HARRY R. CARTER, Ph.D., MIFireE

I have spent the past several hours reading about the great victory won by Curt Weldon. Before I go any further, I want to praise the dedicated efforts of this true son of the fire service. I have met Mr. Weldon on a number of occasions, and he never fails to impress me with his dedicated pursuit of great things for the fire service. I am an active member of many different organizations that support him in his works. I intend to keep up my support, because there is a great deal more that he intends to accomplish.

Having said all of this, let me begin to put things in perspective regarding the house action. $100,000,000 seems like a great deal of money. Were it in the hands of one, two, or ten people, this would be true. But we are talking about literally thousands of fire departments. Let me make a very dangerous comparison, to put this into perspective.

I have seen varying figures that tell us the law enforcement community receives a tremendous amount of money from the federal government each year. The numbers range from nine billion to thirteen billion dollars each year. Do the math. We are flying the flag of joy for an iffy proposition that is an infinitesimal fraction of the law enforcement community’s gold rush. Using a figure of ten billion dollars as a midpoint, that means we have received the promise of only one house of Congress. That promise is equal to only 1/10 of 1/10 of the money doled out by the federal government to the law enforcement community. When you look at the world in that light, it doesn’t seem as swell.

My Webmaster, Bruce Lukaszewicz and I were discussing this matter early this past Friday morning. During our chat, Bruce pulled out another one of those phenomenal phrases that he learned while growing up in New York City. He said that we in the fire service are being treated like the proverbial red-headed stepchild.

When pressed for an explanation, he indicated that he often heard it used to portray a child, or a person, whose presence in a family was merely tolerated. One example involved giving all of the regular children an allowance of $1.00. However, the red-headed stepchild received a dime. Another story says that while the regular children received a stern warning from their parents, the red-headed stepchild was beaten like a government mule.

Are you beginning to get the picture? I know that I am going to get a lot of flack for authoring this little bit of commentary, but let’s get serious. It took Curt Weldon’s butt –kicking to get us this deal, and I thank the Lord that he has a strong leg and stout constitution. It also took a great deal of lobbying in Washington, DC. But I still feel like the red-headed stepchild.

As a citizen of New Jersey, I am quite proud of the efforts of Congressman William Pascrell to seek approval for his FIRE Bill that seeks to provide a figure of one billion dollars per year for five years. Now that is some serious jingle. I just wish that people would take the long view, rather than the short view. Everyone talks about grant programs. Few if any are looking at what will happen after we give all of the money away, presuming that the United States Senate even deigns that the poor unwashed masses of the fire service deserve a few crumbs from the table of government.

Let’s look at the basic flaw of any grant program. When you give the money away, there is no money left. It is as simple as that. Let us also look at one of the major roadblocks to getting big money from the government. Thanks to the budget amendments passed back in 1996, any money for the fire service has to come from someone else’s budget. Now that is a tough sell.

But what if we used the money in the Pascrell and Weldon efforts as seed money. Rather than giving it all away, we establish a revolving fund. Every year, the interest from the seed money investments would become the grant money for that year. As more money was transferred into the Fire Service Investment Trust, the interest income would grow. Using the five billion dollars proposed by Congressman Pascrell, as a five-year projection, you would be looking at some serious annual income.

An investment of $1,000,000,000 would provide an income conservatively figured in the range of $90,000,000 to $100,000,000. That would provide an annual amount equal to the one-year program developed by Mr. Weldon. And during the initial year of financial growth, the rules can be promulgated that insure that the truly needy fire departments will be escorted to the front of the funding line.

Two things could then happen. Money could be provided to needy fire departments. And part of the proceeds could be used as part of a long-term repayment program. This would help the fire service and, over time, return the initial investment to the United States Treasury. It is just that simple. And where is the downside. This whole concept must be so carefully drafted that it will not become a pool of cash for the general use of the federal government. It must remain dedicated to America’s First Line of Defense Against Domestic Disaster: the Fire Service.

There are literally thousands of fire departments that are in desperate straits. Many have taken to begging to meet their needs. I have discussed this in a number of my recent commentaries. And President Frank Livingston of the National Fire Academy Alumni Association just published a list of fire departments in Missouri that need help. What is wrong with this picture?

Here is where I am about to make another point that will undoubtedly lead to having my picture posted in fire service rest rooms around the country. Only the truly needy fire departments should be helped. Here is where the argument will start. What constitutes need? Like beauty, need is in the eye of the beholder.

Let me start with what I know best. I belong to a volunteer fire department that leases its services to a duly constituted Board of Fire Commissioners. Under New Jersey law, a fire district will develop an annual budget, submit it to the voters in the district, and then operate within the parameters of what the voters allow them to spend. Our equipment is in good condition, our turnout gear is up to date, we have nice new lightweight self-contained breathing apparatus, and we now have a vehicle for each of the three chiefs. I think we are doing OK.

I also know about the Smithland Fire Department in eastern Texas. These dedicated folks are fighting fire in their street clothes. The have an old military unit with a tank and pump mounted on it. At least they are fighting fires from outside of the buildings, due to a lack of turnout gear. Now that is a needy fire department. They deserve the funding that may become available.

Fortunately, a number of people have been kind enough to step forward in response to my call for help. There will be some turnout gear that is sent, as well as a couple of older self-contained breathing apparatus units. Another person is tossing a radio or two into the mix. And my Webmaster and I have our fingers crossed that a kind fire department is about to donate a pumper. I will be sending them a number of textbooks to help their young assistant chief, who is the training officer because he went to fire school in the U.S. Navy.

A needy fire department is not one that has four pumpers in great shape, who decide that they would LIKE to receive a grant for a fifth unit for their one-square mile bedroom community. A needy fire department is not one that wants a heavy rescue vehicle, just like each of their five neighbor’s have. Do you get the picture?

I guess that I am still an impatient person, at least when it comes to addressing the collective sins of the past 100 years of fire service inbreeding, and inter department fighting.

Let me close by saying once again that I am extremely proud of the hard won victory posted by Congressman Curt Weldon in the week just past. But I personally have to keep writing about all of the great things that might be accomplished, if we can just get past our ancient tradition of fighting with and being jealous of each other.

Just think about a National Fire Service Investment Fund that could generate hundreds of millions in revenue each year. Wow.

The commentary in this column does not necessarily reflect those of Firehouse.Com, Firehouse Magazine, their employees or parent company Cygnus Business Media. Harry R. Carter, Ph.D., MIFireE, is an internationally known municipal fire protection consultant and contributing editor to Firehouse Magazine. He recently retired as a Battalion Commander with the Newark, New Jersey Fire Department. His commentary appears regularly on Firehouse.Com. For more commentary and information, visit Carter's web site at www.harrycarter.com Harry has published several books available for online ordering, including Firefighting Strategy and Tactics and Management in the Fire Service