For Immediate Release
Monday, May 10, 2010
Fire District 12 Chief Darrell Guilott and Deputy Chief Stephen Krentel, Fire District 4 Chief Merrick Tassin, and 11 other fire service leaders from throughout Louisiana were in Washington the last week of April as part of the Congressional Fire Services Institute’s 22nd annual event.
The delegation met with Senators David Vitter and Mary Landrieu and Congressman Steve Scalise.
Established in 1989 as a nonprofit, nonpartisan policy institute, CFSI is designed to educate members of Congress about the needs and challenges of our nation’s fire and emergency services so that the federal government provides the types of training and funding needed by our first responders.
“We were very pleased that our federal lawmakers made time to meet with us to discuss local fire service issues,” Guilott said. “Although the fire service is present in almost every community in the U.S., many political leaders don’t understand the diversity of services we provide or the complexity of our needs. The opportunity to educate them and their willingness to hear us are tremendous.”
“St. Tammany’s citizens are generous with their support of local fire districts through millages,” Krentel said, “but we still rely heavily on federal monies to acquire expensive equipment and add personnel. Our population growth in recent years has increased the demands on our agency and other fire districts in our parish. To have the ear of Congress is a great opportunity.”
For more information about the Congressional Fire Services Institute, visit http://www.CFSI.org. For more information about Fire District 12, visit http://www.FD12.org.
