NOR CAL FIRE PREVENTION OFFICERS ASSOCIATION
www.norcal-fpo.org
Mike Stewart, President
March 28, 2003
Minutes - Monthly Membership Meeting
Sacramento
Croatian American Cultural Center
President Mike Stewart called the March meeting to order at 0930 hours at the Croatian American Cultural Center in Sacramento.
The pledge of allegiance was conducted and Vernon Brown was appointed the Sergeant at Arms. Vernon was very active in his fine collections.
Fire Chaplain Ward Cockerton greeted the group and delivered the benediction.
President Stewart introduced Mike Dobson, Fire Marshal for the Sacramento Metropolitan Fire District. Chief Dobson welcomed the group to Sacramento. Sacramento Metro Fire District, Fire Chief, Rick Martinez, also welcomed the organization and acknowledged the important work of the Fire Prevention Officers. Chief Martinez briefly discussed the future of the Fire Code and assured the group that Cal Chiefs and Metro Chiefs are very interested in the ultimate recommendation on the next Fire Code.
Chief Martinez introduced Sacramento County District 3 Supervisor, Muriel Johnson. Supervisor Johnson welcomed the group and expressed her view on the importance of the Board of Supervisor’s relationship with the Fire Districts in Sacramento.
Chief Dobson recognized his staff.
Visiting Fire Chiefs and Building Officials were recognized.
Self-introductions were made. At this time Forrest Craig, Past President, declared a quorum.
Past President Forrest Craig made the Charles Gray Award Presentation. The 2002 award recipient is Fort Hartsfield. Congratulations to Fort for this outstanding accomplishment!
State Fire Marshal Report – Chief Hugh Council gave an update on the new State Fire Marshal laws and regulations class. Chief Council also described the upcoming changes to the SFM code interpretation process. In addition, Chief Council reminded the group of impending termination of the SFM’s H.H.S. contract. Chief Ginnie Krippner gave an update on "Operation Code Analysis", the recent cooperative effort between the SFM and Cal Chiefs/FPO’s. This task force completed a detailed technical comparison between the International Fire Code and the NFPA Fire Code (NFPA1). Chief Krippner recognized all those that participated. Chief Krippner thanked everyone for his/her time and efforts. Chief Krippner also gave an update on several regulatory matters.
President Stewart recognized Penni Overstreet-Murphy, So Cal FPO’s President, who was in attendance.
President Stewart expanded on the code analysis project. He explained the process the Northern and Southern FPO Boards will follow to obtain input from all FPO members. A joint memo, written by both Presidents, will be distributed to the membership to solicit input and outline the method of communicating that input through the Fire Code and Building Standards Committees, and ultimately to the Boards.
Division of the State Architect Report – Chief Fire & Life Safety Officer Brian Heyman gave this month’s report. See the attached report for more details.
Legislative Report – Gene Gantt – Benicia Fire Department, Legislative Committee Chair, gave this month’s report. See the attached report for more details as well as the Nor Cal FPO’s website at www.norcal-fpo.org.
President Stewart appointed past President Forrest Craig as Judge Advocate and Theresa Johnson as the new Director of Operations. President Stewart also thanked Larry Thude for doing an outstanding job as the past Director of Operations.
Exchange of ideas:
Steve Hart – Donated a Fire Laws book to the raffle. Steve announced a sprinkler survey coming out. Please take time to complete the survey when you receive it.
Sam Husoe – Announced the speaker for the May meeting in San Francisco, Russ Fleming. Also, at the next CFP workshop the keynote speaker will discuss the Rhode Island nightclub incident.
Robert Miller – Gave a plug for an upcoming NFPA 25 seminar on April 9th in Ontario, CA.
Larry Thude – Announced a couple of openings in the FP 2A class starting April 2nd in Contra Costa County. Larry also announced his retirement effective 5 p.m. today. Congratulations Larry!
Dave Secoda – Announced 3 fire alarm seminars are being sponsored by Bay Alarm.
Wes Arvin – Announced the 2002 Novato FPD Firefighter of the Year is Forrest Craig. Congratulations Forrest!
Kate Dargan – Looking for requirement related to aerial apparatus. Kate also announced she is looking for part-time inspectors.
Steve Foster – Attended the recent NFPA conference in the south. NFPA is proposing to require fire sprinklers in all public assemblies.
Bill Tyler – Announced 2 classes coming up regarding wildland fire investigation.
Meeting was adjourned to Committees and Executive Board meeting at 1120 hours. Please note for the record new President Stewart allowed the meeting to run late! No lunch for the Board again.
Detailed committee reports are in these minutes.
Thank you Sacramento Metropolitan Fire District for an excellent meeting!
President Stewart adjourned the meeting at 1400 hours.
The next meeting will take place at the Buck Institute in Novato. This will be the 2nd annual meeting of the organization to recognize Past Presidents of the Fire Prevention Officer’s Section – Northern Division.
Respectfully submitted,
Angela Sullivan, Secretary