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2007 CONVENTION MINUTES
Saturday, September 1, 2007, 121st Annual Convention of the New
Jersey State Exempt Firemen's Association, Montville Township High
School, Montville, N. J. at 9:10 in the morning. President Joseph
Pawlak presiding.
PRESIDENT PAWLAK: Ladies and gentlemen, I'd like to
call the Convention to order, please.
Announcements of the exits, my left, your right; to my right,
your left; two in the rear. If there is any problem, there will be
an announcement made from the podium here. We will now have the
Pledge of Allegiance to the Flag led by Vice President Robert Myers.
PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE
Pledge of Allegiance led by Second Vice President Robert H.
Myers Jr.
PRESIDENT PAWLAK: We will now have the Boonton Color
Guard present the colors.
PRESENTATION OF COLORS
Presentation of the Colors by the Boonton Color Guard.
PRESIDENT PAWLAK: We will now have the National Anthem
sung by soloists Anthony Questa, Stefon Gaines and Sherri Brown.
NATIONAL ANTHEM
The National Anthem sung by soloists Anthony Questa, Stefon
Gaines and Sherri Brown
PRESIDENT PAWLAK:
Color guard, retire colors.
Colors are retired
PRESIDENT PAWLAK: Now, the opening Prayer given by Past
President Bill Doherty.
OPENING PRAYER
PAST PRESIDENT DOHERTY: As we begin our proceedings
today, let us begin asking for God's blessing for all that we will
accomplish. Let us pray. Almighty Father and Everlasting Father of
us all, and our hope for years to come, We who You have called to a
service of others, ask Your blessings on each of us as we gather on
this occasion of the annual meeting of the New Jersey State Exempt
Firemen's Association. Give us wisdom to understand and direction
as we discuss the issues of this convention, and let us make
decisions which will affect the life of this association and those
it serves in the years ahead. May a spirit of harmony, peace and
mutual respect prevail over the meeting so that this association may
move forward in serving others. In God's name we pray. Amen.
PRESIDENT PAWLAK: We will now have a welcome address
from Executive Committeeman and Past President Frank Wheatley.
Everyone can be seated.
WELCOME ADDRESS
PAST PRESIDENT WHEATLEY: Thank you, Mr. President.
Fellow firefighters, delegates, life members and guests, I'd like to
welcome you to Morris County and the 121st Annual Convention of the
New Jersey State Exempt Firemen's Association. On behalf of all the
delegates and life members, I wish to extend my gratitude and
sincere appreciation to the Boonton Fire Department and the Boonton
Exempt Firemen's Association for being our host for the convention,
along with their 116th anniversary and firemen's parade.
This past year they worked very hard and have had many meetings.
You and your family and all are invited to the festivities at their
carnival at Boonton High School at the end of the parade. In
closing, I would like to thank you for attending today. Enjoy the
convention and the day, and have a safe trip home. Thank you.
Applause
PRESIDENT PAWLAK: We will do a little change in the
program here, we have scheduling conflicts. I'd like to bring up
next, Senator Anthony Bucco to give a short address.
SENATOR BUCCO: Thank you, Mr. President. Good morning
everyone. Today's service is intended to honor and remember the
many men and women who put their lives on the line fighting
valiantly against the devastation wrought by fires. On the eve of
our country's celebration of Labor Day, marking those who have
worked to build this great country that we live in, it's very
fitting to take a moment to give thanks for the courageous actions
of our state's firefighters who protect our home and our families
often at great personal sacrifices. It is not enough, however, to
just reflect upon their heroic efforts. It is everyone's
responsibility as citizens of this state to ensure that your noble
efforts are not overlooked or undervalued. I am very excited to
have this opportunity to speak to you today as you mean so much to
the safety of our children and families. Along with our police
officers, no one else jeopardizes their own health as much or works
harder to protect our safety as much as the men and women of the
municipal fire departments here and throughout New Jersey. All of
us, elected officials to hard working taxpayers, to school children
and their parents, owe you a debt of gratitude for your tireless
diligence and selfless dedication to your communities. Volunteering
to be a firefighter is both a physical and emotional commitment that
requires a great deal of time and energy. This fact is often
overlooked until we as residents notice these valiant firefighters
during an emergency in their community. You rush into the fire not
away from it, to protect those things that are most precious to all
of us. I thank you, God bless you and keep you all, and keep up the
good work. I want to apologize for not being able to stay for your
meeting; I have another commitment that I have to go to, and I thank
you for allowing me to come on early to speak. God bless you all
and thank you again.
PRESIDENT PAWLAK: We will now have the community
service award.
COMMUNITY SERVICE AWARD
MR. GLUCKLER: Firefighters on earning their exemption,
have already shown their willingness to help their fellow citizens
in the dangerous job of fire suppression. Most have never had the
opportunity to be a hero, but the one we want to honor has been the
backbone of his company, not only at a call but in keeping with the
company's work. He might spend extra time attending meetings of
mutual aid or county or state organizations. He might be the one
that does all of the work for Fire Prevention Week, or in other
contacts with the community. He might just be the one who grabs a
broom and keeps the truck bay neat, or who putters around outside
the firehouse keeping the landscaping looking good. Perhaps the most
important part of his activity will be his activities in the
community. He will be active in Little Leagues, Scouting, church
activities and any other place he finds that he can help. He
volunteers for the personal pride that he feels and not for the
publicity. He will be a currently active member of an Exempt
Firemen's Association. The award will be based on: Service to his
fire company or department. Service to the fire service in general,
and service to the community. The award this year is given to
Thomas P. Sheridan of Morristown. Mr. President.
PRESIDENT PAWLAK: Thank you, Frank. Tom?
Standing ovation
PRESIDENT PAWLAK: This is a three-part Award: The first
part is the plaque. The plaque says "New Jersey State Exempt
Firemen's Association Community Service Award 2007 presented to
Thomas P. Sheridan, September 1, 2007."
VICE PRESIDENT EGBERT: The Association would also like
to present a small token of our appreciation monetarily.
Applause
PRESIDENT PAWLAK: Mr. Sheridan would like to say a
couple of words.
MR. SHERIDAN: I'd like to thank the committee for
presenting this award to me. And I'd like to thank Norman for
including my name in for the candidate. These are my two sons along
with me in the fire department in Morristown. This is very nice, I
appreciate it, and thank you all.
Applause
PRESIDENT PAWLAK: Thank you all for coming, we
appreciate it. Next, we will have the reading of the Call to the
Convention by Secretary Thomas J. Haborak, Sr.
CALL TO THE CONVENTION
SECRETARY HABORAK: To the Local Associates of the
Exempt Firemen affiliated with the New Jersey State Exempt Firemen's
Association, Incorporated. The 121st Annual Convention
hosted by the Boonton Fire Department and the Boonton Exempt
Firemen's Association will be held at Montville High School, 100
Horseneck Road, Montville, New Jersey, Saturday, September 1, 2007.
Convention convenes at 9 a.m. sharp. Thank you.
PRESIDENT PAWLAK: Thank you, Tom. Now, we are going
back to the addresses of welcome. We have Chief Peter Herbert,
Boonton Fire Department.
WELCOME ADDRESSES CONTINUED
CHIEF HERBERT: Good morning. On behalf of the men and
women of the Boonton Fire Department, I welcome you here to Morris
County and wish you success on your 121st Convention of
the New Jersey State Exempt Firemen's Association. I'd like to take
a minute and thank our president of the Boonton Exempts, ex-chief
Ray Ryerson, and the Convention Committee of Kevin Osborne, Dick
Dandrea and Ron Taylor for the work in coordinating today's
meeting. The event, of course, would not have happened without the
cooperation of brother and sister firefighters down in Montville,
led by Chief John Osborne. Boonton Fire Department thanks the
Montville Township Board of Education and especially their custodial
staff, thanking them for letting us use their very nice facility
here. Thanks also go out to the Montville Township Ladies Auxiliary
for the coffee this morning. They are a wonderful group. I have
had the opportunity over the last couple of years to be fed and
watered by them very late at night at fires and they are a very
welcome sight and they are a wonderful organization, an asset to the
Montville Fire Department. As Frank Wheatley mentioned this morning
earlier, we are hosting the Firemen's Parade on Main Street,
Boonton, it starts off at 1:30. We have over 70 fire companies
registered for the parade this afternoon. The weather looks
wonderful, so we hope to see you all on Main Street and continue on
down to Boonton High School where we continue with our annual
carnival. Hope to see many you of there. Have a successful
convention and a very safe trip home. Thank You.
Applause
PRESIDENT PAWLAK: Thank you, Chief. Now, we have Chief
John Osborne from the Montville Fire Department.
CHIEF OSBORNE: Good morning every one. I'd like to
welcome everyone to Montville High School. I think my compadre over
there, Pete Herbert, said it all. Have a successful convention. We
have a beautiful day and we hope to see you on Main Street also,
I'll be there to cook cheese burgers, so stop over to see me. Enjoy
the
day.
Applause
PRESIDENT PAWLAK: Now, Ray Ryerson, President of the
Boonton Exempt Association.
MR. RYERSON: I'd like to welcome every- body here for
the Convention. Hope you have a good day here. The weather is
good; come down to the field after the parade, eat healthy, and have
a safe trip home. Thank You.
Applause
PRESIDENT PAWLAK: Thank you, Ray. Now, we have the
mayor of the town of Boonton, Cyril Wekilsky.
MAYOR WEKILSKY: Thank you very much. I think by now
you do know that you are not in Boonton, you are in Montville;
however, Boonton is hosting the convention. I'm very Pleased to be
able to come here and welcome all of you and invite you to the
parade and to the carnival that takes place in the high school
field. It's a beautiful day and I appreciate everybody coming out
here. Thank you very much and have a good time.
Applause
PRESIDENT PAWLAK: Now, Robert Looker, Fire
Commissioner, Town of Boonton.
MR. LOOKER: Good morning, gentlemen. Thank you for
attending and thank you for bringing some good weather; last night
was really a disaster, so, everybody is enjoying the nice weather.
I have a proclamation I'd like to read from the Town of Boonton.
WHEREAS, the Town of Boonton is proud to welcome the New Jersey
State Exempt Firemen's Association which today holds its convention
in conjunction with the Boonton Fire Department's Labor Day
Celebration, a long-honored tradition in our town; and WHEREAS, the
Governing Body and the People of the Town Boonton recognize the
tremendous sacrifices you have all made for the safety and
well-being of the great State of New Jersey; we admire your bravery,
your years of hard work and dedication; and. WHEREAS, the Town of
Boonton wishes to recognize the mutual respect and camaraderie that
exists among firefighters. This convention is evidence that this
friendship extends beyond local fire companies and includes the
entire New Jersey firefighting community; Now, therefore, I, Fire
Commissioner Robert Looker, on behalf of the Governing Body and the
people of Boonton do hereby extend our warmest welcome to the New
Jersey State Exempt Firemen's Association and express our deepest
gratitude for its service to our state and its constituent
communities. Thank you. And, everyone, have a good day.
Applause
PRESIDENT PAWLAK: We will move onto The guest list from
the New Jersey State Exempt Firemen's Association. First on the
list is Christopher Assenheimer, President of the New Jersey State
Fire Chiefs.
PRESIDENT ASSENHEIMER: Thank you very much, Mr.
President. Thanks for inviting me to your 2007 Annual Convention.
I'm honored to be here representing the New Jersey State Fire Chiefs
Association. As you may know, the New Jersey State Fire Chiefs
Annual meeting will take place on Thursday, September 13 at one
o'clock in the Wildwood Convention Center. I'd like to invite
everyone here to that meeting. In addition, anyone interested in
joining our Association can contact me or another officer.
Information is available on our web site at www.njchiefs.com. Have a
great convention and remember to stay safe.
Applause
PRESIDENT PAWLAK: Next, we have C. Kenneth Anderson,
who is filling in for Paul Roman, president of the New Jersey Fire
and Emergency Medical Services Institute.
PAST PRESIDENT ANDERSON: Thank you, Mr. President. I
was really just going to include this in the report but, President
Roman was invited to the convention as a guest, and one of his other
duties is as EMS coordinator in Monmouth County, and he has to be
there over Labor Day Weekend. So he has asked me to express, first,
his apologies for being unable to be here, but also to represent him
and thanks for the cooperation of this Association through the years
and hope that we will continue to support the work of the
Institute. Thank you.
Applause
PRESIDENT PAWLAK: Next we have Mike Kendzierski, Vice
Chairman of the Board of Managers of the New Jersey State Firemen's
Home.
MR. KENDZIERSKI: Greetings from the New Jersey
Firemen's Home from all our guests, staff and the Board of
Managers. We have the honor of having several of our guests at this
convention today. We thank the Exempt Convention Committee for
inviting them, especially, since our Firemen's Home is in Boonton.
This is very personal to us all here. At present we have 70 guests
at the Firemen's Home. This number does vary month to month. We are
constantly improving our facilities at the New Jersey Firemen's
Home. We have completed two major renovations at the present time;
one for the antiquated kitchen and dining hall, and one for
Dormitory B. Dormitory B is being renovated to Increase our
long-term beds from 69 to 76. Both major projects are addressing
the present and the future needs of our firefighters to better serve
them to make their stay at the Home much better. There has been
discussion by various firefighter associations concerning a
firemen's facility serving south Jersey in addition to our facility
in Boonton. The Board of Managers is addressing this option and
other options as to their financial impact and feasibility. If an
option can be justified and funds are available, then this would
become a joint venture of the New Jersey State Firemen's Association
and the Board of Managers. Our professional staff operates 24/7 and
totals 105. Managing the Home and making sure the care of our
guests is superior to the rigid requirements as required by the
State statutes and the New Jersey Board of Health is demanding for
the staff and Board of Managers, but, believe me guys, it's
extremely rewarding. Presently, there are expensive private
insurance plans available that will cover future nursing home care.
New Jersey firefighters do not require an expensive insurance plan
for the New Jersey Firemen's Home. Your plan is free. Please keep
this in mind. No one here at this convention, delegates, life
member or guests wants to be a resident at a nursing home, but
presently there are 70 guests at the Firemen’s Home who once thought
the same way. Remember one thing, in the future you might be a
guest of the Firemen's Home. Support the Home because the Home
belongs to you. It could be the greatest financial benefit you have
as a New Jersey firefighter. To be eligible to be admitted to the
Firemen's Home, you only have to be a New Jersey firefighter for one
year, you do not have to be in a local Relief association or a life
member or an exempt firefighter to be eligible. This is important.
Keep in contact with the various associations, keep the contact with
your senior firefighters who are no longer associated with their
fire company because they are still eligible to be admitted to the
Firemen's Home if required. Remember, once a New Jersey
firefighter, always a New Jersey firefighter. On a lighter side, in
May 2007 the Firemen's Home had its first annual golf tournament
which was a huge success in both sponsor and golf participation.
The 2008 golf tournament will be next May. We appreciate your
support in 2007 and looking forward to your continued and increased
support in 2008. There are many items concerning the Firemen's
Home, however, there's not enough time to discuss it all in detail.
If you have any questions or concerns, see me after the convention
or contact your local county Manager. In conclusion, thanks for
having a representative from the Firemen's Home at your annual
convention and, again, our guests from the Home thank you. Thank
you.
Applause
PRESIDENT PAWLAK: The more I think of it, we were
supposed to have six guests here from the Home today, I honestly
don't know if they made it. Are they here? Yes, they are. Ladies
and gentlemen, please give them a hand.
Standing ovation
PRESIDENT PAWLAK: Thank you very much. It's a pleasure
to have you here, gentlemen. Believe me, we will do everything we
can for that Home. It's not going away. Also, with us today, we
should have the Superintendent from the Home, Frank Infante, for
introduction and recognition only. Frank, would you just stand so
every one can see you, please? Thank you very much.
Applause
PRESIDENT PAWLAK: I spoke with Frank the other day,
he's doing a fantastic job. If you haven't been to the Home, you
should get there. Frank brought a lot of stuff out of the attic and
all types of memorabilia are now hanging on the walls. He's done a
very good job. Next, I'd like to introduce to you the President of
the New Jersey State Firemen's Association, H. Leigh Peterson.
Applause
PRESIDENT PETERSON: Thank you, Mr. President. Good
morning. It's a pleasure to address you, the delegates and life
members and officers, here in Montville this year. I have a few
updates from the New Jersey State Firemen's Association, although
many of you might have heard this at your local county caucuses, I
apologize for that, because I think these things still need to get
out. The first thing, I have neglected to mention it at most of the
caucuses, was that past Counsel Barry Parker took on a project to
put the history together for the New Jersey Firemen's Home -- yeah,
I'll be all right – well, that's true too, New Jersey State
Firemen's Association, but it does include some of the history of
the New Jersey Firemen's Home also. This was a big endeavor. He
spent a lot of hours in it. The booklet has been presented to us
and printed and distributed to all the local associations. Thank you
Mr. President; he happened to have a copy with him. Unfortunately,
we can't mail these out in mass. But within the last couple of
weeks, I took it upon myself and I had it added to our web site.
So, if you do go into the web site, it's there, and right on the
top, before you start the report, there is a PDF file. If you click
on that, you can print it out, you can make all the copies you want.
Again, I'd like to thank Mr. Parker and all those that assisted to
get this done. At the Convention this year, once again, there will
be a blood drive Friday morning and, also, Deborah will be there to
do blood pressure, blood screening. I encourage you all to take
advantage of those services. As of July 1, 2007, the burial fund
was increased to $9,000, with line of duty increased to $27,000.
This year eight resolutions were received and were reviewed by the
Resolution Committee in June
and July, as previously agreed. Six of them are in order and will
appear on the ballot. Although two of the resolutions will not
appear, one was recently withdrawn by the local association that
submitted it. An invitation was extended to Governor Corzine to
address our convention. We received a tentative time schedule for
the first session on Friday. Again this year the memorial service
will be the first order of business on the second session Saturday
morning. Also, a firemen's mass will be held again on Saturday
evening, St. Ann's Church in Wildwood at 5:15 p.m., and we encourage
all to attend. Again, through the joint efforts of the New Jersey
Firemen's Home Board of Managers, staff and the Bergen County
Firemen's Association, we are pleased to report we have received a
list of guests, 27 guests, to attend the Convention this year. We
should all extend our thanks for all who make this possible. Also
take a moment on Friday to stop and talk to these gentlemen, as they
are our brothers. As most of you already know, I'm not running for
re-election this year, as I believe it's time for me to step down as
president. I have had the pleasure of serving the past 13 years as
secretary, vice president and currently president. It has been a
most rewarding 13 years and I feel we have made progress in the best
interest of the New Jersey State Firemen's Association. I thank
each and every one of you that supported me in the past and request
that you extend the same courtesy to the incoming officers. In
closing, I thank you all for your undivided attention and again for
your past support. I look forward to seeing you all in Wildwood.
Thank you and God bless America.
Applause
PRESIDENT PAWLAK: Kevin Finnegan, who is the Executive
Committeeman from Morris County for the New Jersey State Firemen's
Association. Kevin.
MR. FINNEGAN: Thank you, Mr. President. Officers,
delegates, life members and guests, on behalf of the 37 local Relief
associations, I would like to welcome you to Morris County. I wish
you success with your Convention, a safe trip home, and see you in
Wildwood. Thank You.
Applause
PRESIDENT PAWLAK: Next, we have Pat Wiles, President of
the Ladies Auxiliary of the Firemen of the State of New Jersey.
Pat.
PRESIDENT WILES: Good morning. Thank you for inviting
me to your 121st Annual Convention in Boonton. I'd like
to tell you about a project called "Pennies for Play" that was
brought up at our meeting. Several months ago I read an article in
the newspaper describing how a group of firefighters from the New
Jersey State Firemen's Mutual Benevolent Association were involved
with New Jersey school children raising funds to build playgrounds
for children hardest hit by natural disasters. The "Pennies for
Play" program had New Jersey school children collect pennies and
other loose change, which these firemen used to build the
playgrounds. This great effort made a big difference to the young
boys and girls in the Gulf Coast that had their lives tragically
touched by Hurricane Katrina and other children similarly affected
by other disasters nation-wide. The article described how this
touching effect began. After the tragic events of September 11,
2001, the young school children from the North Bay Elementary School
in Bay Saint Louis, Mississippi, decided to send some support to the
New Jersey firefighters who had contributed their help to New York
City. When Hurricane Katrina devastated the Gulf Coast two years
ago, the firemen that were touched by the same thoughtfulness of
those same children, went to visit them in February 2006. While
there, the firefighters saw firsthand not only the children's
physical community destroyed, but also how emotionally difficult it
was for them as well. When asked by the firefighters, the students
told them what they wanted most was a new playground to replace the
old one destroyed by Katrina. Twenty-one New Jersey FMBA members
returned two months later in April 2006 and built them a
state-of-the-art playground. These men returned again to the South
to build more. The New Jersey FMBA helped raise funds for the
charity "Save the Children" to support their after school, child
care, and structured activity programs in the Gulf Coast as they
continue to help the children work through their trauma. When I
first read the story in the newspaper in March, I was touched by the
firefighters' generosity and commitment to the young children who
were truly devastated by Hurricane Katrina. At our State Convention
next month, I will ask that this program, "Pennies for Play" be
added to our agenda so we can discuss ending them a donation. Once
again, our New Jersey firefighters volunteer after a natural
disaster and truly made a world of difference. Thank You.
Applause
PRESIDENT PAWLAK: Next, we have Barbara Wylie, Second
Vice President of the Ladies Auxiliary of the New Jersey State
Firemen's Association.
MS. WYLIE: Good morning and thank you for inviting me
here. It is a pleasure to be here. Our organization is in the
process of having our annual convention in October. And last year
we got involved with the Sunshine Fund for children that are either
critically ill, terminally ill, or severely under privileged, and
it's sponsored by police and firemen of New Jersey, Pennsylvania,
and New York. The children that we sponsored last year flew out of
Mercer County Airport to a farm or a ranch in Orlando and then went
either to Universal, or Disney, whatever their wish was. And we
struggled this year to hopefully send five
more children. If anyone knows of a candidate, they can get in
touch with me or my organization and we will submit that name.
Anything that we can do to help you, we are here to support you. God
bless you and have a very healthy year and a very safe trip home.
Thank you.
Applause
PRESIDENT PAWLAK: I need to know is Bill Lavin here
from the FMBA? Okay, very good. Ladies and gentlemen, we are going
to move on to our keynote speaker.
KEYNOTE SPEAKER
Ron Kanterman entered the fire service in 1975 in Brooklyn, New
York. In 1980 he was assigned to the FDNY Fire Prevention Bureau,
where he served as an inspector, senior inspector, supervising
inspector, deputy chief inspector and assistant chief inspector. He
commanded the FDNY fireworks unit and the Manhattan Suppression
Systems for six years. In 1989, he took a position as the Assistant
Chief of Fire
Protection for a Fortune 100 company in New Jersey and was promoted
to Chief of Emergency Services, in 1994. He has a B.A. in Fire
Service Administration and an MS in Fire Protection Management both
from John Jay College of Criminal Justice in New York City. He also
holds a Master's Degree in Environmental Science from the New Jersey
Institute of Technology. Chief Kanterman is an adjunct professor of
Fire Science at Middlesex County College in Edison, New Jersey and
the John Jay College Graduate Program of Protection Management. He
is a past President of the Union County Fire Chiefs Association, the
New Jersey Society of Fire Service Instructors and the Linden
Industrial Mutual Aid Council. Chief Kanterman holds memberships
with the NFPA, IAFC, SFPE and is a nationally Certified Fire
Protection Specialist. He is also on the Executive Leadership Team
and is the Administrator for the
National Fire Academy Alumni Association and is an Adjunct
Instructor for the National Fire Academy. He has published numerous
articles in periodicals such as Industrial Fire Safety and Fire
Engineering, where he is listed as a member of the Editorial
Advisory Board. He also writes for Fireengineering.com and sits on
the Educational Advisory Committee for the Fire Department
Instructor's Conference (FDIC, FDIC West & FDIC East.) Chief
Kanterman is a volunteer Call Force firefighter in, and the OEM
Coordinator for, the borough of North Plainfield. Without further
ado, ladies and gentlemen, I'd like to introduce Chief Ron
Kanterman.
CHIEF KANTERMAN: You put them to sleep. Joe, thanks.
Good morning.
CONVENTION BODY: Good morning.
CHIEF KANTERMAN: This is the first place I have ever
been to when anybody got up and said good morning and people
actually said good morning back. Couple of observations of things
before I get on with my formal remarks. Everybody got up here and
took credit for the nice sunny day, but nobody thanked Father Ryan.
Thanks Father Ryan, number one. Number two, where is Glenn Wilson?
I never met Glenn before today. Glenn is walking around giving out
cards, he's running for office of an organization. Glenn, if you
run out of cards, you already gave me seven. Glen is running for
something, I'm not sure what it is, but good luck, buddy. The 121st
Convention. I just need to know right off the bat,
because I'm going to talk about history here, and I look around the
room and history is in the room.
But, Kenny Anderson, how was the first convention?
Laughter
PAST PRESIDENT ANDERSON: I can't remember.
CHIEF KANTERMAN: Thank you, can't remember. If you
have a cell phone, by the way, turn it down or vibrate; two
reasons: You won't disturb what's going on here and it feels good
when the phone rings. So President Pawlak, Executive Board, most
important, fellow firefighters, we have had a bad year, so far.
Eighty-six line of duties to date. The Charleston nine, three in
New York, two in Boston on Wednesday, and a volunteer chief of
paramedics right here in New Jersey in July. The thing about this
is somehow we always seem to bounce back. We've had dark days, 9/11;
Worcester, Massachusetts; Keokuk, Iowa; the Waldbaum's fire in
Brooklyn in 1978; the 23rd Street fire in Manhattan in the '60's. I
think it's our rich history that helps us to regroup and go
forward. You knock us down but you can never count us out. The
American firefighter will not crawl up in a ball and go away. We
come back harder and
faster; it's who we are and what we are. I have a little saying,
it's not -- maybe I did invent it, I'm not sure, I will take credit
for it, it's okay. You can't know where you are going until you
know where you have been. So why don't we all buckle up and take a
bit of a ride? For those of you from out of state, welcome to New
Jersey, where a stop sign is merely a suggestion. Caesar Augustus
in 23BC organized the first fire fighting force of 600 men, which
was formed and stationed at the gates to the City of Rome. Great
idea. But our boy Caesar had some problems: First off, they were
slow to respond and had a hard time putting themselves in harms
way. Well, that shouldn't be a surprise. How many of you here have
fought
fires in a loin cloth? Anybody? Nobody, okay? Just asking.
A DELEGATE: Ken Anderson.
Laughter
CHIEF KANTERMAN: Ken Anderson, right. Eventually these
slaves were replaced with volunteers. What a concept, right? In
6AD another bad fire had spawned a group of full-time professional
firefighters. That would be Local 1 of the IAFF. They were set up
in battalions and the chief wore a gold loin cloth. Does that
ringing in my ear bother anybody? (Cell phone ringing in audience.)
Laughter
CHIEF KANTERMAN: The chief wore a gold loin cloth, by
the way, and they were paid from the city coffers. This is my
favorite, if you were negligent as a homeowner, where the fire
started, you became dinner for Simba and the pride; to the lions, if
it was your fault. That's what I call accountability. Caesar had a
hell of a sense of humor. (Cell phone ringing in audience.) That
ringing in my ear doesn't bother anybody?
Laughter
CHIEF KANTERMAN: Early conflagrations in our new-found
country got people to take notice. First the Jamestown settlement
burned in 1608. In 1622 Plymouth, Massachusetts burned to the
ground. The first American firefighters were those people who lived
in Jamestown. They were going to jobs 100 years before Ben Franklin
was born. I guess aluminum studs, dry wall and asbestos roof
shingles weren't invented yet either. So, that's the way it goes.
What you heard was "we are going to need more buckets," that was the
battle cry. And then Governor Peter Stuyvesant, New Amsterdam,
later to become New York, got the first fire prevention code
prohibiting wooden chimneys. Hello. My daughter would say, "duh."
There's a lot of guys about my age or better; anybody a little bit
younger that might have a teenager in the house? Anybody have a
teenager in the house? You didn't know how stupid you
were until you have a teenager, right? I found out how stupid I was
from my teenager. People were
assessed fines for fires they were found to be negligent for. Well,
that's better than being thrown to the lions any day. Good old
Peter set up a fire watchman system, patrolled the streets at night
looking for fire. The first law pertaining to arson was passed in
Maryland in 1638 and carried the death penalty. That's what I'm
talking about. So, who started the first organized fire company
after he started the first
insurance company? Everybody knows this.
CONVENTION BODY: Ben Franklin.
CHIEF KANTERMAN: Ben Franklin, right. What year?
Kenny?
Laughter
CHIEF KANTERMAN: I'll give you a break, 1736. He wrote
papers on fire prevention and said, "one could hazard their neck
jumping from a window while the house would be burning." Well,
yeah. He lived in a completely combustible era, wooden houses,
wooden walkways, wooden furniture and even wooden teeth. What did
he expect? More insurance companies popped up and each had its own
fire company which would respond to the insured's place of business
or home denoted by a fire mark on the doorway. You collectors out
there know what I'm talking about. Things really got going, because
the insurance company now had a vested interest. They promulgated
their own regulations, looked for non-combustible structures and
even fixed systems, but they'd have to wait for 100 years for
Parmalee and Grinnell to invent the automatic sprinkler system.
They also had guys called, these are my favorite, they were called
plug uglies. Anybody ever hear of plug uglies? Check this out,
these were the guys that were connected to the individual
independent fire companies who would run ahead and claim a hydrant
or claim the fire
plug, and then they would kind of duke it out with another guy from
the other fire company. Anybody have plug uglies hanging around the
firehouse still? I got three or four. The 19th Century
brought us the Great Chicago fire, Peshtigo, Wisconsin fire and the
Boston conflagration. I wonder what happened to those fire watch
guys Stuyvesant set up in 1600? Oh, well. 20th Century, Hoboken,
New Jersey waterfront, Jacksonville, Florida industrial fire, the
Coconut Grove Night Club in Boston, the Navy carrier USS
Constellation in dry dock in Brooklyn, the Beverly Hills Supper Club
in South Gate, Kentucky in the '70s, Our Lady of Angels in Chicago,
the MGM Grand in Las Vegas, Dupont Plaza Fire in Puerto Rico, 9/11,
and the Station Night Club in Rhode Island, just a couple of short
years ago. You know, we reach turning points in our career as
firefighters. I was speaking at the National Fire Academy and I met
a chief in his 50s, the first day in my class, and everybody is
introducing themself, and he says, "I'm the chief of such and such
in Kentucky but I grew up in a town called South Gate." And the
light went on in my head. And I interrupted him and said "what do
you know about the Beverly Hills Supper Club fire in '77?" He says
"I was on the second engine." I said, "we need to talk." I heard
it right from the horse's mouth. He also graced us with a 50-minute
presentation good for the price, ”Turning Points." I'm with the FBI
six or seven years ago standing in a convention center, somehow we
got on historical fires. We started talking about Our Lady of
Angels school fire in Chicago in the '50s, where a lot of kids and a
lot of nuns were killed that day. Frank Brannigan comes walking
down the hall. Everybody know Frank Brannigan? God bless his
soul. Comes walking down the hall, I said "Hello Francis, we are
talking about the Chicago fire Our Lady of Angels school." "Frank,
you were there?" "Oh, yeah, I was there." We had class in the hall
that day for two hours, Frank Brannigan told us about that fire, he
was there. These are defining moments in our history and in our
careers as fire service people. We savor our history. We still got
work to do. Prevention first. Because you can't know where you are
going until you know where you have been. So who came up with the
first usable fire engine and caused us to say good-bye to bucket
brigades? Was it an inventor who saw dollar signs or the needs of
the fire service? No, it was a firefighter named Ruben Haines from
Philadelphia who came up with the hose wagon that carried 600 feet
of hose and cost $98. They had to raise money to buy the hose. We
are still raising money to buy hose. Isn't it about time we didn't
have to raise money to buy fire hose? How many police departments
do you know that sell hot dogs to buy guns every year? None.
Speaking of which, I was talking to a county police officer -- any
police officers in the room? None? None? I don't believe it. I
know you are out there. We will flush you out, don't worry, I will
speak a little slower.
Laughter
CHIEF KANTERMAN: Is he going for his hip? Let me know
if he's going for his hip. Talking to a county cop yesterday down in
Union County. I said to him, when did you guys install those big
heavy duty electromagnets in the doors of the patrol cars? He
starts to give me that look, the head to the side. "What?" I said I
know the police cars here in Union County have installed heavy duty
electromagnets, is it, like, to pull a gun or a knife out of a
perpetrator's hand sneaking up on you or something? He said, "What
the hell are you talking about." I said, I ride the roads in Union
County every day and there's always two police cars stuck together
on the side of the road like this. So, don't tell me they are not
installing magnets.
Laughter
CHIEF KANTERMAN: In order for us to be good at what we
do we have to study other groups. We do studies on the police
service, like we call them our cousins in blue. We are cousins. We
found out why they keep the 9mm locked sideways like this, it's the
way it comes out of the box.
Laughter
CHIEF KANTERMAN: What was the first career fire
department in the country? Anybody? First career department?
A VOICE: Cincinnati.
CHIEF KANTERMAN: Right, Cincinnati. Great. Who went to
completely motorized first? Savannah, Georgia. They called it the
days of wooden ladders and iron men. What about the chemical
engine? Anybody belong to a chemical engine company now? Thank you
ma'am. That's my aunt.
Laughter
CHIEF KANTERMAN: We formed hazmat teams. The Chemical
engine caused a reaction to cause pressure to put the water out of
the engine. We formed hazmat teams in the '80s to combat chemical
reactions. So I'm not sure what's going on. The French scientist
introduced chemical engines to us in 1864. We used them for 50
years. American LaFrance, Mack and Seagrave led the charge in
manufacturing motorized apparatus in the early 1900's, and the
horses pulled their last steamer in 1927. See, you can't know where
you are going until you know where you have been. The Halligan bar;
not a candy bar; not a place to hang out and have a cold one after a
fire. A three-point pry bar, everybody has used a Halligan bar in
the room, I'm sure. It kind of went something like this, "Hey,
Halligan, you and O'Brian get through the door. Halligan says "I'm
having trouble with the door, Captain, the 2X4 keeps breaking."
"After the fire, go back to head- quarters, come up with
something." And the Halligan bar is born. "Hey, Cooper, the hose
is leaking, can you stop the leak without shutting down the line?"
He says, "Cap, duct tape hasn't been invented yet but I'll put my
Cooper hose jacket around it, maybe that will work." "Good job,
Cooper." You see, this is all about leadership at every level,
doesn't matter what you have on your collar. Shit, they made me a
chief, you know. Leadership at every level, that's what this
service is about. We got to find a way to put a lot of water in a
basement or other hard-to-get-to places. Hey, Bresnan, you think
you can come up with something? And it's Bresnan, guys, it's not
Breslin. Jimmy Breslin was a writer and a movie producer. That's a
Breslin. There is no such thing as a Breslin distributor. Are we
sure on that? It's Bresnan, B-R-E-S-N-A-N. Bresnan comes up with
the Bresnan distributor, it's a big sprinkler head, you drill a hole
in the floor, put water in the basement without going in to get
hurt. Leadership at all levels. We have to find a way to spray
water forward and backwards at the same time to protect the guys.
So a guy named Hannigan comes up with the Hannigan forward and
reverse spray. The Kelly cellar nozzle; the Detroit door opener; the
Browder life net. The list goes on. By the way, does anyone know
what city in the world looses more people with a life net than any
other city in the history of using a life net? Anybody know what
city? Madrid, Spain. The guys in Madrid, Spain, they started to
master the use of the life net and then their own traditions got in
the way. It went something like this: "Joe -- and they say it in
Spanish -- el Jumbo, whatever it is. And on the way down, it's
"ole." I think it's a training issue. I think it's a training
issue. Love the brothers in Madrid Firefighters for a couple of
hundred years have found the need and have met the challenge of
making the job easier through leadership and perseverance.
Lieutenant Harvey Harrell of Rescue Company 5 in Staten Island took
two six-foot hooks and a 24-foot ladder and created the Harvey
Ladder, developing a fulcrum to put down into the East River to pull
victims up and firefighters when they are called for rescue. I
learned about Harvey and Harvey Ladder when I I arrived at the
quarters of Rescue 5 on September 12, 2001, Union County had gone
into Staten Island and Brooklyn to cover fire houses. The Harvey
Ladder, it's a make-shift device that's used by all of the rescue
companies now and other folks are catching on. Leadership at all
levels. It's about leadership. How many of you have seen or have a
hazmat truck that looks like a soda or a beer truck? It is. It
is. Two firefighters from Tampa, Florida walked into a Betten
Roll-up 25 years ago and said "We could carry an awful lot of crap
on a truck like this." And since then, Betten Roll-up has sold more
trucks to the American fire service than they have to Coca Cola and
Anheuser Busch. Believe it or not, roll up the doors, put 10,000
pounds of speedy-dry on that sucker, you know. Fire apparatus
manufacturers and fire equipment makers have jumped on the invention
wagon because they found out we will basically do two things: One,
we will buy it if it makes the job easy; or, two, if it looks
extremely cool. We finally got the military to share some
technology. Yet another Christmas miracle in September. Thermal
imaging cameras, TIC's you call them, right? My older brothers in
the fire service tell me they were using thermal imaging in Vietnam
in the jungles back in the '60s. It took 30 years of begging to get
this stuff. Sounds like my marriage, but that's another story. We
go to trade shows in the mid-'90's and we see ten different kinds of
models of TIC's. What do you buy? It's a helmet mounted, slung
over the shoulder, push it on the floor, point the screen. I like
the vendor, he had a staircase set up and he kept rolling his camera
down the stairs. You see, Chief, this one is fireman proof. Keeps
rolling down the stairs. I asked if it had an on and off button?
He said, yeah. I said go back to the drawing board it's not fireman
proof. Most of us have a thermal imaging camera but, you know
what? It's not a substitute for good training and good tactics.
Thermal, it's just another tool. You keep training your
firefighters, your young firefighters to do searches without the
camera because the battery is going to be dead by the time you need
it. We know we have problem calls and we know we have those cameras
to help us with those problem calls. I will give you a problem call
and the camera would not work. The phone rang in the house and the
little boy answered the phone. The gentleman said, Hi, this is John
Smith, I'm from the Allstate Insurance Company here to talk to your
dad. And the boy said whispering "He's busy." He said, Is your mom
there? "She's busy, too." Is there any other adult I can speak to,
I have to make something out here, it's important forms. "There are
five firemen in the house." "Can I speak to one of them?" ”No, they
are busy." "Anybody else?" "Four policeman." "Can I speak to one
of the cops?" "They're busy." "Let me get this straight, your mom
and dad are home, they're busy. Five firemen are there, they're
busy; four cops. What are they doing?" "They are looking for me."
Applause
CHIEF KANTERMAN: Not every call is easy, kids. Not
every call is easy. Raise your hand if you got red rigs in the
firehouse? Red? Traditional red? Lime green? One. Sorry.
Black? Purple? Yellow? Anybody? Yellow; sorry. Who did the
slime lime thing in the '70s? It was an outfit called Rural Metro in
Scottsdale, Arizona, because they thought it would be more visible
at night. By the way, Rural Metro was thrown out of Scottsdale,
they have a full-time career department, and IAFF career department.
Will wonders never cease? I got news for you, if the apparatus is
black and it has all the required NFPA 1961 lighting and sound and
the drivers can't see you, those folks need to be off the road. Turn
in your license, sir. Blondie, put down the cell phone and drive
the car. We get to this point. But lights and sirens do not give
you permission to run intersections against the light. Lights and
sirens do not give you mental permission to go through a stop sign.
We lose firefighters that way. If you think I wasn't going to get to
safety this morning, you are sadly mistaken. How many of you heard
of the firefighter life safety initiatives "everyone goes home"?
That's sponsored by the National Fallen Firefighters Foundation.
See, at the Foundation where I also volunteer my time, we have a
two-edged sword. We are trying to keep firefighters from getting
killed, but when they do, we take care of their families. I got
involved with the foundation ten years ago. One of the most
rewarding things I have ever done in my career. My friend Dennis
Compton out in Mesa, Arizona said to think that we could prevent all
line of duty deaths would be an insult to the system. He said
sometimes we do everything right and still get killed. What
happened in June in Charleston may have been unavoidable. We won't
know for a while, but I think he's right. We are talking about the
other line of duties, the 75 out of the average hundred that can be
prevented, eating right, slowing down, buckling up, and all the
other things. Nine firefighters this year have been killed because
they didn't buckle the seat belt in the rig. We need you to have
the courage to be safe. There's a flyer on the kettle drum down
there that I made up for today it's about the courage to be safe,
"Everyone Goes Home Program." It's a four-hour program and it's
free. That's how to get in touch with the people who are doing it
in New Jersey. We have 100 trained instructors in this state that
will come to your station at your convenience and give that life
safety program to your firefighters. I urge you to take one at the
end of the program, give it to your chief, sit down with your board
of commissioners, whatever it takes, and call us, we will come to
the firehouse and talk about this stuff. Remember the old days?
Well, some of you probably do. You're a firefighter and it's okay
to get hurt and killed. That's what we do here. That's over. It's
not okay to get hurt and killed. We know things happen on this job
and we know how dangerous it is, and fires don't know if you get a
paycheck or if you are a volunteer. Fire doesn't care. Our
firefighters have to take stock in themselves. Leaving this earth
in a line of duty situation is devastating to the family, the fire
department, the company. And those of you out there that have had
the experience know exactly what I'm talking about. We want you to
buckle up and slow down, get medically evaluated. And, for God's
sake, we are urging our firefighters, if you find something on the
medical evaluation, voluntarily take yourself off the line. Don't
go down in a line of duty. We average 100 years and we have a
safety stand down now every June. But the stand down has to be
every day not just once a year. If you support the firefighter's
safety initiatives and longevity for firefighters, let me hear you
clap your hands, please, if you support that.
Applause
CHIEF KANTERMAN: We started out with a yellow wrist
band, Lance Armstrong, for cancer. And now the Fallen Firefighters
have one for everyone that goes home. It's black. The reason why
it's black, we want you to wear black on your wrist not on your
badge. Wear black on your wrist not on your badge. Take a flyer at
the end, get us into your firehouse. We will be happy to come. Let
me get off my soapbox and come back. Firefighters are the worst
bunch of pranksters I ever met. I don't think anybody ever went to
formal clown school. Well, maybe one or two went to clown school.
I know we use humor as relief from the bad things that we see. I'll
give you an example: For a very short time I was working in the
quarter master's office at FDNY. And we have ten high-back leather
armchairs for the bosses. So I call upstairs, call the boss's
office. You get another firefighter who's really the boss's driver,
we call him the aide, the driver. I said, "Hey, the cab is here for
the big fast bastard upstairs." The voice on the other side said
"Do you know who you are talking to?" "No." "This is Chief Hess."
I said "Do you know who you are talking to?" "No." "Good-bye you
fat bastard."
Laughter
CHIEF KANTERMAN: You have to have fun in this service;
if you don't have fun, you are wasting your time. Is Father over
there okay? Father, are you a chaplain for a fire department?
FATHER RYAN: Yes.
CHIEF KANTERMAN: You've heard all these stories.
Laughter
CHIEF KANTERMAN: See, once you get to the chief office
level, you get wrapped in politics. Are the politicians still behind
me? Is the mayor here still? The mayor is gone; senator is gone;
everybody is gone?
A VOICE: Yes.
CHIEF KANTERMAN: Good, we will talk about them. Let's
take a look at the word politics." Poli from the Latin for many and
tic meaning a low life, under a rock, blood sucking little bug.
Politics, you got it? As a chief, I'm in the political arena. I'd
rather have root canal once a week. What about our radios? Oh, my
God. When are we going to tell them what we need? My good friend
Billy Goldfeder says we need to stop accepting radios that don't
work from the manufacturers. He's right. We keep letting the radio
guys tell us what's good for us. I know it beats the hell out of
using a speaking trumpet out in front of the building. But I'll
tell you something else, very few guys missed the orders back then,
when they used the trumpet in front of the building, no static, you
never heard "repeat that, you got stepped on," or "you broke up, try
it again." Check this out: Engine 1, put a ladder up to the third
floor. Anybody miss that? You got it, right? Now, this is what it
sounds like today: (Garbled) Engine 1 to command. Engine 1 to
command. Chief says "repeat." So what the guy does he just screams
louder. Our radios suck. We need new radios.
Applause
CHIEF KANTERMAN: You want to get a chill of a lifetime?
They had a fire in Houston a couple of weeks ago in an office
building and a Houston firefighter was trapped and was running out
of air, you could hear the radio transmissions. It will send a chill
down your spine. He's saying "I'm out of air, I can't breathe."
You hear his alarm going off at the same time." They rescued him.
They found him. He was absolutely lost, trapped. Running out of
air, screaming for help. Our radios are terrible. We need better
radios. Maybe we should go back to two cups and a string, I don't
know. Every NIOSH report regarding a line of duty talks about
communications and all the other stuff. Tell your radio guy that it
makes a great door chock but it's far from being a great
firefighting tool, but we can't talk to her. It's not good enough.
Since we are talking about lousy radio transmissions, we need to
teach our firefighters to listen to the radio and not talk on it.
The President of the United States is giving us grant money to buy
radios for every firefighter in the country. Some of us have
benefited from that, we are getting money. Everybody has a radio,
great idea. Now we have to teach our firefighters the art of active
listening. The art of active listening. This is what I heard
recently on the radio. I won't do it with the mike, it was through
the mask like this, but it was "Engine 1 to command, we're on the
first floor, we're going up the stairs, we've reached the second
landing, we are turning, we are heading up to the second set of
stairs, we are almost there, we are reaching the second floor, we
are at the apartment door, we are forcing it, we opened the line,
it's darkening down, touch down, first and ten to go." I don't need
all that information standing in the street. Let us know when you
make the door. Let us know when you are darkening down the fire.
Teach your firefighters to listen and shut up, unless they have
something real important to tell us. We have specialists in our
service, don't we? We created specialists, engine folks, EMS folks.
EMS, the last three letters in the word ”problems," you know, Joe.
I'm going to say that again, the last three letters in the word
"problems." Rescue guys, engine guys, truckies. Any bona fide
truck company guys out there, raise your hands. Raise your hands.
Thank you. The truckies are easy to spot, their knuckles are
bleeding from dragging them on the floor. These guys, they are
regular guys like you and I, they get assigned to a truck company,
something happens to them. They're easy to spot, like I said. And
we know why you go to the roof, cut a hole in the roof, so you can
watch the real firemen doing the real work down below. I'm in the
dollar store in my town recently. It's a dollar store, you walk in,
four foot letters in the windows "everything is a dollar." You walk
inside those walls where those masks are, everything one dollar.
I'm walking down the aisle, the other aisle here, "Excuse me sir,
can I get a price check"? Without hesitation I said, "What's your
company?" The guy says "12 truck, sir."
Laughter
CHIEF KANTERMAN: In my house in Brooklyn we had a guy
named Nick, he was a truckie. Nick was a special guy. Nick thought
a.m. radio only played in the morning. He had problems. He was on
light duty for a while. They had him up in the office doing some
computer work. He asked for a case, a box of Whiteout. So we got
it for him. We don't know what he's doing, maybe he's drawing
pictures with it. We don't know. Then he asked the captain two
weeks later for a straight razor. He said "Nick, what do you need
the razor for?" "I got to scrape the Whiteout off the computer
screen, chief."
Laughter
CHIEF KANTERMAN: I will tell you one more Nick story
then we'll go on. Nick comes into work one day and he's got a big
bandage on both ears. He looked like Princess Leah in Star Wars.
So no one is asking him, we are all scared to death to ask him what
happened to his ears. So one guy says, "All right, Nickie, what
happened?" "Well, I was ironing my uniform shirt for work this
morning, you know the captain likes us nice and neat, and the phone
rang while I was ironing."
Laughter
CHIEF KANTERMAN: It could happen to anybody. It could
happen to anybody. So Tony says to him "How did you burn your other
ear?" He said "I had to call 911."
Laughter
CHIEF KANTERMAN: I love a guy like that. We've talked
about our forebrothers, not forefathers, forebrothers who invented
tools. But we've had some help. Turn-out gear, light-weight and
comfortable now. The race car drivers started wearing Nomex in the
late '60's. We started wearing it in the mid-'70's, we didn't have
to wait too much. But we definitely realized it was superior to
rubber or canvas. Lot of you guys are shaking your heads about
rubber and canvas out there. The manufacturers took it and made
improvements and it resulted in the lightweight gear we have today.
Our apparatus manufacturers stopped making large rear steps to ride
on so we can't fall off and get hurt. They installed roll cages
inside the cabs. The new seat belts will be orange and it will be a
three-point system you pull over your head and snap it between your
legs, because the seat belt excuse is just an excuse. Take the SCBA
out of the seats. Put them back in the compartments, have your guys
get off at the scene, unbuckle, get out, put the air pack on. It
will give them ten seconds or 20 seconds to put the air pack on
anyway. Take the air packs out of the seats. No more excuses about
buckling up. And don't settle for things when you go to shows. How
many of you go to Harrisburg, FDIC, you walk around looking at
stuff. Don't settle. If something sucks, you look at the guy and
tell him why. We have to stop settling for things that don't work
or things that are not as safe as we want them to be for our guys.
Firefighters are a unique breed of people, aren't they? The most
modest people about the task at hand and they will walk into hell
and back for a complete stranger. But, Joe, give them two beers and
they're hitting on your wife. I don't get it. Two beers, that's
all it takes. What makes us tick? What drives us to go in when
everybody else is going out? This is exciting. I've been career my
whole life and ten years ago, there's a former member of North
Plainfield in the back, Rick from Somerset. I joined about ten
years ago today, believe that? I had a full head of hair when I
did. Don't lie. Then it really started at home, quote, "I can't
get you off the couch to go to my mother's but the damn pager goes
off, you are running down the driveway with one shoe on and one shoe
off, one leg in your pants and yelling yeeha. What do I have to do
to get you to go to my mother's with that kind of excitement? I
said that's easy, Darling, have your mother set her house on fire.
Laughter
CHIEF KANTERMAN: Trials and tribulations. Remember that
we are first due to the world: Oklahoma City, Columbine High School,
the World Trader Center, the Pentagon, Shanksville, Pennsylvania,
West Warwick, Rhode Island, sofa super stores and even abandoned
high-rise buildings. We have an incredible future ahead of us with
a lot of unknowns. Our job is to anticipate and look into that
crystal ball to be better prepared, to prepare our younger guys.
Fires are down all over the country so training is more important
than ever. With fires down, we lose our edge. If you have an
aggressive fire prevention program in your town, great, all the more
reason to train harder because when you get the occasional fire, you
will be ready. Remember that despite who invents the next tool, it
is how you use it and how your personal safety fits into that
scheme. Come to think of it, look out for the Kanterman toilet set,
it's going to be really cool. Let conclude with a couple of words
and phrases to live by in relation to what we do in the fire
service: Think, learn, stop, look and listen. Reaffirm your mission
regularly. Maintain your integrity at all times. Read. Train for
life. Train the way you work and work the way you train. Be nice
and remember that the fire you are helping is having a much worse
day than you are. Work safely. Think safety. Risk a lot but save
a lot. Risk a little to save a little, and risk nothing to save
nothing. When you are done with our fire service, leave it better
than you found it. Embrace our history and don't erase. After
every alarm, every call, every page or every tour, everyone goes
home. Leadership is key at all levels. Each and every firefighter
that brought something to the table displayed leadership, Halligan,
Hannigan, Harrell. Nobody named Goldberg or Greenburg, I noticed
that. Leadership is not what's necessarily on your collar, it's
leadership at all levels. Horns and bars don't make you any smarter
or make you a leader. Leadership is being a good communicator and,
above all, maintaining your integrity, stepping up to the plate and
being a stand-up person, sharing information and teaching the next
person coming up behind you. Leadership will take the fire service
to the next level because the people who are movers and shakers in
this business will insist it gets better, easier and safer. After
every alarm, every bell, every call, every tour, everyone needs to
go home. Train every day so everyone can go home. And, remember,
you can't know where you are going until you know where you have
been. Remember this, too, if you go to the roof with a power saw,
take the axe with you. How come? The axe always starts. Thank
you. God bless you.
Standing ovation
PRESIDENT PAWLAK: Tough act to follow. Presented to
Chief Ron Kanterman, keynote speaker, and a small token of our
appreciation, the 121st Annual New Jersey State Exempt
Firemen's Association Convention, 2007.
Applause
PRESIDENT PAWLAK: Okay, we will try to follow that. We
will now have nominations of officers, first it will be for
President. Bill Egbert will do that one.
NOMINATION OF OFFICERS
FIRST VICE PRESIDENT EGBERT: The floor is now accepting
nominations for President.
Nominations for President.
PAST PRESIDENT ROEMMICH:
Archie Roemmich, life member, past President. I nominate Joe Pawlak
for President for the ensuing year.
VICE PRESIDENT EGBERT:
Do we have a second to that nomination?
MR. PRYOR:
Second that nomination.
VICE PRESIDENT EGBERT:
Jeff Pryor, Plainsboro, seconds the nomination. Are there any other
nominations for President? Any other nominations? Any other
nominations?
A VOICE: Make a motion
they be closed.
A VOICE: Second.
1ST VICE PRESIDENT EGBERT:
Motion has been made, seconded to close the nominations.
All in favor say aye.
Chorus of ayes
1ST VICE PRESIDENT EGBERT:
So ordered. Mr. President.
PRESIDENT PAWLAK:
Now open nominations for First Vice President.
MR. SWENSON: Jeffrey Swenson, Morristown Exempts, I'd
like to put the name Bill Egbert in for a second term of First Vice
President.
PRESIDENT PAWLAK: Second?
PAST PRESIDENT WHEATLEY: Second the motion.
PRESIDENT PAWLAK: Second by Frank Wheatley, Morris
County. Any other nominations? Any other nominations? Any other
nominations?
A VOICE: Move they be closed.
PRESIDENT PAWLAK: Motion to close nominations.
A VOICE: Second the motion.
PRESIDENT PAWLAK: All in favor?
Chorus of ayes
PRESIDENT PAWLAK: Opposed? So carried. Position of
Second Vice President. We have to get him in there. Second Vice
President. Do we have a motion?
MR. PORCH: Ralph Porch, Cape May County. Bob Myers,
Second Vice President.
PRESIDENT PAWLAK: Do we have a second?
A VOICE: Second.
PRESIDENT PAWLAK: We have a second. Any other
nominations?
MR. CHRISTENSEN: Move it be closed.
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