President Larry Jennings called the meeting of the Board of Directors of the Fire Fighters Association of Missouri to order at 9:00 am., Sunday, February 1, 2026, at the Missouri State Fair Youth Building, Sedalia, MO.
Roll Call of Board of Directors and other officials
Officers
President Larry Jennings, Johnson County FPD; First Vice President Charlie Peel, Southeastern Randolph FPD; Secretary/Treasurer Jaime Miller, Johnson County FPD #2; Sergeant-at-Arms Jonathan Evans, Lincoln Comm FD.
Directors
District 1, Terry Wynne, Galt FPD; District 2, Vernon Cash, Shelbina FPD (V); District 3, Rob Erdel, Little Dixie FPD; District 5, Terry Plumb, Southern Stone FPD (V); District 8, Bob Floyd, El Dorado Springs FD; District 10, Romona Kaminski, Fenton FD (V); District 11, Billy Smith, North Central Carroll Co FPD; District 14, Rick Dozier, Southern FPD of Holt Co.
Assistant Directors
District 1, Janet Cain, Shoal Creek FPD; District 1, Blake Callen, Grundy County FPD (V); District 3, Dale Ransdell, Madison West Monroe FPD; District 3, Josh Loyd, Martinsburg Area FPD; District 5, Dylan Honea, Southern Stone FPD; District 6, Alan Braun, Cole County FPD (V); District 7, Andrew Caldwell, Boles FPD; District 8, Rusty Darnell, Strafford FPD; District 9, Chris Sterner, West Plains FD (V); District 11, Josh Koepke, Kansas City FD; District 11, Jason Deitch, Brunswick FD; District 14, Kyler Oliver, Rosendale FPD.
Guests
Tim Bean, Missouri Division of Fire Safety (V); Keith Smith, Warrenton FPD; Larry Eggen, Benjamin Burd, Johnson County FPD; Gary Berendzen, Cole County FPD; Roy Pennington, Pettis Co FPD; Jim Bodenheimen, 1033 Foundation.
*(V) denotes Virtual Attendance
Agenda
President Jennings asked for additions to the agenda. Terry Wynne moved to approve the agenda as presented. Rick Dozier seconded the motion and all approved.
Minutes
Present Jennings asked for a review of December 7, 2025, meeting minutes. Rick Dozier moved to accept the minutes as presented. Terry Wynne seconded the motion and all approved.
Financial Report
President Jennings asked for a review of the November-December 2025 financial report. Discussion was held and the board advised to file the report for the annual compilation.
Report of Officers and Special Guest(s)
Jaime Miller reported on behalf of Gail Hagans with the University of Missouri Fire and Rescue Training Institute that Winter Fire School is next weekend. MFA grant winners will be formally announced at the Winter Fire School Expo on Friday, February 6 at 2:00 pm. MFA also increased funding and they were able to fund all of the requests.
Tim Bean with the Missouri Division of Fire Safety reminded everyone that if you have a firefighter or retired member pass away, let him know and he will present them with a Salute to Service recognition or certificate of appreciation.
Fire investigation numbers are up for 2025 with 118 fire fatalities. There were 107 in 2024. Smoking while on oxygen is the most common cause. The Division will be sending out data for public education. There has also been an increase in incendiary fires leading to over $400 million in property loss.
The training funds for 2026 have been appropriated. Keep requesting classes so legislators know the funding is important.
April 1 is Fire Fighters Day at the Capitol beginning at 10am. Fire Service Instructors will be the featured guests.
The $1.4 million fire service grant still has $250k available. There are several applications still pending.
District reports
District 1
Blake Callen reported that he reached out to 17 departments and will follow-up next week. Terry Wynne reported that Milan and Milan 911 dispatch are interested.
District 2
Vernon Cash reported that he will be attending a meeting at Newark and Novelty/Plevna in two weeks.
District 3
Rob Erdel reported that he met with Monroe City. There has been a large turnover of fire chiefs in the District 3 area so he is working on making new contacts. He also attended the Paris Christmas dinner.
District 5
Dylan Honea reported that he talked with several departments that are possibly merging April 1 while at the Tri Lakes Chiefs meeting. Shelby Honea will be stepping down as Assistant Director.
District 8
Bob Floyd reported that he will be attending a meeting next week at Sac Osage and Rusty Darnell has been meeting with Bolivar and several other departments.
District 9
Chris Sterner reported that he has attended a meeting with Howell County Firefighters Association. Mark Arnold has also met with several departments.
District 10
Romona Kaminski reported that Kirkwood FD has joined. The Women of Fire conference will be April 17-19, in Warrensburg.
District 11
Billy Smith reported that Waverly is on board. Jason Deitch mete with Black Water and Arrowrock. They are consolidating. Josh Koepke reported that he dropped off several packets and will be following up with Lone Jack and a few educational entities.
Correspondence
None
Old Business
No old business.
New Business
Jim Bodenheimer, 10-33 Foundation Executive Director, provided information on their program. Their mission is to ensure every first responder has access to free mental health resources and tools. Everything they do is a free service. They currently have four teams in Missouri, and they will travel anywhere in the US. They receive their funding through grants and are always looking for retired fire service professionals to join their foundation. More information can be found on their website, www.1033foundation.org
President Jennings instructed the Directors to review their Assistant Directors and ensure they are participating.
Committee Reports
Awards Committee
The nomination deadline is February 28.
Budget Committee
Charlie Peel reminded everyone to familiarize themselves with the 2027 dues increase.
Bylaws Committee
Jonathan Evans presented proposed bylaw changes to be voted on a the April meeting.
Chaplain Committee
Dave Hedrick reported that The Missouri Fire Chaplains Corp has increased its membership to 40 Chaplains. Reminder that MFCC still has openings in the MFCC Winter Training classes February 4-5 at Campus Lutheran in Columbia. For more information contact Chaplain Ed Hatcher at edhat@earthlink.net.
Contest Committee
No report was given.
Convention Committee
Kyler Oliver reported that Chief Chad Dailey with KCFD will be the keynote speaker. Sponsorships are still available. They will be having the Certified Fire and Ambulance Board training and a hands-on training Friday.
Education Committee
Josh Koepke reported that they are working on a class at the state fair and are sponsoring the Certified Fire and Ambulance Board training at convention.
Fire Prevention Committee
Larry Jennings advised he received a request to remove Joe Jennings from the committee and replace him with Jason Deitch. Rick Dozier made the motion. Billy Smith seconded the motion and all approved.
Legislative Committee
Charlie Peel reported that there have been $800 million in budget cuts. So far firefighter training is unaffected.
There are several bills in process regarding fireworks, work comp, fire dampers, firefighter tuition assistance, sex trafficking training for EMS. See the legislative report for further information. Everyone is encouraged to meet with your local representatives regarding tax reform and the long-term repercussions for tax-based entities.
Membership Committee
Jaime Miller reported the following membership counts: 241 Directors/Councilman; 381 Retired; 2 Associate; 13 Sustaining; 6 Corporate, 236 Fire Departments; 5117 Active; 1 Educational Entity; 9 Educational Active; 110 Juniors; 2 EMS Department, 27 EMS individuals; 0 911 Entity; 0 911 individuals.
NVFC Committee
Keith Smith reported that those of you who are individual members should have received the annual meeting notice. It is March 11, at 12:00 pm., Central Time on Zoom. This meeting allows any individual member to sit in on a live update of NVFC and raise your hand in chat box for questions.
The NVFC Spring meeting is May 15-17 in Alexandria, Virginia. The plan for now is to attend. May 14, was set aside for Capitol Hill visits if so inclined.
In order to minimize any misunderstanding about the NVFC Spring meeting expenses to FFAM in this highly tight budget year, FFAM is not paying for any portion of that trip.
Fun fact – the NVFC Fall meeting this year will be held at the Owensboro, KY Convention Center in late September. Same place that Supporting Hero’s will be holding their Gaila on August 1.
The past 90 days has largely consumed the internal information exchange of NVFC involving the 29 states (Missouri not included) regarding the OSHA Fire Brigade Standard. Due to potential concerns with the possibility of joining a class action depending on what OSHA proposes to enforce, NVFC just recently retained legal counsel in this specialty area.
Nomination Committee
Keith Smith reported that District Director 1, 3, 7, 11 and 14 will be up for election in 2026. Interested people need to contact Keith Smith or Ken Hoover by March 1.
Public Relations Committee
Secretary Miller reported that the next magazine submission deadline is April 17.
Scholarship Committee
Larry Eggen reported that scholarship applications are due February 28. There will be 3 high school and 2 continuing education.
State Fair Committee
Rick Dozier reported that they received a grant for five AEDs. Applications for fair volunteers are online. The new building is progressing well, and they will be conducting background checks on all applicants.
Historian report
No report was given.
Fire Funeral Team report
Keith Smith reported that in 2025, the team responded to 15 LODD and 35 non-LODD. Due to changes in the law, the numbers may continue to rise.
There is an Honoring our Fallen Heroes Act with a presumptive cancer clause for public safety officers. The rules and regulations haven’t been finalized yet. The law back dates to 2020 with a minimum benefit of $365k. They are currently collecting names that may be eligible.
EMS Funeral Team report
Jaime Miller reported on behalf of Greg Wright that they have had 6 non-LODD and 1 LODD since the last FFAM Meeting with 2 pending this coming week.
Our state fundraiser kicks off today, February 1. First prize is $1,500 in Bass Pro Gift cards, 2nd prize is a Surface Pro laptop computer, 3rd prize $500 cash. Tickets are available at the FFAM convention in Liberty at our booth or from any EMS Funeral team member. 1500 tickets only to be sold. Drawing when all are sold or in August.
Foundation report
Report from Keith Smith as follows:
Per our By-laws, we held the annual election of Foundation Officers at our January 17 meeting.
Keith Smith, Chairman; Kenneth Hoover, Vice Chairman; Gail Hagens, Secretary. We also retained the services of Courtney Shiverdecker as the Treasurer.
Don Wilmesher has retired from the Foundation Board. President Jennings is taking nominations for this vacant position. Fun Fact, Don started his service on the FFAM Board of Directors in 1975. Including his tenure with the Foundation, Don has given 50 years of service.
We are currently at 98 “Service Recognition” Names for the 2026 services. Two Line of Duty names are currently confirmed, and we are awaiting other determinations. Some of those names were given Service Recognition in the 2025 programs while we wait. Reminder that we are moving away from using “Non-Line of Duty” as we attempt to improve a better understanding of Service Recognition vs. formal LODD Honors. There has been confusion in the past, especially for Survivor Families still awaiting administrative determinations.
The 2026 Annual Memorial Services will be October 3-4. Several of you assisted with one or both services last year and that was a significant operational improvement in managing things for both services. It made a measurable difference. We need that assistance again and yes – even more people as we prepare for 2026. Those of you who assisted, thank you and please sign up again. Those who gave it some thought, but for whatever reason did not work out, please reconsider and try to arrange either Saturday or Sunday. Both would be a blessing. More arm twisting to come.
All engraving went up in price for 2026. This is the first increase since the memorial was dedicated in 2002. Service Walls are $175, 4×8 Bricks are $175 and 8x8x Bricks are $300.
We will have an information table at Winter Fire School. Larry Eggen has a raffle supporting the Museum Project. Please come by, visit and stuff a pocket with a few tickets.
Firestorm Charities has again selected the Foundation as their primary beneficiary from their 2026 911 Hero’s Ride and activities. This will be September 5 starting at Outlaw Harley Davidson in Blue Springs and conclude at the Branded Steakhouse Entertainment venue in Richmond, MO.
Fun Fact, the Village of Kingdom City has included the Memorial and Future Museum in their Facebook video shorts on several occasions. It is cool what they do with these videos.
The next Foundation meeting is Wednesday evening March 11. If you have anything to bring before the Foundation, please contact us before the 11th.
The August FFAM Board of Directors meeting will be moved to August 9 to coincide with the State Fair.
President Jennings adjourned the meeting at 11:10 am.
FFAM
