Baskin Robbins 31 Cent Scoop Night - April 30th - 4/28/2008

Next Wednesday night, April 30th, from 5-10pm Baskin Robbins is having a 31 cent scoop night. Every small ice cream scoop is only 31 cents (limit 10 per person)! This event is in honor of our firefighters, and Baskin Robbins is donating $100,000 to the National Fallen Firefighters Foundation.  Some B&R locations will be taking donations as well. Here's a link for more information: http://www.baskinrobbins.com/promotion/31cent.aspx National Fallen Firefighters Foundation

Recruits Graduate - 4/12/2008

On April 12th, 2008, recruits Les Bernard and Chris Courtney both graduated from the New York State Firefighter I class. The completion of the course marks the beginning of their volunteer firefighting career. The 13 week course provides information and skills within the following general topic areas: fire department organization, firefighter safety, fire behavior, personal protective equipment, self-contained breathing apparatus, fire extinguishers, building searches, forcible entry, ground ladders, ventilation, hose practices, fire streams, and loss control.

House Passes Tax Relief For Volunteer Firefighters and EMS Personnel - 11/7/2007

November 7, 2007 House Passes Tax Relief For Volunteer Firefighters and EMS Personnel Yesterday, the United States House of Representatives passed the Heroes Earnings Assistance and Relief Tax (HEART) Act, which excludes from taxable income all property tax benefits and up to $360 per year of any other benefit paid to volunteer firefighters and EMS personnel by state and local units of government. According to the Joint Committee on Taxation, passage of the HEART Act (H.R. 3997) will result in $994 million in tax savings for volunteer firefighters and EMS personnel over the next 10 years. Volunteer firefighters save American taxpayers more than $37.2 billion every year. Unfortunately, statistics show that the number of volunteer firefighters in the country have decreased over the last 20 years even as the average age of volunteer firefighters has gone up. Many communities have discovered that providing benefits to their volunteer firefighters and EMS personnel has a positive impact on retention and recruitment. Taxation of these benefits by the federal government reduces their value as an incentive to the volunteer and creates a significant administrative burden on small municipalities and townships. On October 17, National Volunteer Fire Council (NVFC) Connecticut State Director John McAuliffe testified before the House Ways and Means Committee about the need to prohibit the federal taxation of benefits for volunteer firefighters and EMS personnel. Since then, the NVFC worked closely with other organizations and members of the Ways and Means Committee to ensure that language providing tax relief to volunteer firefighters and EMS personnel was included in the HEART Act, which also includes various provisions regarding taxation of military income. On November 5, the NVFC, along with three other national organizations, sent a letter to the Chairman and Ranking Member of the Committee expressing support for passage of the HEART Act. H.R. 3997 now goes to the Senate, where it will be considered by the Committee on Finance. The NVFC urges its members to contact their Senators and ask that they support passage of the HEART Act.

School Bus Extrication Drill - 7/30/2007

In the United States every year, approximately 440,000 public school buses travel more than 4 billion miles and daily transport 25 million children to and from schools and school-related activities. School buses account for an estimated 10 billion student trips each year. That means approximately 54% of all K-12 students in the country ride yellow school buses. Brighton Firefighters, recognizing the need for ongoing training to keep children safer, obtained an out of service full size bus to practice rescue techniques in the event of an accident. Firefighters simulated an accident involving an upright school bus as well as a rollover. Some techniques practiced were:  Glass removal, door removal, establishing a rescue corridor, side and rear panel removal. A variety of tools were used including: Jaws of Life, hydraulic cutters, air chisel, reciprocating saw, hand tools and pry bars. Firefighter drill to worst case scenario to help better prepare themselves should the need for a technical rescue occur. We would like to thank Laidlaw for donating a bus and their overall commitment to keeping children safe.   [1/15]