Nor Cal Fire Prevention Officers Association

Weston Arvin, President

Copia, The American Center for Wine, Food and the Arts

500 First Street, Napa, CA.

President Arvin called the September 24, 2004 meeting to order at 0930 hours at the Copia Center at Napa, California.

Past President John Buchanan led the pledge of allegiance.

President Arvin led the membership in a moment of silence for Fire Protection Engineer Tim Rapella, Santa Rosa Fire Department, who lost his life while saving his 12-year old son from drowning and Eva Schicke, CDF Fire Department, who lost her life as she was battling a Wildland fire in Mariposa County. The proceeds of the Raffle will be donated to the Tim Rapella Memorial Fund.

Hans Henneberque was appointed Sergeant of Arms.

President Wes Arvin welcomed the group and introduced Host Fire Marshal Darren Drake. Mr. Drake introduced and thanked the host staff. Tom Berry, Deputy Chief of Operations, CDF welcomed the membership to Napa.

President Arvin recognized the visiting Fire Chiefs, Past Presidents and Building Officials including Chief’s Doug Williams, Joe Perry and Past President John Buchanan.

Self-introductions were made. President Arvin asked Immediate Past President Mike Stewart to declare a quorum.

President Arvin asked for a motion to approve the August 2004 minutes. The motion was made and seconded.

Special Presentation

Jon Johnston, Commercial PSA Video, Defensible Space

Contact Jon if you wish to acquire a copy of the video for use in your jurisdiction.

SFM Report

OSFM Leslie Habarek provided the membership with a September 2004 SFM Report. Leslie encouraged the membership to contact her office for input and questions. (See attached SFM report)

Legislative Report

Jon Habarek provided a September 2004 Legislative Report to the Membership. (see the website for updated information on legislative information)

AB 2065 Residential Care Facility did not pass through Senate Appropriations. Sponsors will continue to pursue the bill again next year.
AB 2343 School Sprinkler Modification Bill passed 21-14 through the senate with amendments. The bill passed the Assembly on 8/26/04 and is on the Governor’s desk.
AB 2401 Inspection Intervals for Detention Facilities. Signed by the Governor.
AB 2545 "WalMart Bill" under editing and on the Governors desk
AB 2632 Hospital Alterations for maintenance upgrades. Signed by the Governor.
AB 2638 Public Information. The bill is the Governor’s desk.
AB 1369 UWI; The bill is on the Governor’s desk.

Presidents Report

Cal Chiefs Conference

CFPI Workshop;

Rick Terry is the new Treasurer
Carl Thibeault will step down as chairman after this year. Penny Overstreet-Murphy will take over the position of Chairperson in place of Carl.

Bylaws;

The North and South FPO’s will work on a draft to establish joint bylaws and a joint Mission Statement. Wes Arvin and Laura Blaul will prepare the original drafts.

AB 2343 letter

Legislation;

Wes Arvin will be contacting Randy Roxson to establish monthly phone conferences for communication on legislative and fire prevention related issues.

Elderly PSA Grants

Rodney Slaughter is the contact person for grant monies for Elderly PSA grants. Development of curriculum is needed.

Cal Chiefs Conference Update

The Urban Wildland Interface (UWI) committee has changed its name to the Wildland Urban Interface Committee (WUI).

The Fire Sprinkler Resolution was approved at the Monday Cal Chiefs Meeting.

Peter Bryan, Rancho Cucamunga Fire Department, is the new Cal Chiefs Communication Director

Mike Warren is the new President

Mark Revere is the new President Elect.

Executive Board meeting

President Arvin reported on the joint letter on code process that was sent to Cal Chiefs. The FPO’s are waiting for feedback from Cal Chiefs before responding to the membership.

Tom Harvey reported that Rick Terry was reappointed to the Uniform Fire Code Board.

Robert W. Gaine Award

The Robert W. Gaine award was presented to UCD Chief Joe Perry at the Cal Chiefs Conference in honor of his substantial contributions to the Uniform Fire Code and in the field of Fire Prevention

Exchange of Ideas

Rick Terry announced that fire prevention positions are available for Deputy FM and Fire Prevention Specialist for San Ramon Valley Fire Department.

Lorin Neyer OSHPD, Announced that the DHS survey teams are not requiring monitoring of flow switches on fire sprinkler switches.

Liason Chief Doug Williams, Fire Prevention Officers are needed for review of grants for one of the two- week periods during the review process.

Gale Bate, Reported on informational material found on an L.A. website containing R.2 information with regulations that may be falsely stated or inaccurate their text. John Haberak shared more detail on the information and stated that some of the information may be useful for supplemental information.

Bill Greene Davis FD, The Statutes and Regulations Course was last attended by 31 students. Additional classes have been scheduled.

Greg Lake, Sac Metro Fire, Expressed Disappointment in the last SFM R.2 class. He especially concerned with the lack of code continuity in the course instruction. Bill Greene defended the class and stated that the codes are not always clearly defined for every circumstance during the course of inspections by the AHJ’s. This makes it difficult for instructors to teach a consistent class in this particular subject.

Kent Miller, Stockton FD suggested that a group of interested FPO members should develop a question and answer pamphlet on R.2 occupancies.

Page Dougherty ICC, Announced that information is available and an ad hoc committee is working on clarifying changes related to 6 specific items related to NFPA 13D. The changes will incorporate significant changes to multiple purpose residential fire sprinkler systems. He encouraged members to join the ICC.

John Haberak announced that a master calendar has been developed for FPO groups.

Sam Husoe, NFS announced the presentation of future classes during the next several months

Rick Rodewald, Monterey FD, Missing his raffle prizes, blah, blah, blah. Who done it?, Looks like it was the maid or a butler or something! No one knows! More to follow.

Announcements

President Arvin announced that Tonya Hoover and Kate Dargan held a panel discussion at the Cal Chiefs Conference on Wildland Urban Interface Issues. He thanked and commended each thanked all who participated in the planning and presentation of the discussion. Kate Dargan provided a few words on the presentation.

President Arvin reported that Cal Chiefs is supporting Barbara Boxer on her bid for re-election.

Adjournment for Subcommittee Meetings

Afternoon Presentation The membership welcomed newly appointed State Fire Marshal Ruben Grijalva. Chief Grijalva presented the membership with a brief biography of his career and an overview of his recent activities at the SFM office. His number one priority is to reestablish the SFM as a primary resource for state agencies and stakeholders in order to establish a strong voice in communication and to strengthen relationships with stakeholders. He is also working diligently to resolve the ICC/NFPA Fire Code issue. Chief Grijalva spoke further on issues related to enforcement and education that the SFM is providing to the California Fire Service. Chief Grijalva is seeking greater compliance in several areas of code enforcement including inspection fraud of newly constructed fire equipment and devices.

President’s Report (see executive minutes)

Committee reports (None provided see monthly minutes)
The meeting was adjourned at 1430 hours

Respectfully submitted,

Bruce Lecair, Secretary