By the time you are reading this, I hope the winter weather has loosened its grip and everyone is getting started on their Spring plans. I remember one time, long ago I used to enjoy the winter months. Somehow with age and spending hours in the frigid temperatures on incident scenes, I have grown a little less fond of those winter “opportunities”, but do still enjoy some of the winter beauty as long as I am inside and the fireplace is operating.
The University of Missouri Fire and Rescue Training Institute (MU FRTI) Winter Fire School has come and gone. The event appeared to be almost full of vendors and the attendee numbers appeared to be strong. What a great experience for members of the fire service to obtain quality training and get to see the latest equipment and apparatus on display by the many vendors. If you have never attended classes or even just stopped in for the expo I encourage you to make plans for the next event. Summer Fire School is just around the corner so look for that announcement and sign up for classes.
While at the event in Columbia, I had the distinct pleasure of taking part in presentations to a few of our member departments who were on hand and were recipients of the MFA Volunteer Fire Grant program. MFA funds the grant program with $50,000. Following a review of the 115 applications totaling over $300,000 in requests, we were able to award 28 grants for the total available funds. When this opportunity is open again and you meet the requirements, I encourage you to apply. The answer is always NO if you don’t apply so complete the application and hopefully you will be one of the benefactors. I could not close this paragraph without a huge THANK YOU to MFA for their generous support of volunteer fire departments throughout the state. Great job MFA!
Hopefully, this edition will reach you before March 27th. If so then you still have time to plan to attend the 2025 Fire Fighter’s Day at the Capitol. This annual event is a prime opportunity for you to meet one-on-one with your state legislators and other elected officials and discuss the issues affecting the fire service. There is a Fire Service Alliance Report at 9:30 at the Fire Marshal’s Office followed by meetings with the legislators at 10:00 and then the noon gathering in the Capitol Rotunda. Even if you are or were not able to attend make sure you are getting to know your legislators so they know who the subject matter experts in their area are when they need input on actions being taken that can affect the fire service.
The convention is just coming up fast so if you haven’t registered yet please do so. This annual event will be held May 2-4 at the Chateau on the Lake. As always featured events will be the firefighter challenge contest, a recognition banquet and the annual business meeting of the organization. Registration is free this year, but you still need to fill out a registration form so the hosts can plan for the appropriate number of attendees. All information is available on the FFAM website under the “Committees” tab and then “Convention” look at the upper right-hand side of the page and you will find the information you need. I hope to see each of you at the Convention this year.
The Missouri State Fair is scheduled for August 7-17. The FFAM is under contract again this year to provide fire and EMS services. Applications to work at the fair are available under the “State Fair” in the “Committees” tab on the FFAM website. Get your application submitted as soon as possible so you can be considered to work on some or all of the events. This is a great way to work with peers from across the state from career, combination, and volunteer agencies to informally learn and also formally learn in the various trainings provided during the fair. You also will have the opportunity to showcase your talents to the many visitors and staff attending the fair. See you in August in Sedalia!
With the onset of Spring and the fresh new growth often associated with Spring remember to take the time to help your agency grow and recruit new members into the fire service. Remember we often have to go to them to generate interest as you normally do such a good job in delivering your services that many people don’t realize new/additional help is needed. Get out and make your agency known in the community and clearly communicate that help is needed. Along with recruiting new members don’t forget we need to be attentive to the needs of our current members so we can retain their services for years to come.
If the Board of Directors can be of assistance please contact one of us and ask. Be safe in all you do!
FFAM
