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Seacoast Chief Fire Officers Association
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From SCFOA President Chris Leclaire:
As you may have heard, the Governor has announced that he will not go forward with the nomination of Safety Commissioner Richard Flynn for another term. He has even asked for his resignation before that date. The Commissioner’s current term ends in March, and the Governor states that it is time for new blood in that office.
Commissioner Flynn has served the State well in his 35 years as the Commissioner of Safety, and he has been an avid supporter of the NH Fire Service. The current state of safety departments such as State Police, Homeland Security (with Director Pope), the Fire Marshal’s Office and our NH Fire Academy are all attributable to Commissioner Flynn. We even named the Fire Academy after him in honor of his efforts to get it built and continually funded.
I, as President of the New Hampshire Association of Fire Chiefs, on behalf of the organization, sent a letter of support for Flynn to the Governor and Executive Council. We asked in the letter that Commissioner Flynn be nominated and appointed to another term. The NHAFC Executive Board unanimously endorsed the letter, and the association voted to send the letter at its January meeting in Bedford. I would like to report that the NHAFC vote was unanimous, but two members voted against the endorsement.
It is now up to the Executive Council to support or vote against the Governor’s action to oust Flynn. Councilors Burton and Wieczorek have stated on Channel 9 that they support Flynn and would not go along with the Governor’s action. Councilor Beverly Hollingworth of Hampton has stated that she is reserving judgment until she hears from her constituents, including the people that work with the Commissioner.
This means you! We need all of you to call or email her to let her know that the Fire Chiefs of New Hampshire, and especially the Seacoast, support Commissioner Flynn for another four-year term. Bev Hollingworth can be reached by email at b.hollingworth@comcast.net or by telephone at 601-2292.
Dear Governor Lynch:
I am writing to you on behalf of the New Hampshire Association of Fire Chiefs to respectfully urge you to nominate Richard M. Flynn for a new term as Commissioner of Safety for the State of New Hampshire.
The New Hampshire Association of Fire Chiefs as a group, and through its individual members, has worked with Commissioner Flynn on many issues over the years and has found him to be responsive, supportive and helpful to the NH fire service community. The NH Fire Academy, which is named after Commissioner Flynn and would not have been built but for his support and efforts, is but one example of his support for the fire service community in our state.
The Commissioner has been a champion of public safety in general, and fire service in particular, in the many years he has served as Commissioner. Under his leadership the Department has become an example to other states. He has never forgotten the importance of serving the public and has made this a hallmark of his tenure at the Department. He has served the state and its people and has worked well with the public safety community in New Hampshire and throughout New England. As you know, he has received many awards and commendations over the years for his commitment to public service and public safety. He also clearly knows how to work with the Legislature and other departments at the state and local level in carrying out the important responsibilities of the Department.
We can think of no other public servant in the history of our state who has served as long and faithfully as Commissioner Flynn and would be more deserving of reappointment. His continued tireless dedication to his job and the people of this state are a model of public service that we all try to emulate. We strongly believe that he deserves the opportunity to serve the people of New Hampshire for another term as Commissioner of Safety and that the state will be a better place because of his continued service.
Thank you for considering our recommendation. We would be happy to discuss this further with you. Congratulations on your reelection and please let me know if the Fire Chiefs Association can be of any assistance to you.
Sincerely,
Christopher
LeClaire, President
New Hampshire Association of Fire Chiefs
Fireground and Vehicle Safety Course Set for June 1
Mike Wilbur, a career firefighter with the New York City Fire Department will conduct a Fireground and Vehicle Safety Course on June 1. The program, which focuses on fireground safety is a must for any department Chief or company officer, as well as any firefighting instructor. In addition to his background as a firefighter Wilbur is a contributing editor to Firehouse Magazine and the Fire Apparatus Journal. He also serves on the IFSTA Validation Committees for the Apparatus Operator and Aerial Operations manuals. For more information about the program, including registration information, contact Chief Perry Plummer at (603) 516-6151 or email him at perry.plummer@ci.dover.nh.us.
Start Planning For 2006 SCFOA Golf Tournament
It's time to get ready for this year's annual Seacoast Chief Fire Officers Golf Tournament! The 15th annual event kicks off on Friday June 9, at the Apple Hill Golf Club on Route 107 in East Kingston, New Hampshire. There's a slew of prizes on the line for this four-man scramble. Proceeds from the tournament support local firefighter education. For more information, including downloadable registrations forms visit our the SCFOA events page.
Here is a summary of the NH Fire Safer cigarette bill:
The fire safer cigarette bill, HB 645, is headed to the floor of the NH House on January 4th. Originally introduced in January of 2005 it was reported out by the House Criminal Justice and Public Safety Committee as ought to pass 15-0. It was then referred to the House Ways and Means Committee, which voted to retain the bill to look into whether it would have any impact on state revenues.
Some interested parties alleged that the cigarettes would be perceived as being inferior and thus sales would decrease, as would tobacco tax revenues. The bill was sent to a subcommittee chaired by Rep. Shawn Jasper. After a number of meetings this fall the subcommittee voted 5-0 to recommend to the full committee to report the bill as ought to pass. The full committee then voted 17-2 to report the bill as ought to pass with amendment. The amendment changes the designation of the cigarettes to fire safer, instead of fire safe, a more accurate name. It also changes the effective date to July 1, 2007 and specifies that the standards to be used on the fire safer cigarettes by the state fire marshal must be the same as those used in New York. The amendment also removed all enforcement powers from the Department of Revenue Administration, which did not want to be involved in enforcement.
With now two favorable reports from House committees and apparent support from the House leadership, the chances that the bill will pass the House in January seem quite good. There is likely to be a struggle in the Senate, however.
The purpose of the bill is to require that cigarettes sold in the state after July 1, 2007 meet standards that make them far less likely to burn to the end and thus far less likely to cause fires. New York was the first state to pass a bill, which it did in 2000. The law was not implemented until 2004, but it has been in place since then. Vermont and California have since passed similar laws. Canada passed a law for the whole country which took effect in October of this year. A bill in Massachusetts has made it out of committee with a favorable vote. At the federal level efforts have been made for years to pass legislation, but the legislation has never been successful. Rep. Joseph Moakley from Massachusetts was a champion of the legislation.
Some of the arguments used to support the bill include that cigarette fires cause close to 1,000 deaths and 3,000 injuries each year in the US. Cigarettes are the ignition source in fires responsible for over 25% of all fire deaths and are the nation’s largest single cause of such deaths. Property losses are over half a billion dollars. In fires attributed to dropped cigarettes there is one death to every four injuries. Cigarette related fires are up 19% nationally.
A fire safer cigarette, also known as a reduced propensity or low ignition cigarette, has less propensity to ignite upholstered furniture or mattresses when dropped, forgotten or carelessly discarded. This can be accomplished through small design changes in the cigarette, including the use of less dense tobacco, less porous paper, a smaller diameter, a filter tip, the addition of “speed bumps” on the filter paper, and the elimination of citrates that are added to the paper to maintain burning.
The tobacco lobby has opposed the bill, arguing, among other things, that this should be done at the national level, not state by state.
To address the argument about potential loss of tobacco tax revenues to the state the NH Association of Fire Chiefs asked UNH Professor Ross Gittell if a graduate student under his direction could study the experience in New York to see what the likelihood was that such a law would impact cigarette sales in NH. The study concluded that NH should expect no significant change in NH tobacco tax revenues from such a change in the law. An earlier study by the Harvard School of Public Health reached a similar conclusion more generally, not specific to NH.