Letters to the
Editor
Association of Fire districts of the State of
New York, Inc
April 23, 2008
Suffolk Country Fire Chief's Council
Hauppauge Fire Department
855 Wheeler Rd
Hauppauge, NY 11788
Past Chief Ronald Barz:
Thank you on behalf of the Association of Fire districts of the
State of New York for your untiring dedication in attempting to
unify the legislative efforts of the Volunteer Fire Service. The
turn out of volunteer representatives form Nassau, Suffolk, and
Monroe Counties, at the Congressional Fire Caucus in Washington,
is a positive indication your efforts are beginning to take
hold.
Thank you to the Suffolk Committee, Greg Anderson, Robert
Holley, Vinny Puleo, and Craig Zitek. I would also like to thank
John Urevich for his assistance in the reserving a room for me
at the Hilton Washington.
Many thanks to your Nassau and Monroe counterparts for a great
job in coordinating and organizing their Counties; Ray McGuire
and Robert Kloepfer from Nassau, and Bill Gillette and Al Camp
from Monroe.
Keep up the great work.
Very truly yours,
John LoScalso
2nd Second Vice President
AFDSNY
April 17, 2008
Chief Ron Barz
New York & Long Island CFSI Coalition
668 Nichols Rd
Hauppauge, NY 11788
Dear Ron:
Thank you for the beautiful bell trophy presented to me at the
CFSI dinner form the New York and Long Island CFSI Coalition. It
is one of the most graceful and handsome trophies I have ever
seen.
Instead of going in the trophy case in my "fire room," it has a
place of honor on my desk where I work everyday. It also has a
special meaning to me because I was a New York volunteer
firefighter for five years (Port Chester, Fire Patrol & Rescue
Company).
I've retired as chairman of the National Fallen Firefighters
Foundation, but I intended to remain active and still be a part
of our mission to support the families of fallen firefighters
and to reduce the line-of-duty death toll so that "Everyone Goes
Home" becomes a reality and not just a slogan.
Thank you for your support Long Island firefighters have given
to the Foundation in so many ways and thanks again for the kin
words and beautiful trophy.
With best regards,
Hal Bruno
As many of you have probably heard, the committee has denied
placing the names of Firefighters Paul Brady (Malverne FD) and
Wilbur Ritter (Sayville FD) on the Fallen Firefighters Memorial
in Albany. Both of these gentlemen died in the Line of Duty and
both deserve to have their names on the wall.
As you may also have heard, the NY State Chiefs representative
to this committee also voted “no.” The reason that the State
Chiefs representative voted NO was because he believes that the
cases will have a better chance in the appeals process. In the
appeals process, the cases are reviewed by a three- person
appeals board: State Fire Administrator Floyd Madison, a
representative from FASNY; and a representative from the Paid
Firefighters Union. A majority vote is all that is required.
Tom LaBelle from NY State Fire Chiefs would like to help the
Sayville and Malverne FD’s write and submit their Appeals.
Apparently the objections with the current submissions comes
from the Paid side. To the Chiefs from Malverne and Sayville
FD’s, please contact Tom LaBelle:(800) 676-FIRE or (518)
477-2631; tlabelle@nysfirechiefs.com , for his assistance in
preparing the appeals.
There is obviously a problem with the current process, which we
must address! The fact that these firefighters’ names are placed
on the Wall at the National Memorial in Emmetsburg, but are
denied inclusion on the memorial in their home state is
SHAMEFUL!
Craig Zitek, President
Suffolk County Fire Chiefs Council
