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USFA Transition to the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA)

Posted on May 4, 2007 by Charlie Dickinson, Acting Assistant Administrator, USFA

If there is one lesson I have learned in my many years in the fire service, nothing ever stays the same. Throughout my career journey, from Hayward, California; to Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania; and to today as Acting Assistant Administrator for the USFA, the challenges, tools, responsibilities and demands faced by all firefighters have seen both radical and improved changes.

Remembering back through the years, it seems as though our most significant changes in the fire service would be motivated by the lessons learned by firefighters during response to national events. Events such as the Beverly Hills Supper Club fire, Oklahoma City bombing, Kansas City Skywalk collapse, the major high rise fires and so many others have all led to changes in the way we as firefighters conduct our business. And we are aware of the actions of all first responders and our nation on September 11, 2001 and the radical changes and challenges we have witnessed since.

Before continuing it is important to point out the journey made over the past 30 years by the many current and former members of the USFA staff has also been one of change and adapting to these lessons learned. Just as it was in the beginning of the USFA, today we continue to adjust and respond to the requests made by the nation and the firefighters that serve.

With honor, the United States Fire Administration can trace its roots back to the 1960s, when the fire services began to make their voices heard in Congress over their growing fire safety concerns. For example, concerns for the flammability of fabrics killing so many children. The unacceptable and growing number of civilian and firefighter deaths and so many other critical fire related issues covered in a growing and expanding media environment.

This national concern led to the passage of The Fire Research and Safety Act of 1968. This act established the National Commission on Fire Prevention and Control, which published America Burning in 1973. During the same period of time in 1969, President Johnson and Congress joined together to amend the Flammable Fabrics Act. This legislation strengthened safety and fire standards on flammable fabrics and gave fire research authority to the Department of Commerce and the NBS (now the National Institute of Standards and Technology or NIST), as well as data gathering authority to HHS, and regulatory authority to the Federal Trade Commission.

So it was, in the autumn of 1974, with America Burning having served as a strong motivating influence in the fire service community and having generated a nationwide effort to examine fire issues, President Ford signed the Fire Prevention and Control Act, Public Law 93-498, on October 29, 1974. With this legislation, the United States Fire Administration was created.

As I look back on the history of the USFA, and it’s organizational journey from department to department and then to FEMA in 1979, it becomes apparent to me, the leadership of this nation has asked the USFA to be just as responsive to national demands and the threats from fire, as a community looks to their firefighters to get the same job done. No matter the time of day, the scope of the challenge or the sacrifice needed, the fire service will be there doing what it does best, serving people in need. And so it is with the USFA. Regardless of the challenge, serving the nation’s fire service and residents with research, data, training, prevention, public education and the list seems to grow.

In the fall of 2005, the USFA was organizationally moved from FEMA to the new Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Preparedness Directorate. This newly created Preparedness Directorate presented new opportunities for the USFA to contribute to the preparedness of a nation and its firefighters in this new environment of post 9-11. From an organizational perspective, the USFA would be closer to the Secretary’s office and be given a presence directly at DHS headquarters in DC, something the USFA desired and did not have until joining the Preparedness Directorate.

The challenges of standing up a new directorate were many, but in the end I am proud to report the USFA continued its “can do” attitude throughout this mission assignment. The USFA staff represented both the firefighters and the fire related concerns of this nation, admirably.

During the past year the USFA has experienced a great deal regarding the many missions and people within the Department of Homeland Security. The USFA also has participated in a number of new and exciting opportunities for the fire service. One example that comes to mind is the recent fire service inclusion into the National Operation Center (NOC) and our welcomed participation in the nation’s efforts to protect its residents. The NOC serves DHS as its eyes and ear for national and global situational awareness. Having fire service personnel in this operational unit is a critical must as fire services adapt to these new challenges presented by terrorism.

Another significant USFA effort during this time in the Preparedness Directorate has been the growth and development of our nation’s Incident Management Teams and the significant contributions the USFA staff are currently making to the Emergency Support Function #4 of the National Response Plan. There are many other positive efforts, including training, data collection and analysis, prevention and preparedness projects, along with a number of new projects to ensure firefighters are better prepared to handle the challenges of terrorism.

Likewise, Katrina has taught us the importance for fire departments and firefighters to be prepared for extended operations. Having a plan for firefighter families, their location, their safety and security is a critical preparedness step to ensure a firefighter focused on response. We also know the importance of fire department preplanning for their continuity of operations. What will a department do if all stations are flooded or destroyed? What will a fire department and community do when their fire apparatus is completely lost to either a man-made or nature driven disasters? All of these lessons were learned first hand while in service to the Preparedness Directorate and Under Secretary George Forseman.

On behalf of the entire staff of the United States Fire Administration, I want to thank those we met in our Preparedness journey throughout DHS and the many people we got to meet and know over the past year. We learned a great deal from them and hopefully we left them with a stronger working knowledge of just how valuable the nation’s fire departments and firefighters are to this nation’s safety and security, and a better understanding of the “can do” attitude of all fire service members.

On April 1, 2007, the USFA rejoined FEMA to support FEMA Administrator R. David Paulison and his staff as they move forward and lead the new FEMA. The USFA’s journey to the Preparedness Directorate and back to FEMA has been worthwhile. The return to FEMA has been made easier as we were there for many years prior. While there are some new personnel, there are those individuals who have been around for many years. It has been a comfortable return to the new FEMA over the past month.

As we now move forward in support of the new FEMA, I feel it important to mention the USFA’s desire to join all efforts within DHS to provide U.S. residents the information they need to be prepared themselves, their families and businesses to be self sufficient and self supporting in emergencies for the first 72 hours of catastrophic events. As a fire service, we pride ourselves on rapid response and intervention of emergencies. We know all too well, that in large events that is not the case. People must be prepared to protect and sustain themselves and their families for the first 72 hours of disasters.

Much like a fire company arriving on scene and reporting to an Incident Commander, the USFA too arrived on April 1st and reported to FEMA leadership and asked what we can do to assist and contribute to the new FEMA. All USFA programs, projects, data management and National Fire Academy curricula are making the necessary changes and adaptations to support not only the fire service, but the new FEMA.

There is, without a doubt, a change and adaptation the fire service needs to begin making in order to support FEMA, the Department of Homeland Security, the Congress and our President. The nation’s fire departments and all fire service members are now being looked to for their ability to create Centers of Excellence so that local fire departments may help lead and assist their communities into full National Incident Management System (NIMS) compliance. The nation, through FEMA, is looking for fire department leaders to demonstrate our abilities to train and implement NIMS, to include ICS, Unified Command, credentialing, mutual-aid agreements, and risk-vulnerability-threat analysis and reduction. Just as law enforcement, non-governmental agencies and others have their roles and responsibilities, so too does the fire service have a critical contribution to make in their communities, and to be honest, this task assignment by FEMA should be exciting as firefighters have been doing this for many years and have a wealth of knowledge to contribute to all first responders and their communities.

From my years of service at different levels, I am excited to be a part of this next change for the fire service. I look forward to working closely with the IAFC, NVFC, IAFF, NFPA and all other fire service organizations in helping every community to create Centers of Excellence for FEMA Administrator Paulison, his FEMA management team and the leadership of the Department of Homeland Security.

Will you join with us in support of our nation’s safety, through your Center of Excellence? FEMA, DHS, Congress, and our President needs the fire service’s “can do” approach to this challenge. Will we as firefighters, have the courage to take these steps to help implement the current and growing national body of knowledge for response to significant events for all residents? The USFA looks forward to supporting the many efforts of the new FEMA, and to serving you.

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