Washington Fire Commissioners Association Washington State Association of Fire Chiefs

Fire Protection Policy Board Washington State Fire Marshals Association

Washington State Council of Fire Fighters Washington State Fire Fighters Association

Office of the Washington State Fire Marshal Board for Volunteer Firefighters

Office of the Governor of the State of Washington Department of Natural Resources

The purpose of the Washington State Fire Service Leadership Forum is to facilitate dialogue among the leadership of the major fire service organizations; to identify issues and to collaborate on strategies that will best serve the citizens of the state of Washington

MInutes

March 28, 2006

Present:TJ Nedrow, Sandy Swarthout, Sharon Colby, Keith Merritt, Dale Mitchell, Joe Coultman, Kim Tanaka, Anjela Foster, Ellen Tombleson, Dan Johnson, Mike Brown, Tamara Warnke, and Al Church

Opening ~ -Keith Merritt opened the meeting at approximately 9:10 with an overview of the philosophy of the Forum, as stated above.

TJ Nedrow asked that the minutes be changed to reflect that although he was late, he did attend the January 23, 2006 meeting.

The remainder of the 2006 Meeting Schedule was reviewed, with no changes noted. Meetings are scheduled to be held:

May 23 – July 25 - September 26 - November 28

Legislative Review ~The majority of the meeting was devoted to review of the legislative session.

WSAFC ~ Al Church provided an overview of the WSAFC legislative actions and advised that their goal will be to have their legislative agenda for the next session ready to go by September, and that their priority will be to address the 6 Year Lid Lift.

A report was provided from the Forum Funding Committee which advised that the survey reflects the conclusion that new funding is not needed as much as the need for citizens to be kept informed, and that the citizens are generally satisfied with their fire service.

Following discussion on the Implementation Guide for HB 1756, it was agreed that a walk through of this be provided at the May meeting. Dan Johnson was also requested to provide an update on NFIRS at the May meeting, and to provide an overview of the EMS requirements to Joe Coultman.

FPB ~ Anjela Foster advised that the Fire Protection Bureau did not have any Agency Request Legislation this year, and their priority for Agency request Legislation next session would be to have all add an emergency Management position in the Bureau as a coordinator. The Bureau is also looking at moving fire marshals employed by the WSP into the LEOFF Retirement system to address recruiting and retention issues and that the Bureau will also be addressing language in the Insurance Bill to include fire authorities. The WSAFC requested that the agency also include fire chiefs.

WFCA ~ HB 5333 was their top priority this year, and will be again next year. TJ Further advised that the WSFFA Legislative Committee has not yet met to fully develop their legislative agenda. Further information will be provided when it is available.

In general discussion on the legislative session, it was agreed that a key factor in ensuring successful legislation is to start communications between the various fire service groups earlier in the process. TJ suggested reinstating the weekly legislative review meetings that were held over lunch on Fridays as a means of ensuring timely communication between all of the fire service groups. Also in general discussion, it was agreed that partnering to speak as a united voice on the issues all can agree on is paramount to ensuring successful legislation.

It was agreed that reinstituting the Fire Service Legislative Caucus should be a future topic for the Forum.

Kim Tanaka advocated having legislative priorities set in September, and requested that the groups forward their annual conference dates to her to see if there is a possibility of having the Governor attend.

Mobilization Update ~Dan Johnson provided an overview of the 2005 Type 3 Team utilization, and advised that during the 2005 Fire Season, Type 3 IM Teams were used 6 times. Dan advised that the major advantage in using the Type 3 IM Teams is to keep costs down.

Dan reviewed where mobilizations have occurred since 1994, and advised that a section has been added to the Washington State Fire Services Resource Mobilization Plan to address misconduct and sexual harassment. Dan further advised that a challenge for the 2006 fire Season will be the implementation of the new HRMS rules.

Good of the Order ~Sharon Colby advised that the job qualification that were defined for the SFM position at the last meeting have been forwarded to Chief Batiste, and advised that what happens next is in the hands of the WSP. In response to a question on the time lines, Sharon advised that the FPPB has not received any word on the timeline or interview/selection process yet.

The WSAFC Board will be meeting with County Fire Chiefs organizations to re-establish the following agency priorities:

Funding (All)

HazMat Response

NIMS Integration

Fire Marshal (State and County)

Statewide Training

TJ Nedrow advised that the WSFFA’s Annual Conference will be held June 1-3 in Wenatchee.

Meeting adjourned at approximately 11:45.

Next Meeting:

May 23, 2006 ~ 9:00

WFCA Conference Room