An alarming number of firefighters across the country are being criminally charged, injured and killed while performing duties intended to protect the public. Fire service leaders have an obligation to firefighters to provide a safe working environment and to the public to limit liability that may be imposed on their department.

This August at FRI in Dallas, come hear fire service veterans Bill Tricarico and Dave Denniston at this no-holds barred session as they present the leading causes of injury, death and liability issues facing fire service organizations and provide sample procedures to help limit exposure.

We recently spoke with Fire Commissioner Bill Tricario of Cortland, NY and Past Chief Dave Denniston of Cortlandville, NY, about their presentation Extinguishing the Flames of Liability, Thursday, August 27th at 1:30 pm at FRI:

Q. What can today’s fire service leaders do to create a safer working environment for their firefighters?

A. Active leadership is a major step towards providing a safer work environment for firefighters today. Leaders must develop, implement and monitor policy to make sure everyone is on the same page.

Q. What are the top liability issues facing emergency service organizations today?

A. Our session will explore topics from sexual harassment to emergency vehicle operations and failure to use the incident command system.

Q. What is one thing people can start doing today that would improve the safety measures in their departments?

A. Follow the rules. These include everything from department SOP’s to recognized standards. You don’t need to reinvent the wheel, most of the stuff is already out there. We will help you find it.

Q. What are the top three takeaways from your presentation?

A. Leadership, Leadership and did we mention Leadership? Most of an organizations problems and safety issues can be traced back to the failure of leadership to identify and fix issues within their organization.

If you haven't yet registered for FRI, do so now as early registration ends July 17. Online registration is available through the FRI website.