Marin Firefighter News

It's a new year and we've got a new issue of our award-winning newspaper, The California Professional Firefighter. Beginning with this issue and going forward, we will publish every newspaper online, from cover to cover. All of the features you count on, from legislative updates to the latest news from local affiliates, will be only a click away. And don't worry ... full editions will continue to be published in print and online.

If you're a fan of social networking, CPF has another way to keep current and spread the word and show your pride. On CPF's official Facebook page, you can keep updated on the latest news, check out videos and photo galleries and connect with those both in and out of your profession. If you're on Facebook, you can add us to your group list. If you're not on Facebook, the page instructs you how to set up your own free login.

AB 128 enacts the "William Dallas Jones Cancer Presumption Act of 2009," which seeks to eliminate the existing statute of limitations in favor of expanding it in a manner that more accurately reflects the risk to those types of job-related cancers that are contracted by firefighters and other public safety personnel.

The Department of Homeland Security has awarded grants totaling more than $500,000 to California fire departments, underscoring the availability of funds to help firefighter services. Among those receiving grants were firefighters represented by Professional Firefighters of Santa Cruz Co. Local 3605. FEMA Region IX is currently hosting a series of firefighters grant workshops in California from January to March

As Australia's wildfires claimed the lives of over 180 people, new concerns are being raised about that country's highly controversial "Stay And Defend" fire policy. Scores of those who perished in the blazes were residents that stayed behind to protect their property or evacuated too late. Residents armed with garden hoses were ill-equipped to protect themselves against the ravaging blazes that tore through towns and were fanned by hot winds and drought conditions.