDICS-INTERNATIONAL
ASSOCIATION OF FIRE FIGHTERS LOCAL 2068
Captain Niemiec. Thank you, Chairwoman Comstock, Ranking
Member Lipinski, yakshemash, and distinguished members of the
Subcommittee. Good morning. My name is John Niemiec, and I am
the President of the Fairfax County Professional Fire Fighters
and Paramedics. I appreciate the opportunity to appear before
you today on behalf of the International Association of Fire
Fighters and over 305,000 firefighter and emergency medical
personnel who serve in every Congressional district in this
nation. I come before you today to offer my full support for
the SAFE and FIRE grant programs and urge the Subcommittee to
reauthorize these programs.
SAFER and FIRE grants have proven themselves to be highly
effective, allowing local fire departments to make significant
progress in their baseline capabilities. According to the 2015
needs assessment of the Fire Service by the National Fire
Protection Association, SAFER and FIRE have helped local fire
departments improve staffing, equipment and training levels.
For example, 2010 to 2015, the number of fire departments
serving midsized cities meeting safe staffing standards have
increased by 25 percent. Such studies also show significant
improvements in certain categories of personal protective
equipment and training. For example, departments of all sizes
have improved the percentage of personnel with Personal Alert
Safety System, or PASS devices. In 2001, only 38 percent of
fire departments equipped all responders on a shift with their
own PASS device, a necessity to find injured or lost
firefighter in an emergency. This figure jumped to 72 percent
in 2015, a result NFPA speculates due to FIRE grant funding.
Thousands of communities, large and small, across this
nation have been aided by the SAFER and FIRE grant programs
including my department, the Fairfax County Fire and Rescue
Department. I have served the department for over 30 years and
have seen firsthand the remarkable service delivery
improvements we have achieved through both SAFER and FIRE. For
example, Fairfax County received FIRE grants in 2015 and 2016
to provide training to 54 advanced life support providers,
upgrading their emergency medical skills and certification.
These awards exclusively allowed our department to upgrade all
frontline responding units to the paramedic level, allowing the
county to deliver high-quality EMS care in a more timely
manner.
Fairfax County has also benefited from SAFER grants, which
allowed the county to hire an additional 49 firefighters,
improving response capabilities by staffing all 14 ladder
trucks with four personnel. This staffing level has allowed the
county to reduce risk for the citizens, minimize property loss,
and increase firefighter safety.
I am proud of the progress Fairfax County has made with the
help of SAFER and FIRE grants, and many communities across
America can say the same, yet despite the progress made in
communities large and small, the need for funding through the
SAFER and FIRE grant program persists. Many fire departments
continue struggling to meet appropriate staffing, training and
equipment standards. The 2015 NFPA needs assessment identified
many of these weaknesses. For example, 49 of all departments
have failed to formally train all of their personnel involved
in structural firefighting. Fifty percent of departments
operate without enough portable radios to equip all emergency
responders on a shift, and 53 percent of departments could not
equip all firefighters with self-containing breathing
apparatus.
As you know, work has begun in the Senate to reauthorize
these critical grant programs. Recently, the Homeland Security
and Governmental Affairs Committee unanimously approved Senate
bill 829, the AFG and SAFER Program Reauthorization Act of
2017. The bill is a simple reauthorization of SAFER and FIRE.
It makes several minor but necessary technical corrections and
eliminates a sunset provision on the programs. The IAFF and all
major national fire service organizations have worked
collectively with the Senators for many months to help craft
this bill and have offered it our enthusiastic endorsement. We
believe SAFER and FIRE have been refined over the many years
the programs have been in place. The grants are working
effectively and efficiently, and we do not recommend making
major changes to the programs. As you well know, SAFER and
FIRE's current authorization expires on September 30th of this
year, and the programs are due to sunset on January 2, 2018.
Therefore, I strongly encourage the Subcommittee to move
swiftly to reauthorize SAFER and FIRE to reassure their
continuance without interruption.
Again, I'd like to thank the Subcommittee for the
opportunity to testify today, and I'm happy to answer any
questions you may have. Thank you.
[The prepared statement of Captain Niemiec follows:]
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Chairwoman Comstock. And we now recognize Mr. Hirsch for
his testimony.
TESTIMONY OF MR. STEVE HIRSCH, FIRST VICE CHAIR,
NATIONAL VOLUNTEER FIRE COUNCIL;
TRAINING OFFICER, SHERIDAN COUNTY FIRE DISTRICT #1,
THOMAS COUNTY FIRE DISTRICT #4,
AND GRINNELL FIRE DEPARTMENT (KS)
Mr. Hirsch. Thank you. My name is Steve Hirsch. I'm First
Vice Chair of the National Volunteer Fire Council, which
represents the interests of the nation's more than a million
volunteer fire, EMS and rescue personnel. I'd like to thank the
Subcommittee and especially my own Congressman, Dr. Marshall,
for inviting me here to testify today about the need to
reauthorize AFG and SAFER as well as the U.S. Fire
Administration.
I want to begin by highlighting the critical need for
Congress to reauthorize AFG and SAFER prior to January 2nd. As
the Committee's aware, there's a provision in the current law
that eliminates those programs if they're not reauthorized
before that date. This would be a severe blow to the nation's
fire service and would put thousands of committees across the
country at risk. If you take only one thing away from my
testimony, it should be the need to move quickly to reauthorize
those programs.
My own Sheridan County Fire Department's been fortunate to
receive grants for protective gear and hose, to replace a fire
truck that was 50 years old, to buy a compressor to refill our
air tanks without having to make a 60-mile round trip, for
heavy-duty washing machines to keep our gear clean and
eliminate carcinogens. Our neighboring departments use our
washing machine and compressor, so the value of the program
goes well beyond the benefit to our own department.
I spend a lot of time teaching in all-volunteer fire
departments across Kansas at least once a month, and I can tell
you firsthand there's an overwhelming amount of need. Those are
small towns with very small tax bases. How can a department
with an annual budget of $10,000 ever hope to replace bunker
gear at $3,000 a person? How can they hope to buy a new brush
rig to fight wildfires? Well, they have that hope because of
the AFG program.
Recently, I called the widow of a firefighter in my
community who died in the line of duty in 1967. The department
at that time had no gear and no formal training. Carroll
Ferguson was killed when a chimney fell on him as he was
fighting a fire at a rural house in the county. The impact of
that death continues to reverberate in our community 50 years
later. Firefighters risk their lives every time they respond to
a call, and the AFG program helps to minimize that danger by
helping departments buy equipment and get training that they
would otherwise not be able to afford.
The NVFC strongly opposes changes in the authorization that
would divert money away from the AFG program or from local fire
departments. The competition for this funding is very intense.
There are a lot of departments that are applying that are not
being funded and a lot of need that's not being met. Any shift
and changes out of the AFG program would only make things
worse.
The SAFER program helps to increase or maintain a number of
firefighters in the United States. Ten percent of the SAFER
funds go to recruit and retain volunteers. These help
departments create marketing plans to recruit new volunteers
and establish benefit programs and have other retention
strategies to keep volunteers in the department.
The volunteer fire service is changing because the
country's changing, and that's why the SAFER program is
critical. The traditional staffing model where children live
and work in the same community where they grew up and follow
their parents into the volunteer fire service is changing.
Young folks are more mobile. Folks are moving out of rural
communities to find work and commuting longer distances to and
from work. There are more households in which both adults in
the home have jobs, and of course, that disrupts the ability of
the volunteer fire department to staff. We can't just sit back
and wait for volunteers to come walking through our door. The
SAFER gives local departments the tools to go out in the
community and recruit folks to become volunteer firefighters.
Our organization is also not seeking any major changes to
the AFG or SAFER programs in the reauthorization. There are
relative minor changes that we're seeking that are outlined in
my written testimony.
Finally, the U.S. Fire Administration provides training to
more than 100,000 fire and emergency service personnel each
year. The USFA also performs research and collects data
specific to the fire service and educates the public on the
importance of fire safety. It is our organization's belief that
the U.S. Fire Administration does a great job given the
resources available to them, and we're not seeking any changes
to the current authorization.
If you'll indulge me just a little bit for this farm boy
volunteer firefighter from western Kansas, when you work this
bill, when you talk with your colleagues, when you vote, I
would implore you, in fact, I would beg you to think about
Carroll Ferguson, who left his job at the meat counter of the
local grocery store in June of 1967, never returning home. How
much difference these programs could have made in that family's
life had they had proper equipment and good training, and
that's why these programs are so important. Even more so, I
want you to think about who the person in that family who was
the real hero, his widow, Marie, who was left without a husband
and three very small children who didn't have a daddy any
longer. These grant programs are helping keep volunteer
firefighters alive without any doubt in my mind. Those are
firefighters who don't get a paycheck. They do it because they
love their fellow man.
So thank you for your past support, thank you for listening
to me, and thank you for helping keep our firefighters alive by
supporting these programs.
[The prepared statement of Mr. Hirsch follows:]
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Chairwoman Comstock. I now recognize Dr. Horn to present
his testimony.
TESTIMONY OF DR. GAVIN HORN,
RESEARCH PROGRAM DIRECTOR,
ILLINOIS FIRE SERVICE INSTITUTE
Dr. Horn. Chairman Comstock, Ranking Member Lipinski, and
Members of the Subcommittee, thank you for the opportunity to
participate in this important hearing.
As part of the larger discussion, I would like to focus my
comments specifically on the American research enterprise that
is supporting the fire safety of the nation through a component
of the AFG grants, specifically, the Fire Prevention Safety
Grant program. Between fiscal year 2011 and fiscal year 2015, a
little over $170 million has been awarded from the Fire
Prevention program, approximately $33 million of which has been
devoted to the research and development activities, which I'll
refer to as R&D.
A little over $6.5 million and six projects per year have
been supported between fiscal year 2011 and 2015, a significant
reduction from fiscal year 2006 to fiscal year 2010 where an
average of nearly $10 million was awarded for over 11 projects
per year.
While a relatively small component of the overall AFG
program, the fire prevention safety R&D activities are unique
in that they support national programs, which strengthen local
fire departments' ability to utilize the larger AFG and SAFER
programs. Indeed, this is the only program, only national
funding program specifically devoted to enhancing the health,
safety and effectiveness of firefighters through projects such
as the one that you'll see on the video screen that's going to
play behind me.
The fire service is in desperate need of federal funding to
advance research projects that support evidence-based policies
to address longstanding issues in this dangerous occupation. At
the same time, the risks, the hazards are evolving as the fire
service responds to new operational realities and new
operational missions.
A variety of organizations and stakeholders developed a
series of needs analysis and research agenda to support fire
departments in the face of this changing risk profile.
Documents such as Project Responder and Interagency Board
Priority List along with firefighter-centric needs analysis
produced by stakeholders and partners--the National Fallen
Firefighters Foundation, the Fire Protection Research
Foundation--in addition to specific word by NIST, their
research roadmap for smart firefighting and NFPA's United
States Fire Service Needs analysis, quite important snapshots
of the American fire service which I review in my written
testimony.
However, these documents are importantly reviewed very
regularly and updated by the fire service stakeholders
themselves, often with the research community. In each funding
cycle for the Fire Prevention Safety grants, they provide
invaluable support as the voice of the fire service to guide
investments made by the AFG in this area.
Stated bluntly, the Fire Prevention Safety R&D grant
program is absolutely vital for a broad-based, action-oriented
federal research program focused on the needs of the fire
community, one that provides incredibly high impact for fire
departments across the country with relatively small
investment. Largely due to the recent Fire Prevention Safety-
supported research projects, significant advancements have had
a direct and profound impact on the fire service. Our
understanding of the hazards associated with structural
firefighting, the need for appropriate staffing levels,
effective and efficient tactics, and cardiovascular risks
associated with firefighting have all had dramatically
increased understanding due to the focused research support by
this R&D program. We must continue to be evaluated as our
landscape continues to evolve.
Our understanding of the chemical and toxic exposure that a
firefighter faces is beginning to come into focus, and our
understanding of the post-traumatic stress impact is just now
developing, and risks from outside the traditional response
theater including violent incidents and changing costs related
to drug--to the drugs are driving demand for changes in
protection beyond the traditional formal considerations. And
the world around us begins to embrace smart technologies and
internet of things, we too are learning how to leverage this
cyber physical infrastructure to improve our capabilities and
our effectiveness.
Impacting these areas, the R&D program has had significant
broader impacts. It's driven an increase in scientific
literature focused on the firefighter themselves. Dr. Sara
Jahnke from the National Development Research Institute did an
analysis and showed that almost 70 percent of all articles that
are referenced on the PubMed index with the term
``firefighter'' come from after the advent of R&D funding over
the past ten years, 70 percent. It changes in a way academic
researchers interact with the fire service have driven drastic
improvement in the research to practice protocol. As a result,
there are specific and focused efforts that have influenced a
wide range of standards and policies across the country from
PPE manufacturing to fire ground tactics, to health and safety
practices, to purchasing decisions. Research is impacting
practice. And this research has included broader impacts well
beyond the fire service, adding to the state of science in many
disciplines that support the fire service.
So while the Fire Prevention Safety program has been
successful in supporting the evolving needs of the fire
service, there's important opportunities that could lead to
even greater reach of this program, which I detail in my
written testimony, but a couple important points.
Considering the high benefit-to-cost ratio, it would be
appropriate to restore funding and award rates at the levels at
fiscal year 2006 to fiscal year 2010 at a very minimum. It is
also important to look at different funding mechanisms,
providing for longer duration funding mechanisms which would
allow longitudinal projects such as a five-year-plus potential
for five more years of renewal would allow research to use the
strongest research design available which will allow even
greater scientific rigor and further increase credibility of
the program.
There's been discussion for years of funding centers of
excellence through the Fire Prevention Safety program, and
there's now a broad discipline--broad-based transdisciplinary
group that can support that work and benefit from that.
It's also important to continue to fund an increase of
visibility for exploratory projects that can help lead the fire
service's understanding of some of the risks that we face on
the fire ground.
In summary, the Fire Prevention Safety Grant and
particularly the R&D program is a relatively small component of
the AFG activity but it has a broad national impact. It informs
the conversation held by many of the fire service organizations
sitting here. It supports fire service local departments by
empowering improved purchasing decisions to the AFG grant
program, better understanding of manpower requirements through
SAFER, and informed development of local policies, procedures
and practices based on the best science available.
Thank you very much for the opportunity and welcome any
questions at the appropriate time.
[The prepared statement of Dr. Horn follows:]
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Chairwoman Comstock. Thank you.
And I now recognize Chief Browning for five minutes.
TESTIMONY OF CHIEF H. ``BUTCH'' BROWNING, JR.,
PRESIDENT, NATIONAL ASSOCIATION
OF STATE FIRE MARSHALS,
LOUISIANA STATE FIRE MARSHAL
Chief Browning. Thank you, Madam Chairwoman. It's indeed an
honor to be here. I'm Butch Browning. I'm the Louisiana State
Fire Marshal and I'm currently president of the National
Association of State Fire Marshals. Over my left shoulder is
the Virginia State Fire Marshal, Brian McGraw. I appreciate his
attendance and support here today.
The National Association of State Fire Marshals represents
the senior state officials in every state, so it's a small
group of 50 people who work very hard in their states to
support their local fire departments, primarily drive fire
prevention programs, fire investigation programs, and data
programs, and I'll talk a little bit about that in a minute.
We want to make no doubt about it. The National Association
of State Fire Marshals fully support the reauthorization of the
AFG, the SAFER, and the Fire Prevention and Safety grants. In
addition, as a personal product of the National Fire Academy,
I'll you it is the West Point or any other higher, most
prestigious institution you can think of. What it does for our
state and the people who go to that who have no opportunities
in many cases to get leadership training is just phenomenal,
and I certainly appreciate what they've done for my life, and
you know, I just come before you as an old Louisiana boy, a
south Louisiana boy, not north Louisiana, and your temperatures
here remind me of being home. But I've just got to tell you,
people are alive today, firefighters and citizens, in part to
this entire grant program, and the gentlemen who are sitting up
here today have seen many, many circumstances of death and
loss, and you know, what I encourage you to do, and I think
you're doing that, I encourage you to look into the eyes of
your firefighters in your districts because you will hear real
stories of domestic defenders, and I appreciate that.
At 14 years old, I got involved in the volunteer fire
service and found it to be my passion, moved up the ranks,
became a fire chief. About 6 months before Hurricane Katrina,
we had an AFG grant in the hopper for interoperability, which
we didn't have those radios when Katrina came. We were awarded
those radios months after, and our department was then ready to
handle disasters, and those radios would have never been
purchased had it not been for the AFG program. The staffing of
firefighters across this country is phenomenal. We have to keep
those things up. And of course, the fire prevention and safety.
What I didn't tell you about me is what got me into this
business. When I was three years old, I was significantly
burned in a fire. My dad subsequently joined the volunteer fire
department and put me in the position that I'm in today. The
story is what caused my fire was prior to codes and standards
when water heaters were not 18 inches off the ground. Today
they are. So I'll tell you fire prevention and safety have
saved many children's lives, and I certainly respect that and
appreciate that.
I come before you today representing the National Fire
Marshals asking that we change the percentage that goes to fire
prevention and safety. See, we believe that we need to move
some funds from the open competition. We need to remove eight
percent into fire prevention and safety to not only get more
fire prevention and safety but to provide statewide support to
what we do. You know, in the State of Louisiana, we had an
operation Save a Life program. We've installed almost 35,000
smoke alarms across the state. In its first year, 12 people's
lives were saved. These alarms were installed by small, large
and medium fire departments across the state, so we know it
works. We know that saving lives is important. We know that
fire prevention safety and data. We know that fire suppression
forces, and we know that fire investigation and analysis is the
way for us to protect the American fire problem.
I'm going to leave you because I want to be brief, and it's
kind of on the heels of Mr. Hirsch's story of Mr. Ferguson, who
paid the ultimate sacrifice. This past Sunday, I had to give
the eulogy to yet another Louisiana firefighter who gave their
lives serving their community, a firefighter who was responding
to a structure fire, and the firefighter didn't make it. He was
involved in a horrific accident in the fire apparatus, and I
had to look into the eyes of that family, and what I'll tell
you that family's telling you today is that we need more
equipment, we need more firefighters, we need more prevention
and safety. Those three things working together will go a long
way in reducing America's fire problem, and we can rewind to
America burning. We can rewind to before we had some of the
fire prevention programs and before we had some of the better
training for firefighters and see that we made some great
headway. This investigation works.
So I come to you in partnership, I come to you in thanks,
and I look forward to this process.
[The prepared statement of Chief Browning follows:]
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Chairwoman Comstock. Thank you. Great.
And I now recognize myself for five minutes for questions.
As a longtime resident of Fairfax County, I recognize that
I've had some of the concerns that you identified on structures
and hazardous materials and all the things that we need to be
dealing with, and that's why I'm very interested in the
Firefighter Cancer Registry Act that we've worked on together,
and thank you for your efforts on highlighting that issue.
How are we able to use technology both in that area as well
as some of these other areas like, for example when you're
going into a structure, what technologies do we have now that
might help to better identify where we're going in keeping in
touch with everyone. You mentioned the PASS devices that will
help. But also things like some of the technology we're using
to develop lighter materials that people will have on to
protect themselves as well as lighter and more refined and
better materials for breathing apparatus so that you'll be both
protected but also long-term health consequences. So what
breakthroughs are you seeing there and how can these grants
help in those areas? I will start with Captain Niemiec but
welcome you all to answer.
Mr. Lipinski and I are on the Science Committee so very
interested in how we can--and I've certainly seen this in my
departments, the new technology and the real promise of both
making safer communities but making life easier for our
firefighters. I mean, it's never easy but safer.
Captain Niemiec. First and foremost, Madam Chair, I will
say, you know, through the education, through the prevention--
and we have always taken the mantra in Fairfax County of
preventing the 911 call, but how does that relate to the
firefighters and paramedics in Fairfax County? Last week,
several of my colleagues here met and were engaged and involved
in a program called Wellness Fitness Initiative, and part of
that program is doing just that, is looking at the wellness,
looking at the prevention, and then should one of these
firefighters or paramedics come down with a cancer, with, you
know, cardiac disease, we want to set that standard so that
that individual is able to, one, get back on the rig, and then
to have the ability to have good quality of life. So we are
setting those standards. That of course is coupled with the
equipment that we currently have. That's where one, the SAFER,
dealing with individuals, dealing with personnel, and then as
far as the FIRE grant, dealing with things, and because of
these items, in Fairfax County we have been able to get from
the AFG, we have been able to do a lot of the prevention, and
then if a firefighter, if a firefighter is involved in an
emergency situation, not only are we able to provide the
training but we have the necessary tools to ensure that that
firefighter or firefighters gets out alive.
Chairwoman Comstock. And others? I'm particularly
interested in any sort of new devices that you can show us that
I'd like to be able to demonstrate to my colleagues as we're
advocating more need for this. The more things that we can put
in your hands and technology in that way, sometimes that's a
very vivid way to demonstrate if people can see how this will
make your lives and your jobs safer.
Chief Sinclair. Yes. Thank you very much, Chairwoman
Comstock, for the question.
The first thing that I want to do is make sure that we
recognize that a significant amount of information has been new
to the fire service over the last couple of years since the
research has come in. A lot of that has to do with the health
of the firefighters. A significant doctrinal shift is ongoing
right now in the fire service as it relates to transitional
attacks, the way that we actually attack fires, because of what
we now know due to the research being done by Dr. Horn and NIST
and NIOSH that we're not pushing fire like we previously
thought, that we can actually hit it defensively and then
transition into an offensive attack where we go inside, because
once you knock the fire down from the outside and then
transition to an interior attack, it is safer for the
firefighters.
Our modern home has been plasticized, and as those
materials burn, they create these aromatic hydrocarbons that
attach to the skin. In the video that you saw, you saw them
wiping down, doing gross decon of the firefighters, and we know
that 54 percent of those can be taken off the skin in the gross
decon but that means that 46 percent of that cancer-causing
aromatics will still remain on the firefighters' skin.
So relative to new technology, we just are beginning to see
the governors opt in to FirstNet, which is the public safety
broadband trust, and we will soon be having communications
equipment that will be providing information to incident
commanders, something like a recognized phone that has data
streams and data elements. We should be able to have wearable
technology whereby we will be able to find the X, Y and Z
coordinates for every firefighter that is on the scene. All of
that is being done in cooperation with these types of grants,
this type of information, and we're just right on the cusp of
seeing a lot of things that are coming down the road in the
next couple of years. Thank you.
Chairwoman Comstock. Thank you, and I see that I'm out of
time, but I would invite any of you to share any of that
information with the Committee so that we can, as we're doing
our job of advocating for these grants, really draw that
picture for our colleagues. Thank you.
Now I recognize Mr. Lipinski.
Mr. Lipinski. Thank you.
Captain Niemiec, dzien dobre, and I'm not going to push my
Polish any more than that.
Chief Browning, you had mentioned that you had said we
should look in the eyes of our firefighters, first responders,
and learn about what they're doing, and I want to thank all of
you for--you know, we are here to do that. We do that back in
home districts. I know I certainly do, and appreciate the work
that you do, and we are here to help you better do that work
beyond the front line.
I want to ask Dr. Horn about some things, more things that
may be helpful to get this research out there to the frontline.
As you know, research and development is really a system of
feedback loops between fundamental research, development, and
then deployment. You discussed the research of practice needs
and opportunities in your testimony, and also discussed the
need for a dedicated pot of funding for applied research needs
because agencies such as NSF and NIH primarily support basic
research. Please elaborate on the need for the Fire Prevention
and Safety grant program and how it helps in translating
research to the standards and tools used in the fire service
community, and what more can be done to translate research into
practice including through increased partnerships between
researchers and firefighting organizations.
Dr. Horn. Thank you very much for that question. It's a
very important question because the research dollars are
difficult to come by and need to be allocated in the most
effective manner possible. The AFG through the Fire Prevention
Safety Research and Development grants ties the fire service
into the grants from the very beginning of the process. So I
mentioned a series of needs analysis and research agenda that
exists, and those are all put together by the fire service.
Various different aspects of the fire ground are considered and
focused on that research agenda but those drive the grants that
are being funded by the Fire Prevention Safety program.
So the funding itself is actually driven by the needs of
the fire service, and those needs are very often not focused on
the applied research, getting some technology, getting some
technique, informing policies, informing practices much like
Chief Sinclair just mentioned, informing practice based on
science, looking at tactics based on scientific principles.
These are things that aren't easily funded through National
Science Foundation and NIH because it's a tactical priority yet
we can now make our firefighters safer, help them to make
better decisions by looking at the broader understanding of the
tactics that we are using in order to address these problems.
So the fire service is setting the priorities for each of
these grants. What's also very unique about this program is
that the fire service sits at the table. The firefighters
themselves are reviewing each of these grants compared to those
priorities and indicating whether or not that is fundable from
a firefighter-specific perspective, and it goes to a scientific
review process. Few other grant programs have that dual role,
dual bosses for the project. So the firefighters themselves
will not get to the scientific review unless it does have some
strong fire service review.
And then throughout these projects, the research-to-
practice avenue has been incredibly--because firefighters
become parts of each these projects. Advisory boards on all
these projects usually involve fire service from across the
country, east to west, north to south, from firefighters to
fire chiefs, and they help guide the programs. The Fire
Protection Research Foundation does a great job for departments
or different agencies that don't have contacts or direct access
to national fire service. They help put together an advisory
board for those so that the data becomes vetted through that
group before it goes out to the fire service themselves. So the
fire service is involved in this program from start to finish,
and as a result, it directly translates to standards. It
directly translates to policies, and increase in the change in
some of the technologies have been discussed, and we could talk
about many more from Chairwoman Comstock's question are being
developed because of the research that has the fire service at
the table from the very beginning.
Mr. Lipinski. Thank you. Very quickly, Dr. Onieal, how does
the Fire Administration make sure you're leveraging the
relevant research work of other federal agencies such as DHS,
Science and Technology Directorate, NIST engineering lab, and
the National Science Foundation?
Dr. Onieal. Thank you for the question, Mr. Lipinski. We
work very closely. We have staff that works with all of those
different agencies. We more or less serve as technical experts.
We give the information back to the fire and emergency services
through our distribution outlets, and that's typically--they'll
all us up all the time and they'll give us an opportunity to
participate. So we more or less serve as technical experts on
whatever research is being done.
Mr. Lipinski. All right. Thank you very much, and I yield
back the balance of my time.
Chairwoman Comstock. And I now recognize Mr. Banks.
Mr. Banks. Thank you, Chairwoman Comstock, for organizing
today's hearing, and thanks to each of you for being here as
well to testify before Congress about the importance of these
grant programs as we debate the reauthorization of many of
them, and also thanks for the hard work that you do to serve
our local communities.
Despite living in a time where fire prevention technology
is more advanced than ever, it is unfortunate to hear that
incidents of fire, property losses to fire and deaths caused by
fire are increasingly common. This month alone, the Fort Wayne
Fire Department in my district has already logged roughly 73
fire-related incidents ranging from passenger vehicle fires,
cooking or equipment fires, and various smoke scares across
Allen County, the largest county in the 3rd District of
Indiana. Many of these incidents happen in the early hours of
the morning when detection isn't as responsive. For example,
had firefighters not immediately responded to an automated
alarm at 2:22 a.m. last week, my district could have lost its
historic public library in Auburn, Indiana. The quick
cooperation of citizens, fire detection technologies, and law
enforcement in the aftermath of this incident confined damage
mainly to the first floor rather than the entire structure.
Awareness of fire prevention practices and FIRE grant
program funding protects and benefits just about every Hoosier
in my district in some way, shape or form. Reauthorizing these
programs is crucial to keeping both people and property safe
back home in Indiana, so I look forward to learning more about
what priorities to consider moving forward from each of you.
My first question is to Chief Browning. I received a letter
last week from your colleague in my home state, Indiana Fire
Marshal Jim Greeson. He expressed his support for your proposal
to increase the funding allocation for fire prevention and
safety and the FIRE Act grants program. He cites, for example,
that with one of these grants in the State of Indiana, he was
able to purchase 1,200 smoke alarms for the deaf and hard of
hearing. This seems like a worthwhile effort, but do states
share the results of research and programs with other states to
assure best practices and the effective use of funding? Is
there a process to check if such efforts are successful in
meeting the program goals of reducing fire deaths and injuries?
Chief Browning. Yes, sir, and thank you for that question.
He's absolutely correct, and I think the role of the state fire
marshals are to partner with their local fire service and
responders to provide programs just as that. We know early
detection, as you stated, is one of the fundamental methods of
getting people out of a building and provide free and clear and
quick egress while firefighters are responding to suppress that
fire. So programs such as early detection, such as education,
such as research are exactly what the Fire Prevention and
Safety program does, and you'll see many successes across the
country that are shared.
You know, I could remember when the 9-volt battery smoke
alarm first came out on the market. I was actually pretty young
then, even though they've been out a long time. I can remember
when they came out on the market, and people didn't want them.
They were scared. I remember testifying before the Louisiana
legislature in 1991 to make that a requirement at the sale of
homes because we knew people were dying before firefighters
could get there, and it was the hardest thing in the world to
pass. Today if you don't have a smoke alarm in your home, you
understand that that's just as important as all of other
necessities in your home, and what you're seeing now is the
upgrade to the ten-year lithium battery sealed alarms because
now when firefighters go in the homes and install these alarms,
they know there's ten years of protection, not 9 months or 12
months of a 9-volt battery.
Mr. Banks. Very good.
As a follow-up to Dr. Horn, you specifically state in your
testimony that one of the most encouraging trends in the FP&S
R&D programs is the high degree of collaboration among
researchers investigating health and safety concerns among
firefighters. Can you elaborate on how this collaboration takes
place and particularly how knowledge and research is shared on
the state and local level?
Dr. Horn. Thank you very much for that question. This is a
multidisciplinary, basically a transdisciplinary research
program that has developed as a result of the nearly ten years
of funding through the Fire Prevention and Safety R&D programs.
The studies such as the video that was just displayed earlier
have gone from a single topic to really trying to understand
the fire service response in holistic perspective,
understanding the changes in protection from one aspect such as
increasing protection from the carcinogens, the chemicals on
the fire ground can have impacts on other aspects such as
increased heat stress and cardiovascular strain on the fire
ground.
So the studies such as the one you saw there includes
individuals who have expertise in all of those areas where we
have cardiovascular research experts from New York, from UIC as
well as from Illinois, industrial hygienists who focus on
chemical exposures from NIOSH as well as Underwriter Labs, who
has studied the fire ground environment in the most complete
manner possible. So this transdisciplinary group is necessary
to be able to look at this from a higher level to be able to
understand the tradeoffs in protection from one aspect to the
other and how we can minimize or optimize that tradeoff there,
and that has been an outgrowth, a direct outgrowth of this R&D
program which has brought firefighter-related research together
in this one area.
Mr. Banks. Thank you.
Yield back.
Mr. Abraham. [Presiding] Thank you. Ms. Esty, five minutes.
Ms. Esty. Thank you very much. I want to thank our Chairman
and Ranking Member for this very important hearing we're having
today, and I really want to thank the six of you for your
service and what you represent for firefighters across the
country. Chief Sinclair, as you noted, I've worked very closely
with the firefighters in Connecticut where we have 80 percent
of our departments are staffed by volunteers. Eighty percent of
all our firefighters are volunteers. I have a lot of small,
rural communities, and they absolutely depend on these
programs. They're completely vital. A town of 4,000 or 3,000
people can't possible afford to provide the protection for, as
you say, Captain Niemiec, and several of you have mentioned,
somebody got up in the middle of the night and puts their life
on the line to save their neighbor, and we can't thank them
enough. So first, thank you for all you do.
I wanted to highlight again what Chief Sinclair noted about
the utter importance of supporting through these grants
volunteer recruitment and retainment. In Connecticut, we figure
that saved us $18 million. One of my best staffers left me
because his lifelong dream was to become a firefighter. But in
Connecticut, he has to pay $1,000 for the training to even take
the test. That's gone up substantially. So to even have the
opportunity to take the test, young men and young women are
having to pony up themselves, and that's just wrong, and these
grants are vital to keeping our communities safe.
I wanted to turn a moment, Dr. Horn, to something that you
talked about, this being the Science Committee, and about the
research, but I think a lot of times we think about fancy new
equipment and certainly the materials technology and some of
that research is actually being done, and my district in Avon,
Connecticut, provides some of the best reflective material
that's used to keep firefighters safe around the country. But
the importance of practices and techniques of training, again,
because so many of our firefighters are volunteers, can you
talk a little bit more about the importance of that training
that otherwise isn't getting done? And then what, if anything,
we can do to disseminate that information because, again, the
best research in the world if it stays in the can or is in a
manual that nobody looks at is not going to save the lives that
we need to save so that they can go out and continue to save
those of others. Again, thanks very much.
Dr. Horn. Yeah, absolutely. It's a great question, and an
area that a specific focus of this research and development
program is getting information out to the fire service. But let
me take a couple steps back and actually discuss something that
was brought up by Chief Sinclair, and that is the practices. An
avenue that we have really started to look at is understanding
tactics, how the actions that we take on the fire ground can
change the risk profile for the occupants of the structure as
well as the victim, and some of these things are very tightly
held tactics that have gone through many years, have worked
successfully for those departments. So we need to understand
the impact of changing a tactic but the impact of changing a
tactic in my department will be very different than in Fairfax
County. So we need to provide information on what can be done
and how that broadly translates across the country because it
has to be implemented locally. A department that has two
members run it is very different than a department that has six
members and five more apparatus coming behind. So we're trying
to provide information that can be broadly translated but also
is widely available as well as generalizable to the different
realities and the local jurisdictions.
One of the great ways of being able to do that is through
the internet. A lot of online programming is freely available
as a result of this project, the project you saw on the video.
We are right now working on a toolkit that should be available
by the end of the year free for any department to get online to
have access to that information, what does it mean, the
tactical considerations, the policy considerations, but then
access all the way down to the actual scientific academic peer-
reviewed data if they're interested in that. Most fire
departments probably care about the how. So those tactics can
have an impact.
We often rely on our personal protective equipment and some
tools to provide protection for us but in many ways we look at
it from a hierarchy control. That should be one of the last
levels that we're focusing on. If we can avoid that, that's
what we're looking at. There are, though--to answer Chairwoman
Comstock's question, there are technologies being funded by
Fire Prevention and Safety to look at things such as
particulate measurements on the fire ground because the tools
that we have right now don't do a good enough job to tell us
when it is safe to take off our SCBA, for instance. So it's
coming, it's broad-based, and it's focused because of this type
of program.
Ms. Esty. Again, I see my time is running out, but I want
to say again how important this is because, again, especially
our rural communities but frankly our cash-strapped cities like
mine in Waterbury--I reached out to my fire departments over
the last couple of days, and every single of them said they
absolutely depend on these grants. They could not possibly
staff their departments or provide the protective equipment
that they need without this, especially when we see a lot of
constrained state and local budgets. So having those resources
at the federal level available to Americans across the country
is incredibly important, and again, I want to thank the six of
you for your service, please thank your departments, and I
appreciate your helping in making--helping us make that case to
our colleagues so we get this reauthorized at a higher
appropriate level back to the levels it should have been at to
help keep Americans safe. Thanks, all, very much.
Mr. Abraham. Dr. Marshall, five minutes.
Mr. Marshall. Thank you, Chairman.
Mr. Hirsch, a couple questions. What are the most critical
needs that we face in northwest Kansas for your fire
departments? What are your most critical needs?
Mr. Hirsch. Congressman, clearly the awareness, the safety
culture that has changed in the fire service from 1963 when my
father started in the volunteer fire service to 1987 when I
started, 2017 has changed dramatically, and a lot of that has
come because of the research projects that have been done. But
I think we can never forget the fact that there are basic needs
that are still not being met in rural fire departments out in
our state. There are still departments that are borrowing gear
from other departments. A department will replace their gear
and transfer it to another department, gear that probably
should be out of service but it's better than what they had.
Departments that have 50- or 60-year-old trucks, departments
that have 40-year-old hose, departments that don't have SCBAs
to be able to do an aggressive interior fire attack to save
lives. There are a lot of basic needs out there that still have
not been met. There are departments in Kansas that still have
dirt floors in their fire station. It's just a fact of life,
and they are small departments. They don't have a very large
tax base. These programs are just invaluable, and they're
invaluable to saving volunteer firefighters' lives.
Mr. Marshall. How would the USFA or the Fire Safety grant
programs help with those types of needs?
Mr. Hirsch. Well, clearly, at least in the northwest part
of the state where I live, there are countless departments that
have gotten grants to pay for that type of equipment, but I
will tell you that over the past 10 to 15 years, the amount of
money that's been appropriated into these programs has declined
markedly, and so we're--a lot of departments in Kansas were
getting grants 15 years ago. There aren't very many today
because the competition is so stiff and the funding is so
small.
Mr. Marshall. Let's kind of follow up on the grant process.
I assume that you're the person that writes these grants?
Mr. Hirsch. In my department, yes, and for a lot of my
neighbors too.
Mr. Marshall. How is that process going, or what challenges
do you have in the grant process writing?
Mr. Hirsch. Writing the grants are not difficult. I've also
been on the other side and reviewed grants with the fire
administration. It's made up of a peer process where
firefighters actually get a chance to review grant applications
from other departments. That also helps you write your own
grants when it comes around too. But I'll tell you that a lot
of these volunteer fire chiefs, they've got lives, they have
jobs, and that becomes very difficult for them to commit the
amount of time. The grant process, the application process, is
not that difficult but it does take some time. It takes a
commitment of time. They're already committing a lot of time
and, frankly, committing a lot of their money to protecting
their communities, and it's difficult. It's difficult, and
especially I think with the decrease in the funding over time,
after you've applied for a grant a time or two or three and
you're not awarded anything, then you get discouraged and you
give up.
Mr. Marshall. I think my next question's for Dr. Onieal.
What is the USFA doing in specialized training specifically,
for rural voluntary fire departments?
Dr. Onieal. The specific training that we provide to rural
departments, believe it or not, occurs at every state. So if we
talk about your state, Kansas, the state fire training system
there and the state director delivers National Fire Academy
training throughout the state. I was out there last year. I
spoke at a statewide conference, and they're just simply doing
a terrific job. The advantage to those firefighters is that
when they do that, they're registered in the National Fire
Academy database, which means that their credential is carried
wherever they go. If they move to a different department or
even a different state, that credential carries with them.
All the National Fire Academy courses are reviewed by the
American Council on Education for college credit
recommendation. They can transfer some of that credit into
their college degree programs, and all of them also--well, the
online courses that they're available--are reviewed by the
International Association for Continuing Education and Training
and they receive CEUs. So through the state training system and
classroom training and through the National Fire Academy's
online----
Mr. Marshall. What's unique, though, for the rural
training? What is more specifically the process?
Dr. Onieal. Okay. I'm going to ask to get back to you, and
I'll give you a full list of the courses that we have available
to you for the rural fire service.
Mr. Marshall. Mr. Hirsch, maybe you can answer what's more
specific towards rural training?
Mr. Hirsch. Frankly, I don't know that there's a whole lot
of difference between rural and urban firefighting. We don't
have--we have high rises; they're grain elevators. But we're
still fighting house fires. We're still trying to extricate
people from wrecks. We're still handling EMS calls and hazmat
calls. The training is similar across the lines whether you're
rural, suburban or metro.
Mr. Marshall. Okay. I yield back. Thank you.
Mr. Abraham. Thank you, Dr. Marshall.
Ms. Bonamici, five minutes.
Ms. Bonamici. Thank you very much, Mr. Chairman and Ranking
Member, for holding this important hearing, and thank you to
each and every one of you for being here today and for the
important work you do.
Like so many of my colleagues, I have been and continue to
be a strong supporter of the FIRE and SAFER grant programs, and
I know that numerous fire departments in the district I
represent in Oregon, particularly the volunteer departments,
rely on those funds to fulfill critical needs.
The district I represent, Chief Sinclair might be familiar
with it, is bordered by miles and miles and miles of the mighty
Columbia River, and on Monday, just this past Monday, I had the
opportunity to meet with the Maritime Fire and Safety
Association, which is a wonderful collaborative organization
with our neighbors to the north on the other side of the river.
It was formed after the tragic death of a Coast Guard man and
the critical injury of a firefighter after an inability to
coordinate response to vessel fire on the Columbia River, and
it is a fabulous collaboration, and it includes more than a
dozen municipal fire agencies along the Willamette and Columbia
Rivers, and many of those agencies have benefited from FIRE and
SAFER grants. So it is a unique organization and it is a
serious issue that they need to be prepared for. There's a lot
of vessel traffic in the river.
So I wanted to quote Bob Livingston. He's the President of
the Oregon State Firefighters Council, and he described these
grants, the FIRE and SAFER grants, as some of the best federal
programs and they yield a great deal of success, and this is
what he says. He said ``The reason for this is twofold. First,
whether it is vital equipment that may save a life in the event
of a cardiac arrest or having adequate staffing to handle the
wide range of emergency response, these dollars are getting to
the local level. Second, these dollars are allocated to local
communities based on scientific-based information that allows
Congressional members to come together in a bipartisan fashion
to fund these important programs that make communities across
this nation safer.'' So I know he appreciates the grants, and I
have too.
Mr. Hirsh, I wanted to ask you, the SAFER program has
helped career departments hire new and additional personnel to
meet staffing safety standards and it requires a percentage of
funding to go to volunteer departments for recruitment and
retention of volunteer firefighters. So in your written
testimony, you describe a recruitment program in Stayton,
Oregon, which is not quite in my district, but they've had a
lot of success in bringing on career and volunteer
firefighters. So could you elaborate on the program and the
extent to which the best practices that are developed are
scalable and repeatable for other volunteer fire departments?
Mr. Hirsch. Yes. I think they are scalable and repeatable.
In the particular one that you're talking about in Stayton,
they not only recruited people for their own fire department,
but as a result of the work that they did there, they recruited
firefighters for neighboring fire departments as well. I
believe there were some 80 firefighters in their district and I
think around 30 in neighboring districts.
The National Volunteer Fire Council currently has a program
as a result of a grant through this program called Make Me a
Firefighter. If you want to look at it, makemeafirefighter.org
is the website. What that does it, it sets up a portal for
local fire departments to create their own resource there so
that if someone wants to volunteer for their department,
there's a particular portal for that department that a person
can sign up and see whether or not they need volunteers in that
particular area, and----
Ms. Bonamici. Wonderful. Thank you.
And I want to get another question in. I know one of the
proposals that's under consideration is to allow that the SAFER
grant funds be used to augment the pay of part-time or paid on-
call firefighters to make them full-time personnel, and I
wonder if any of our witnesses could explain, do you support
this? Do you share concerns that there might be about that
change? Anybody want to weigh in on that proposal? I see Chief
Sinclair's interested.
Chief Sinclair. Thank you very much for the question. Many
fire departments, mine as an example, are combination fire
departments. We have reserves resident. The reserves are paid
on-call firefighters. We have career folks and we have
community volunteers. Many of our hires come from either our
resident pool or our reserve firefighters, which are paid on-
call firefighters. They are folks that are committed to the
community, that are well known to the community. They're well
known to us because we know their work ethic. And so having
that pool of people that you can hire from is very appropriate.
The conundrum in the current language is that because they're
already a part-time employee, you can't hire them, even though
they're probably one of your most trusted resources and would
make a very good transition to a career position, and so that's
the reason why we're asking for the change is simply to be able
to take people that are committed inside of that community,
have already proven themselves to the organization, and the
ability to transition. Many people that are in the career force
came out of the volunteer or part-time ranks.
Ms. Bonamici. Thank you. That's valuable input. And I see
that my time is expired.
Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
Mr. Abraham. Thank you for being here, gentlemen. It's my
time for some questioning. We appreciate your time away from
your constituents. You are not only part of local security,
fire security, but with global terror, now you're part of
national security, and we understand the risks that you incur
every time you enter a building of unknown substance.
Chief Browning, thanks for being the Fire Marshal for my
great State of Louisiana. You do an exemplary job, so kudos.
You deserve it.
And my first question is to you. The State Fire Marshals
are responsible and required to collect the fire data in their
state for the U.S. Fire Administration. How does this affect my
State of Louisiana's resources, and do you consider that an
unfunded mandate?
Chief Browning. Yes, sir. First off, I'm going to tell you
data collection is the most important thing. That's how we
learn the testimony we give you today not only in the
prevention area, the need for equipment and the need to hire
additional personnel. It's that data that drives that, and that
data starts at the local fire department. It comes to the State
Fire Marshals. We collect that data, we scrub that data, and we
report that to the U.S. Fire Administration. We receive no
funds from the U.S. Fire Administration for doing that. It's a
burden that my state budget and I suspect other State Fire
Marshals' state budgets have to incur.
Mr. Abraham. Some of the fire service groups feel that any
changes to the FIRE grant authorization will have an effect on
eliminating the sunset provision to take effect on January
2018. What is the State Fire Marshals' position on this?
Chief Browning. Well, first off, we need to eliminate the
sunset. It's not my opinion that proper changes and right
changes, smart changes, certainly changes that bring about
prevention, changes that bring about better expenditure of that
equipment grant, and better changes that allow us to hire and
retain firefighters shouldn't affect that sunset.
Mr. Abraham. And you've alluded to this question, but I'm
going to ask it a little bit of a different way. You said in
your testimony--I read it--that the most cost-effective way to
protect the greatest number of individuals and property is to
allocate additional funding for fire prevention and safety
programs. How would additional funding for State Fire Marshal
fire prevention and safety programs benefit fire departments in
Louisiana, other states who do not provide fire prevention or
have the resources to adequately enact fire prevention
programs?
Chief Browning. Well, I believe that allocating money to
state programs puts a footprint in every community. So in our
State of Louisiana, anything that the State Fire Marshal does,
our state fire training center does, when they do that, it
affects every fire department in our state, even the most rural
that can't afford those resources, and even the largest and
most progressive departments who we supplement the things that
they do. So I think whether it's a smoke alarm campaign,
whether it's a firefighter safety campaign, whether it's a
training campaign, the state does do a good job of touching
people who otherwise may be left out.
Mr. Abraham. Mr. LaHood, five minutes for you, sir.
Mr. LaHood. Thank you, Mr. Chairman, and let me thank the
witnesses for being here today, and thanks for your service to
the communities that you serve throughout the country. I
appreciate it very much, and for your valuable testimony here
today.
I want to add my support for the AFG grant program and the
SAFER grant program. I've seen it throughout my district. I
have a fairly rural district in central and west central
Illinois, 19 counties that cover from Quincy, Illinois, to
Jacksonville, Illinois, to Peoria and all places in between,
and whether it's safety equipment, whether it's personnel, it
has been a valuable program and has helped to protect the
safety of the constituents there and also to help the many
departments that are in my district. So we need to continue to
support those programs.
Dr. Horn, thank you for being here today, and the work that
gets done at the Illinois Fire Service Institute is very
important, and I've seen it. In my State of Illinois, I served
in the state legislature there and worked an awful lot with our
local fire departments there, and the work that goes on there,
you know, cross-cutting research, cardiovascular research, heat
stress research, fire ground chemical exposure research, and
the benefits that come about from that are applicable whether
it's rural or urban throughout the State of Illinois, and I
think it's really kind of a poster child for other areas across
the country that can be done. What I guess I'm wondering, Dr.
Horn, and I wanted you to comment on, when we look at the
federal level and whether there's any applicability of what we
can do on the federal level based on what's done in Illinois, I
was wondering if you could comment on that, on your thoughts.
Dr. Horn. First of all, thanks for the kind words and the
supportive comments. And so just a quick clarification. Are you
asking what could be done to replicate some of the work that is
being done at Illinois Fire Service Institute?
Well, we're very fortunate at IFSI in that we have the
state training academy, which IFSI is collocated with the
University of Illinois, which is one of the leading Research
Institutions in the country, and we have some very engaged
individuals, both on the research side as well as on the fire
service side to try to come together and locate problems. There
certainly are opportunities to replicate that at other
locations. For instance, Maryland's state academy is also at
their state university.
The important way that we can bring this forward is to make
sure that we have the leadership that is willing to engage both
sides and to understand the necessity that the fire service has
for having this research translate into practice. It can be
challenging for some academic research institutions depending
on how they are receiving tenure, promotion, those sorts of
things to potentially be engaged in some of this hands-on, more
applied type of research as opposed to some of the more
traditional funded research in those programs. So because we
have the collocation of both of those, it allows us to do
certain things like that where we can touch both the academic
side and the hands-on side.
I believe this is when we talk about the centers of
excellence. Centers of excellence are actually now--we have
people from across the country, the projects that we wish NIOSH
and Underwriter Labs and Skidmore College in New York are a
center that actually involved in multiple different agencies
that is being replicated. Phoenix--University of Arizona is
developing a project that includes us as well as NIOSH as well
as Miami and other places. So the research is becoming, because
of this R&D program, very transdisciplinary and across the
country.
So I believe it's starting to be replicated in various
different areas. But the ability to translate it to the fire
service, if centers for excellence were to be funded, that's
one of the critical avenues because that is a challenging
aspect of all of this, someone who can speak engineering or
medical science and speak firefighter at the same time because
often those two don't overlap with each other, and that's a
critical avenue where I think we have some unique ability to
fill in that gap.
Mr. LaHood. Great. Thank you, Dr. Horn. Those are all my
questions.
Chairwoman Comstock. Thank you. And my apologies to have to
briefly leave. I have another hearing going on right now, a
committee I serve on where the FBI building was an issue. So
we've been wanting to get that in Virginia. I know my Maryland
colleagues had other ideas. I think we all agreed we didn't
want it in D.C.
But thank you all for your time and your expertise. We
really appreciate all of your testimony and the members for
their questions. I think as you can see from today's hearing,
we are all united in our interest in continuing the good work
that you have on here and that you've done here, and we
appreciate all you are doing in our respective communities and
for the country.
So the record will remain open for two weeks for additional
written comments and written questions from members, and I'll
also reiterate, any of the different technology items and
things that you would like us to--any visuals that we can
highlight for our colleagues will be very helpful as we go
forward with our September 30th deadline that we want to make
sure we continue the good work you are doing.
So the hearing is now adjourned.
[Whereupon, at 11:41 a.m., the Subcommittee was adjourned.]
Appendix I
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Answers to Post-Hearing Questions
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Appendix II
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Additional Material for the Record
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