Vice President Cheney featured as keynote speaker; says the federal government must do its part in providing critical resources that our firefighters need

Washington, DC - The 16th Annual National Fire and Emergency Services Dinner, a fundraising event drawing nearly 2,100 attendees, was held on Wednesday, May 5 to honor America’s firefighters and emergency personnel. In addition to raising funds, the dinner served to increase awareness of the critical initiatives released last month to meet the United States Fire Administration’s (USFA) stated goal to reduce firefighter fatalities by 25 percent in five years and 50 percent in ten years.

In his acceptance speech as Congressional Fire Services Institute’s (CFSI) Fire Service Leadership Award, USFA Fire Administrator R. David Paulison stated, “We must make sure all firefighters go home. We must reduce the number of heroes dying everyday. I’m a realist. We may never get to zero but one hundred is way too many.”

In order to meet USFA’s goals, the federal government must commit critical resources so that our firefighters are able to receive state-of-the-art safety equipment and training. Senator Paul Sarbanes (MD), co-chairman of the CFSI congressional caucus stated, "more needs to be done to ensure that firefighters are provided with the tools, gear, and equipment necessary to safely and effectively respond to the next alarm."

Congressman Steny Hoyer (MD), co-chairman of the caucus added, "Congress and the Administration remain committed to ensuring that the men and women serving our country receive the most advanced equipment and best training available. But for too long, our nation's firefighters and emergency personnel have been asked to risk their lives every day protecting our homes, our families, and our places of business, with outdated equipment and insufficient training. I am committed to ensuring that these domestic defenders have the best training and equipment necessary to do their jobs safely and effectively."

Vice President Dick Cheney summarized our country’s need to support our first responders best when he said, "We must support our nation’s firefighters and emergency personnel, because the demands of your job are greater than ever. You are prepared, after all, for the millions of calls that must be answered every year. And in this period of testing for America, every firefighter knows that the next alarm could be a terrorist attack. You have always been essential to the security of our communities, and now you are essential to the defense of our homeland."

For more information on the National Fallen Firefighters Foundation and the critical initiatives to significantly reduce firefighter fatalities, visit www.firehero.org.

The NFFF is a nonprofit organization established in 1992 by Congress to lead a nationwide effort to honor America’s fallen firefighters and to provide resources to assist their survivors in rebuilding their lives. The NFFF has developed numerous programs to fulfill this mandate including: hosting the National Fallen Firefighters Memorial Weekend; creating the first permanent Memorial Park honoring all fallen firefighters; providing emotional support through peer support networks for survivors and senior fire officers; awarding scholarships to survivors for education and job training; and serving as a clearinghouse of information about firefighters killed in the line of duty.