Greetings from the thirteenth floor. We leaped right into March, thanks to this thing called a leap year. I am so ready for 2020 springtime!
The thirteenth floor has experienced another retirement. Regional Chief Mark Kilby retired after serving 19 years with the Division of Fire Safety. Thank you Mark for your faithfulness to the citizens and the members of fire safety.
I am excited to announce the promotion of Matt Luetkemeyer to Assistant State Fire Marshal. Many of you are familiar with Matt working with him as the State Mutual Aid Coordinator. Matt has hit the ground running and we are looking forward to what he is going to do for the state fire service.
We hired another new member to our team. Christine Saiz will be our Public Information, Social Media, Fire Prevention person and work within the Fire Inspection Unit.
Mark your calendar for Firefighter’s Day at the Capitol. We invite everyone to come to Jefferson City and join other firefighters to visit your local legislators. We will kick the day off at 9:30 a.m. with a meeting on the 13th floor. We will fill you in on the legislation that will be affecting the Missouri fire service this year. At 11:30 a.m. we will begin the event at the Capitol rotunda. Lieutenant Governor Mike Kehoe will be speaking along with Jeff Strawn of the Missouri Firefighter Cancer Network. Our theme for the rotunda event will be Firefighter Cancer Awareness. Following your capitol visit, we welcome you to return to the 13th floor for lunch and fellowship. Lunch is provided by the MoChiefs.
I remind you to go online and register your fire department. Over 550 of you have already done so, Thank you! Having your fire department’s information allows us to gather data to share with legislators and numerous other requests, plus it is extremely important for fire mutual aid situations. We also want to remind you to take time and visit your Public Safety Officer Benefit forms. You should have this document for each firefighter on file at your department. God forbid you have the unfortunate situation, but this form will be very beneficial to you! Go to www.mofirefuneral.org under the “Protocol and Documents” link and download the PSOB Beneficiary Form. Please fill this out!
We have tried to bring a general awareness of the cannabis (marijuana) distribution and growing operations that will soon be coming into operation across our state. I have had several calls with questions and concerns for firefighters exposed to the product while preforming duties. I would strongly recommend that you meet with your district boards, city councils, and policy makers within your agencies, and create procedures and policies to deal with the many circumstances you may find yourself in. We have contacted other states and are waiting on them to respond back to us. We will do everything within our power to assist with getting information to assist you. We will be creating an information sheet going forward. Even if you don’t have it in your area, you may mutual aid with a neighbor who has it. Get educated!
In closing, I would like to give a big shout out to Fiscal and Administration Manager Sherry Hoelscher. Sherry is celebrating 30 years as a member of the Division of Fire Safety. Thank you for your dedication, commitment, and service!
Stay Safe, it is an honor to serve you!
Contact me at 573-751-1742 or email me at tim.bean@dfs.dps.mo.gov
J. Tim Bean
State Fire Marshal
Division of Fire Safety
573-751-1742
FFAM
