May 16… The following six VCOS members are candidates for election to the VCOS board of directors as At-large members (in alphabetical order):
- Fire Chief Norvin Collins, Western Division Sauvie Island Fire District, Portland, OR
- Fire Chief Shane Crutcher, Southeastern Division Rineyville Vol Fire Department, Rineyville, KY
- Deputy Chief Randy Larson, Western Division Upper Pine River Fire Prot District, Bayfield, CO
- Assistant Chief Frank L. Frievalt, M.S., Western Division Mammoth Lakes Fire Prot District, Mammoth Lakes, CA
- Fire Chief Mike Vaughn, Great Lakes Division Washington Fire Dept Inc, Washington, IL
- Fire Chief Fred Windisch, CFO, EFO, Southwestern Division Ponderosa Fire Department, Houston, TX
Access all candidate statements here.
Election timeline:
- All current members of the section will receive email notification on Tuesday, May 28 that the election is open. Voting instructions will be included.
- If you haven’t voted by Tuesday, June 4, you will receive one reminder notice on that date.
- The election will close on Friday, June 14.
- Unofficial results will be reported in early July.
- Official notification will be reported at Fire-Rescue International.
May 16… Fire Chief Dan Eggleston, EFO, of the Albemarle County Department of Fire Rescue in Charlottesville, Virginia will be the new International Director replacing South Carolina State Fire Marshal Shane Ray, who did not run for re-election. Chief Eggleston ran for this position unopposed and will be sworn in during the Section meeting at Fire Rescue International in Chicago on Thursday, August 15 at 1:30pm.
Congratulations, Chief Eggleston!
May 14… Please join VCOS On Fire Leadership webinar host, Chief Dan Eggleston, on Thursday, May 30th, at 7pm Eastern Time for our next webinar: Improving Morale: Simple Steps to Make Work a Better Place.
Have you stopped asking “How are things?” at work, for fear that people might actually tell you? It can be said “They don’t have to LIKE it, they just have to DO it.”, but employee morale plays a vital role in job performance. It has been proven that employees who are happy with the workplace are more effective, more productive, have lower absenteeism and less turnover. Collecting the best “We should do that!” ideas from emergency service organizations large and small, this program presents simple, low-cost to no-cost methods to help make work a better place for everyone. Presenter: Lt. Rommie Duckworth, Ridgefield Fire Department, Ridgefield CT.
Register Now!
View System Requirements
April 11… The 2013 VCOS Symposium in the Sun will be held November 7-10 at our NEW location, the Hilton Clearwater Beach. Conference registration is not yet open but you can now make your hotel reservation. The room block is $159/night. When making your reservation, enter or reference Group Code: IAFCS.
VCOS is pleased, once again, to sponsor a scholarship program to help defray the costs of attending Fire-Rescue International (FRI) in Chicago. VCOS will award two $1,500 scholarships to attend FRI, being held August 13-17, 2013 in Chicago. This scholarship program was developed to promote leadership through learning among volunteer and combination officers. Scholarships will be awarded based on the applicant’s writeup of how the department or the attendee will benefit from attendance. Applicants for the scholarships MUST be members of the IAFC and VCOS.
The application deadline is June 14, 2013. The two successful applicants will be notified by July 2, 2013 and will be awarded their scholarship checks at FRI. Therefore, scholarship recipients must be prepared to pay upfront expenses.
The FRI scholarship application is available on the Scholarship webpage.
April 9… The VCOS announces the opening of the 2013 board election process. The 2013 election will be run exclusively online. If you’re a current member of the VCOS and are interested in being a member of the VCOS board, please read the following information carefully. The deadline for receipt of applications is Wednesday, May 1, 2013. (Read more.)
April 2… Emergency service organizations (ESO), as a whole, are efficient planners. We plan for disasters that may happen in our community. We plan to replace apparatus. We preplan our response, strategy and tactics for major incidents in our response area. But how well do we plan for an emergency or a disaster that might happen to us? The honest answer is that we don’t plan to take care of ourselves very well at all.
This webinar will present information from the VCOS Insurance Planning Guide for Emergency Service Organizations. Authors and reviewers involved with the development of the guide will have discussions on various topics covered and offer insight on specific questions or issues you bring to the webinar.
Mark your calendars for this unique, invaluable webinar for Tuesday, April 23 from 7pm - 8:30pm EST.
Register now!
March 21… Congratulations to Chief John M. Buckman III! We are thrilled to announce that Chief John M. Buckman, III, one of the founding members of our section, has been selected by the National Volunteer Fire Council (NVFC) as the winner of their Lifetime Achievement Award this year! The award will be presented at the Spring Banquet of the NVFC in Alexandria, Virginia on Friday, May 10th. Congratulations to Chief Buckman, who has been a lifelong friend to the fire service and to VCOS; this is a very well-deserved award!
Feb 26… Demonstrating the continued partnership between the Volunteer and Combination Officers Section and ISO, another highly successful seminar was held on Saturday, February 23rd in Plainfield Ill. with 82 fire service members in attendance. They were there to listen and learn about the revisions to the Fire Suppression Rating Schedule (FSRS) and the Public Protection Classification (PPC). (Read More.)
Jan 30… We’re very pleased to announce that VCOS has developed a new course for leaders of volunteer and combination fire departments. We will be presenting the inaugural class of FROG: Fire Rescue Organizational Guidance for Volunteer Leaders in Salem, Oregon on Friday, March 22, 2013 through Sunday, March 24, 2013.
We invite you to register now for an intensive 2.5 day, hands-on, workshop designed as “Graduate Level Leadership Program” picking up where VCOS’s “Beyond Hoses & Helmets” course left off. (Read More.)
