For Immediate Release

Friday, June 1, 2018

Contact: John Guilfoil
Phone: 617-993-9003
Email: john@jgpr.net

Shrewsbury Hosts Fire Chiefs’ Association of Massachusetts Legislative Breakfast

SHREWSBURY — Chief James Vuona is pleased to announce that the Town of Shrewsbury hosted the Fire Chiefs’ Association of Massachusetts 2018 Legislative Breakfast earlier this week.

On Tuesday, May 29, more than 60 fire chiefs and legislators from Massachusetts Fire Districts 7, 8 and 14 gathered at the Italian American Victory Club, 26 Dewey Road in Shrewsbury to discuss the current session legislation and budget.

“These gatherings are a great opportunity for our fire chiefs to get together with their senators and state representatives to discuss current legislation and budgeting issues,” Chief Vuona said. “We hope that the hard work of FCAM and our legislators will lead to important reform that will benefit both the fire service and the communities we serve.”

Legislation discussed at the meeting included the oversight of fire protection systems (Bill H.1275), which would put these systems under the control of the fire service rather than the building department; carbon monoxide detectors in schools (Bill H.238), which would require CO detectors in elementary and secondary schools and establish a fund to install them; and the rights of call firefighters (Bill H.1431), which would include call firefighters in the public employee retirement law.

Other topics addressed were the creation of statewide technical rescue teams and maintaining funding for the Student Awareness of Fire Education (S.A.F.E.) program, which has contributed to a 73 percent reduction in fire deaths of people under age 18 since it began in 1995, as well as funding for the Senior SAFE program.

Additionally, legislators discussed funding for the On-Site Academy, a nonprofit residential treatment and training center for critical incident stress management for emergency service workers, and budgeting for gear extractor bulk purchases.

Gear extractors clean firefighter turnout gear from fire contaminants, which can expose firefighters to cancer-causing carcinogens. According to the National Fire Protection Association, cancer is a leading cause of firefighter deaths in the United States and approximately 60 percent of career firefighters will die because of cancer.

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