News

On September 19, a delegation of 19 volunteer firefighters from Japan toured the Cabin John Park Volunteer Fire Department (CJPVFD) in Bethesda and met with National Volunteer Fire Council (NVFC) Chairman Philip C. Stittleburg, NVFC Maryland Alternate Director and CJPVFD Fire Chief Jim Seavey, Maryland State Firemen's Association (MSFA) President Paul Sterling Jr., and CJPVFD President Mike Harding.  The visiting delegation included representatives from the Japan Firefighters Association, Japan Fire Protection Association, Japan Compensation Fund for Firefighters, Japan Fire Instruments Safety Association, and 11 different Japanese volunteer fire departments.

 

"I'd like to thank you for coming here to meet with us and to exchange ideas," Stittleburg told the delegation. "It is clear to me that the volunteer fire service in America and Japan face similar challenges - responding to terrorist acts and natural disasters, recruitment and retention of personnel, and locating the resources to pay for adequate training, equipment, and apparatus."

 

At the meeting, Stittleburg formally accepted an invitation to represent the United States at the 2008 International Volunteer Fire Service Conference, which will take place next May in Japan . The conference is sponsored by the Japan Firefighters Association and will involve fire service leaders from 15-20 major industrialized countries around the world.

 

"I am honored to accept your invitation to participate in the International Volunteer Fire Service Conference," said Stittleburg. "Even though the problems we face are the same, different countries develop different means for dealing with them. Interactions like this provide us with a tremendous opportunity to exchange knowledge and ideas about emergency response that have developed in other cultures."

 

The delegation is on a fire service tour of North America. In addition to the event at CJPVFC, the NVFC has helped the delegation schedule a tour of the National Fire Academy in Emmitsburg, MD, a meeting with USFA Administrator Gregory Cade, and a tour of New Orleans, LA. In two previous delegation visits, the NVFC facilitated a trip to Ground Zero in New York City and a meeting with FEMA Director R. David Paulison.