Passing of Past President
Greetings to all, as I write this, we have received word of the passing of Retired Fire Marshal Investigator and Past IFA President Carl Svenson. I have spent many hours crawling through the aftermath of a fire with Carl and learned many things from classes he put on. His passing has left a large hole in the knowledge of fire for the State of Iowa. His wisdom and humor will be missed by any who knew him.
Harvest is in full swing now and all that it involves for us in the fire service. Be “READY” for the field fires, accidents and rescues. In my area we have had many fires, one included 7 departments with 45 mile an hour wind. Keep an eye on your people at these incidents as there are many dangers responding to the variety of calls harvest time requires.
I ask that you all to follow our Facebook and WEB pages to keep informed of what is happening in our State and Country pertaining to our Fire Service. This is the quickest way to get the word out and many times we are asking for your help to get things done. The Board meetings are listed there and I would like to see attendance at the meetings to increase. We the Board serve you our members and without your input, it is difficult to know the wishes of the majority.
There are many exciting things in the “works” for the legislation this year. We are again pushing for the LOSAP program and have a positive response from members of both the House and Senate. We will be working to form new and strengthen existing partnerships to fight for what is best for the fire service in Iowa. I am again going to preach that we are the 2nd largest lobbying force in the state and if we work together, we can get things done. I have a pipe dream that we the members of the IFA don’t vote on political party lines but as Firefighters. We can remove those who fight us and replace them with those who support us. As an example, in my county, we have eight fire departments, with an average of 20 members (160) votes most have significant others (now 320) votes. Ask the Legislators by how many votes they won their elections by. One county and their Firefighters would make the difference.
Yours in Service;
Roger Carr,
IFA President