Despite our current economic crisis, California's endangered mutual aid system can be saved, through passage of the Emergency Response Initiative (ERI). This is the message that CPF President Lou Paulson and California Fire Chiefs Association President Sheldon Gilbert hammered home this week at the Joint Legislative Committee on Emergency Management hearing in San Diego.
Each year, the IAFF Media Awards recognizes the reporting, photography and other media that embody what it means to be a first responder in the United States and Canada. This year, CPF was honored with four IAFF Media Awards.
They gave their lives trying to save dozens of others from a terrifying burnover. Now they are part of the mournful pantheon of firefighters who have paid the ultimate price to protect families like those they leave behind. Los Angeles Fire Captain Tedmund "Ted" Hall and Specialist Arnaldo "Arnie" Quinones, who lost their lives in the line of duty in the Station Fire, are being remembered for their commitment, caring and, most especially, their courage under fire.
Fire officials are watching the skies in Southern California, hoping that increased humidity levels will continue to slow the march of the Station Fire. The blaze has now burned more than 127,000 acres, and stretches over nearly 200 square miles, but cooling temperatures have aided firefighting efforts in the Angeles National Forest, and the blaze is now 22% contained.
Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger today joined fire service labor and management in calling on the Legislature to revive and approve his Emergency Response Initiative. At a news conference in San Bernardino County, the governor joined CPF President Lou Paulson and CalChiefs President Sheldon Gilbert in urging passage of the measure, which would provide hundreds of millions of dollars to support the state's mutual aid disaster response.