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Wednesday, March 24, 2010
Rarely
are editors (like me) accused of having a sense of humour but this headline
from the Belleville Online Pioneer Plus caught my eye in a news search
yesterday afternoon:
Belleville is getting a new fire truck . . . and the Zamboni will just have to
wait
You can
read the story here and learn how the forthcoming harmonized sales tax affected
council’s decision to buy the tanker now but hold off on the Zamboni.
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Congratulations
to Steve Kraft, a former contributor to Fire
Fighting in Canada and the new fire chief in Richmond Hill, Ont.
Steve was
acting chief for two-and-a-half years while the town went through an
organizational review. His appointment takes effect May 1.
Steve’s a decent golfer, having won the Fire Fighting in Canada Open last year
as a member of the AJ Stone team with Bill and Mike Stone and Bryan Burbidge,
the fire chief in King Township, Ont. That same foursome is hoping to tear up
the links again at this year’s tournament on April 30 (click here to read more
about our annual golf day).
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Some cool news today from the IAFF and MSA. MSA has
been chosen to build a prototype of a flat-pack SCBA. You can read the story
here and see a photo of a flat pack on Firefighterclosecalls.com
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Bit of a flap in Prince
Edward Island over speed limits for ambulance
drivers. A new policy instituted by Island EMS prevents ambulances with lights
and sirens running from traveling more than 10 kilometres over a speed limit of
60 km/h and more than 20 kilometres over a speed limit of 80 to 90 km/h. The
union says the policy jeopardizes the safety of Islanders and wants the speed
limits changed. P.E.I.’s health minister is to weigh in today. What do you
think?
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Lastly, a promised update on the Canadian
Association of Fire Chiefs government realations week courtesy of CHQR AM770
radio in Calgary:
Calgary's Fire
Chief is in Ottawa this
week asking the federal government to consider making a number of public safety
initiatives into law.
He's president of the Canadian Association of Fire Chiefs, which wants action
on a number of issues it says are critical to protect the health and safety of
Canadians.
Bruce Burrell says they're bringing forward the same five concerns they brought
forward last year.
Aside from speedy passage of the Canada Consumer Product Safety Act, they're
looking for modest tax credits for volunteer firefighters, automatic sprinklers
for all new construction, a national emergency response plan and a national
fire advisor in Ottawa.
The CAFC is working diligently to bring fire service issues to the attention of MPs. Coast to coast support from the fire service for the CAFC's efforts can only help the cause.
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