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April 18, 2006

The Juvenile Firesetter Program in Maine

Maine Fire Training and Education (MFTE) and Southern Maine Community College (SMCC) have supported the Juvenile Firesetter Program (JFS) in recent years because of our awareness of its need and our commitment to the program.

So far pilot programs are underway in Androscoggin, York and Cumberland Counties and activities can also be found elsewhere in the state supported in part by MFTE. MFTE and SMCC affirm its support for this program. Recent reports due largely to miscommunication have suggested otherwise.

SMCC staffs from MFTE and its Criminal Justice program are now actively working with other stakeholders to develop a state-wide model for a full-scale JFS program in Maine to be funded with federal government fire prevention grant money. A meeting will be convened within the next few weeks involving key personnel from state and local fire, law enforcement, DHHS, pubic education, private organizations and others to develop a model to serve as the centerpiece of our grant application.

We intend to submit a grant application to the National Fire Prevention Association and other appropriate resources. A truly robust and effective JFS program activated throughout the state of Maine will require federal funding.

The college recognizes and has a continuing commitment to those who have led in the development of an awareness of the juvenile firesetter problem and the initial programs to attempt to meet it.

Dave Niklaus
Interim Fire Administrator

January, 2006 UPDATE

MFT&E Welcomes New Training Program Manager

We at MFT&E are very pleased to join SMCC Vice President Dean Sortor in welcoming Walter Morris to the MFT&E Operations staff. Walter is an experienced fire service trainer whose love for our state has led him to continue his fire training career in Maine. Walter brings a broad background to MFT&E including Haz-Mat, safety, fire officer, inspections and code enforcement, as well as extensive fire instruction, coordination and training facilities management experience. New York's loss is definitely Maine's gain! Walter serves as MFT&E Region 2 (formerly West Region) Training Program Manager, a position held by Peter Rines before his move to the new Curriculum & Certification Program Manager's position. Please join us in welcoming Walter!

Banner Year for MFT&E!
9.22.06 Update:

MFT&E recently published its FY 06 (07.01.05 thru 06.30.06) Annual Report. MFT&E operations staff delivered 258 courses statewide, serving 4178 students. A brief synopsis:

TYPE OF TRAINING	COURSES + SERVICES	STUDENTS
Apparatus Testing/Spec.	0	0
Certification (Written Tests)	25	346
Certification (Practical Tests)	11	286
Certification (Phys. Fit. Assess.)	4	37
Fire Academy	2	20
Fire Dept. TP Manager Visits	20	N/A
Hazardous Materials	10	224
Industrial Education	6	76
Local Community Delivery	120	1961
National Fire Academy	35	660
Professional Development	2	55
Public Education	11	445
Technical Consultation	7	N/A
Weapons of Mass Destruction	5	68
TOTALS	258	4178

Kudos to the MFT&E operations staff for providing thousands of hours of realistic, hands-on training with few accidents and no major injuries! And congratulations to the thousands of Maine fire department members who improved their knowledge and skills to better serve local citizens and accomplish their FD’s mission.

Program Review

SMCC and MFT&E continue to implement changes based on the MFT&E Program Review recommendations. The Summer, 2005 status report (available at http://www.mfte.org) provides an overview of early progress. Recent highlights include:

*Implementation and funding of a regional fire academy grant program to help fire departments working in partnership to offer regional fire academy training programs in Maine. Grants of up to $5,000 will be awarded to municipalities and counties on a 50% match basis to help fund basic fire training academies. Grant funds may be used for supplies, equipment, instructor salaries and expenses, and other direct costs. Application deadlines are November 30th and April 30th. Five applications were received for this year’s first round. The Advisory Committee’s Regional Academy Grant Subcommittee will review applications and make award recommendations to the President of SMCC. Applications are available online at http://www.mfte.org

9/22/06 Update: Regrettably, funds for the Regional Fire Academy Grant Program have not been included in the FY06 Budget. See MFTE TODAY newsletter, pg. 10 for details.

*Development of a Web blog communications network has been constructed and is being utilized as a communication link for members of the advisory committee’s curriculum and certification subcommittees. This blog is used to facilitate information and resource sharing, and on-line meetings.

*Utilization of Maine’s Asynchronous Transfer Mode (ATM) distance education system for subcommittee and other meetings. A recent subcommittee meeting utilized sites in Caribou, Augusta and Falmouth, reducing member travel and time commitments considerably.

*Development of a pilot “Basic Fire School ” for new firefighters. The basic training program is in line with Maine Bureau of Labor Standards interior structural firefighter training requirements and utilizes the Jones & Bartlett Fundamentals of Firefighting curriculum. The Basic Fire School will utilize distance (ATM) technology for classroom sessions, with students coming together for intensive skills development weekends on a monthly basis. Initial pilot delivery is planned for early Spring, 2006. On-line instruction utilizing J&B FireLearn modules will be pilot tested in future Rookie Schools.

9.22.06 Update: The first Basic Fire School pilot program has been completed and a second pilot is running in Androscoggin County this fall. See MFTE TODAY newsletter, page 5.

*Support of the Maine Fire Protection Services Commission plan for a formal study of fire and emergency services training facilities in Maine. The Fire Commission is finalizing the scope of services with a team of engineering/architectural firms to conduct the study with statewide stakeholder involvement. Grant funding for the study has been requested.

Curriculum Implementation and Certification End-Testing

In the last few months, five mutual aid training academies have completed Jones + Bartlett Firefighter I or Firefighter I + II training programs and MFT&E certification end-tests. Three additional training programs have completed IFSTA or MFT&E-1995 Firefighter I programs.

A total of 262 fire department members have completed the programs. The breakdown:

*Calais-area Firefighter I J+B
27 students

*Caribou-area Firefighter I+II J+B 32 students

*S. York County (Ogunquit) Firefighter I+II J+B
26 students

*Oxford County (Poland) Firefighter I IFSTA
30 students

*Presumpscot Valley (Gorham) FFI J+B
34 students

*Tri-County (Durham) Firefighter I+II J+B
24 students

*Etna-area Firefighter I ’95
55 students

*Central Maine FAS Firefighter I ’95
54 students

Congratulations to all the graduates and their FD’s!

MFT&E ’95 Curriculum End-Tests
Just a reminder: MFT&E will continue to offer end-tests based on the 1987 NFPA 1001 standard and 1995 MFT&E curriculum until November, 2006. This additional year will allow those students who are part way through the old modules the time to complete and be end-tested for MFT&E ’95 certification. Those students who are less than half way thru the ’95 modules are urged to switch to the new J+B blocks to complete FFI+II. Certification update opportunities will be offered by MFT&E for those who have earned earlier MFT&E certifications. Contact Peter Rines FMI.

Check out the MFT&E Web Site!
If you haven’t visited www.MFTE.org lately, take a minute to stop by. There’s a lot of new and very helpful changes, including:

*Training Calendar listing scheduled courses with course descriptions, host contact info, and all the forms you’ll need to register.

*Implementation Guide for Jones & Bartlett Fundamentals (FFI+II) Curriculum with helpful information and forms to set up, deliver and document training in all 37 chapters and 2-day training blocks of J+B FFI+II.

*Fire Officer I Academy Photo Gallery and Testimonials to give you a virtual tour of the 9-day leadership development program offered each October at the Hutchinson Leadership Development Center in Belfast. If you are a current or aspiring fire officer, check out this excellent program!

*MFT&E Course Descriptions have been updated to include the latest offerings, dozens of firefighter, driver/operator, hazmat, anti-terrorism, fire officer, fire instructor, incident management (NIMS) courses. MFT&E offers courses in a variety of schedule formats to meet student needs. Most courses are offered either free or at low cost.

If you have questions or need more information on any of these topics, please visit www.mfte.org or contact either MFT&E office.

Dave Niklaus
Interim Fire Administrator

State Advisory Committee

Archive: November 2005 Update

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