VCOS » Announcements

Rest in Peace, Chief Ienn

Joelle Fishkin — Wed, 01 Feb 2012 20:07:03 +0000

It is with deep regret that the VCOS Board of Directors must announce the death of Fire Chief Kyle L. Ienn of the Ralston Volunteer Fire Department on Tuesday, January 31, 2012.

Chief Ienn was appointed to the VCOS Board of Directors in August of 2011 as an At-Large board member. He had been a member of the Ralston Volunteer Fire Department since June of 1989 and had served as the Fire Chief since 2000. He had been an IAFC member since 2002 and a VCOS member since 2005. When not serving his community as a chief fire officer, Ienn was the store manager at CJ’s Center Ace Hardware in Omaha where he had worked since January of 1990.

Chief Ienn attended the University of Oklahoma – Nebraska where he studied Fire Protection. Throughout his fire service career, he led many local, state, and national initiatives to success. After several fires related to smoking, Ienn became the spokesperson for rentsmokefree.org. He was also a national advocate for firework safety, working with the National Council on Fireworks Safety and serving on their board of directors.

In addition, Chief Ienn was heavily involved with the National Fallen Firefighters Foundation and served as Nebraska’s State Advocate for their Everyone Goes Home program. He was also instrumental in forming the Ralston Fire Department’s Honor Guard, which had participated the last several years in the annual Fallen Firefighters Memorial Service held at the National Fire Academy.

Chief Ienn is survived by his wife Christine, who serves as the Fire Department’s administrative assistant, and three children, two of whom are members of the Ralston Volunteer Fire Department’s Explorer Post. In addition, he is survived by his mother, Dianne Ienn, of Ralston and two brothers.

At this time funeral arrangements are still pending. The VCOS Board of Directors asks that you take time to remember Chief Kyle Ienn and his passion for and contributions to the fire service. We ask for your prayers for his family and the Ralston Fire Department Family. His presence will be missed by all. May he rest in peace.

VCOS Summit Findings and Strategic Plan

Joelle Fishkin — Thu, 26 Jan 2012 23:19:13 +0000

Jan 26… Chief Timothy S. Wall, VCOS Chair, Chief Fred Windisch, VCOS Board Member and Chief Tim Tharp, VCOS Summit Committee Chair, made a presentation to the IAFC Board of Directors on Saturday, January 21 in Fairfax, Virginia on the VCOS Summit Findings and Strategic Plan. Chief Tharp presented a timeline of the section’s future plans as well as a detailed organizational chart. Chiefs Tharp, Windisch and Wall answered questions from the board, after which the board approved the Findings and Strategic Plan. The next step will be a meeting of the Implementation Team on February 10, 2012. The Team will then begin to select Challenge Statement group members.

Seeking Presenters for Leadership Webinars

Joelle Fishkin — Thu, 19 Jan 2012 22:03:21 +0000

The VCOS On-Fire Leadership Webinars are becoming a popular and sought-after training resource. We’re looking for talented presenters who have great ideas for leadership topics (that’s a broad range!) We want to give you the opportunity to present to your peers! Using the webinar software is EASY and we can guide you through the process.

If you want to present a webinar, please complete the short (3 questions) online form here by Monday, February 6. We’ll be in touch after the closing date to let you know if your topic has been selected.

If you’ve seen a recent presentation that would make a great webinar topic, please refer the presenter to this website and ask him or her to submit a topic!

Deadline to submit is 12:00 noon (EST) on Monday, February 6.

Volunteer Responder Incentive Protection Reauthorization Act

Joelle Fishkin — Wed, 21 Dec 2011 20:17:58 +0000

For those VCOS members who are starting to think about your 2011 taxes, this is a reminder that the $360 tax exclusion for state and local benefits expired on December 31, 2010 and thus cannot be claimed for your 2011 tax year. This exclusion had been in effect since 2007, when Congress passed the Volunteer Responder Incentive Protection Act.

There are two bills in Congress to reinstate this tax exclusion: S. 933 and H.R. 2353. Please write to your Senators and Representatives and ask them to reinstate the Volunteer Responder Incentive Protection Act (VRIPA). You can access draft letters on the IAFC’s legislative webpage that you can use to contact your Senators and Representatives and ask them to cosponsor these important bills. It is important that your Members of Congress hear from their local constituents on this important issue!

Fire Marshal 101 – More than a Badge

Joelle Fishkin — Mon, 28 Nov 2011 15:35:21 +0000

Dec 20… If you missed the Fire Marshal 101 Webinar on Thursday, December 15, you can now access the recording from our webinar page. The program provided a lively and entertaining review of the position of fire marshal, the responsibilities of the position, the FM’s role in reducing community risk, and how best to integrate the position into department senior staff. The instructors, Fire Marshal Mike O’Brian of the Brighton Area (MI) Fire Department and Chief Dan Eggleston of the Albemarle County (VA) Dept of Fire Rescue, also discussed the personality traits, key knowledge areas, skills, and abilities necessary for someone to be a successful FM. The webinar discussion was particularly valuable to fire chiefs who do not have a extensive prevention/FM background who find themselves managing a fire marshal or prevention division.

Emergency Management & Response Bulletins

Joelle Fishkin — Tue, 22 Nov 2011 20:46:21 +0000

Nov 21… The Emergency Management & Response Information Sharing and Analysis Center (EMR-ISAC), a part of the Department of Homeland Security and the U.S. Fire Administration, offers its services free-of-charge to the membership of the Volunteer and Combination Officers Section. Located at the National Emergency Training Center in Emmitsburg, Maryland, the EMR-ISAC provides threat and vulnerability information as well as critical infrastructure protection and resilience lessons learned and best practices to the leaders and operators of the nation’s Emergency Services Sector (ESS). Frequently, the information will have direct relevance to the safety and protection as well as the emergency plans and operations of volunteer and combined fire departments.

Fireside Chat – Live from VCOS Symposium in the Sun

J. Dan Eggleston — Thu, 10 Nov 2011 18:17:49 +0000

Nov 11… Join Host Peter Matthews, Editor-in-Chief Firehouse.com, as he discusses some of the hot topics and top issues with your peers from around the world!

Matthews will lead a radio show call in style discussion with a live panel from the Symposium. Attendees will be able to ask questions of the group live on the air, or text them to the host for him to bring up to the panel. Discussion will include topics from the Symposium itself as well as topics that have been or are making news in the fire service.

You may listen to this and other past VCOS Webinars by visiting our webinar page here.

Better Angels Display at Symposium – Open to Public

Joelle Fishkin — Thu, 03 Nov 2011 14:47:54 +0000

Nov 3… The Better Angels: The Firefighters of 9/11 will be displayed at the Symposium in the Sun in the Island Room of the Sheraton Sand Key Hotel and will be open to the public starting at 7:30am on Thursday, November 10. The display will be taken down on Sunday, November 13 at 11:30 am. There is no charge to view the display.

Better Angels is a work of art created by Colorado artist Dawn Siebel consisting of 343 individual oil paintings of the firefighters who died on 9/11. Each firefighter’s portrait is painted intimately onto a small burned block of wood. There is a compelling personality in each face that leads the viewer to imagine the individuals – the lives they lived, the people they loved – while the sheer volume of faces measures the enormity of the tragedy. Even if you are not attending the Symposium, we hope you can make it down to view this emotionally-charged work of art.

VCOS Symposium Scholarship Winners Selected

Joelle Fishkin — Wed, 26 Oct 2011 17:17:09 +0000

Oct 26… We are happy to announce the winners of the 2011 Symposium scholarships, as follows:

Firefighter/EMT Amanda K. Gingell of the Harrisville (RI) Fire Department and Fire Chief John R. Nixon, Antioch (IL) Fire Department are the winners of the VCOS-sponsored scholarship to attend the Symposium in the Sun. Of twenty-five applications submitted, Firefighter Gingell and Chief Nixon did the best job of demonstrating to the judges that they would make good use of the training, education and networking opportunities

Fire Chief David DeRoller of the Sea Breeze (NY) Fire District has been selected as the recipient of the Emerging Leader Scholarship, sponsored by the Gasaway Consulting Group, LLC. There were seventeen applicants for the Emerging Leader Scholarship this year.

VCOS Chair Appears on Capitol Hill on Behalf of Chief Mitchell

Joelle Fishkin — Thu, 13 Oct 2011 17:10:21 +0000

On October 5, 2011, Chief Timothy S. Wall, representing the IAFC’s Volunteer & Combination Section, traveled to Capitol Hill to provide support during the hearings before the U.S. Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs and offer the Section’s endorsement of Chief Ernest Mitchell to be appointed by President Obama as the next U.S. Fire Administrator. The Committee is expected to vote on Chief Mitchell’s nomination soon, after which it will be considered by the full Senate.

Photo from right to left: Chief Adam Thiel (Alexandria, Va.), IAFC President & Chairman of the Board Al Gillespie (North Las Vegas, Nev.); Senator Joe Lieberman (Conn.); Chief Ernest Mitchell (Cerritos, Calif.); Chief Timothy S. Wall (Wallingford, Conn.) at nomination hearings for Chief Mitchell before U.S. Senate Committee.