Four fire service leaders testified before the House Science, Space and Technology’s Subcommittee on Technology and Innovation Thursday to back the U.S. Fire Administration. Funding for USFA expires Sept. 30 and supporters are seeking funding authorization through 2017.
"[USFA’s] FY2011 budget of only $45 million is not a large federal spending program, said Tucson Fire Chief Jim Critchley, who also is president of the Western Fire Chiefs Association. “However, the agency plays an effective role in the inherently governmental function of protecting the American public.”
Critchley represented the International Association of Fire Chiefs at the hearing. IAFC is urge the House committee to introduce legislation to authorize $76.49 million for the USFA through FY2017, similar to current legislation that has been introduced in the Senate.
Representing the National Fire Protection Agency, Dr. John Hall, Jr. discussed how USFA continues to evolve.
“In the years since the USFA was founded, the fire service has transformed itself into an all-hazard emergency response force,” Hall said. “As our technology takes on ever more varied forms and our lives and economies become ever more globally interconnected, we have asked our fire service to perform ever more varied tasks....”
Hall said that first responders “have responded to every challenge and everything we have asked of them. And for nearly 40 years, the USFA has been there to raise their capabilities and help address their needs.”
“The public, media, and local governments are generally unaware of the magnitude and severity of the fire problem to individuals and their families, to communities, and to the nation,” said USFA Administrator Ernest Mitchell, Jr. Mitchell encouraged expanding initiatives to address fire service deployment strategies for events such as floods, hurricanes and terrorism. “USFA has and must continue to work with fire service stakeholders and partners to expand local fire service participation in emergency preparedness.”