January 2005.indd - International Association of Fire Chiefs

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IAFC Profile Jose Torres: Washington Flyer driver is ‘always there’ By Jule Gardner Jose Torres figures he’s driven about 1.7 million miles in his cab without an accident. It’s without doubt an impressive safe driving record. But it’s only one reason Torres has become the preferred “Washington Flyer” taxi service driver of the IAFC. Torres’ association with this association started about 14 years ago, when he picked up Executive Director Garry Briese as a customer. Briese noticed Torres’ courteousness and his dependability and has come to rely on it for himself, IAFC members and the IAFC staff. “ I wait for the customer; I don’t like the customer to wait for me. ” –Jose Torres “Jose is the most reliable and pleasant person,” Briese said. “We have enjoyed a long relationship and he’s always there when we need him. I have tremendous respect for his driving and safety record!” “That was one of the best things I did,” Torres said about gaining Briese as a “regular.” “Now I think I have taken care of at least 10 of the last presidents (of IAFC).” Washington Flyer drives people to and from the airports surrounding Washington, D.C. – Dulles, Reagan The Emergency Management and Response-Information Sharing and Analysis Center (EMR-ISAC), in development since 1998, became even more relevant after Sept. 11, 2001. Thousands of fire chiefs and departments have signed on, provided and received sensitive information. Now, the center’s level of information-sharing has become even more relevant and specific. As of Nov. 1, the center can regionally target information. The newest development came out of EMR-ISAC’s efforts to improve its successful “Infogram” and sensitive Critical Infrastructure Protection, or CIP, information-sharing programs, National and Baltimore/Washington International – although Torres will take his regulars anywhere they want to go. And he will get there early, without charging for waiting time. “I wait for the customer,” he said. “I don’t like the customer to wait for me.” The 2003 Lincoln Town Car he currently drives is his fourth car. He puts about 500,000 miles on each car before trading it in, which is how he estimated his mileage. He started driving with Washington Flyer after moving to the capital region from New York City, where he ran a parking garage. He came to the U.S. from Ecuador in 1970 and has a home in northern Virginia he shares with his wife and four children. Two have graduated from college and two are still in college. “Education is a priority for me,” he said. “It’s the only way to have a better life. … That’s why I work seven days a week. It’s expensive!” Regarding his safe driving record, Torres chalks some of it up to luck. But he’s careful, too, he said. He doesn’t speed unless there’s an emergency. “What’s the point of going 80 miles per hour and get to the airport two minutes earlier?” he asked. He leaves early, checks his mirrors often and he does not get easily frustrated by things he cannot change, namely traffic. “You have to deal with the traffic,” he said. “There is no other way. If I get angry with traffic or with another driver, I could get in an accident.” “Sometimes,” he said, “if a customer available to chiefs and officers in emergency services. Located at the National Emergency Training Center, a secure facility, the EMR-ISAC can provide round-theclock operations and CIP information for first responders during periods of national crisis. Nearly 17,000 emergency responders receive CIP information from the EMR-ISAC, and the numbers continue to rise on a daily basis. Using an Internet-based secure portal, accessed through www.DisasterHelp. gov, the center disseminates Department of Homeland Security Sensitive CIP Information, labeled “For Official Use Only,” to key federal, Jose Torres, the IAFC’s longtime taxi driver, talks to a passenger in the backseat while driving in downtown Washington. Torres estimates his safe-driving record at 1.7 million miles. IAFC President Chief Bob DiPoli, left, is recently picked up at Regan National Airport by ‘Washington Flyer’ Jose Torres, who has driven at least 10 of the past presidents of IAFC. wants to take a different way, I say OK. I will go whatever way the customer wants, even if there will be more traffic. If not, I pick what I think will be the best and say to the customer: ‘I’m going to go this way. I hope you like it.’” Torres hopes to cut back some hours and retire within five years. But it’s not because he is unhappy. state, tribal and local emergency service leaders (including fire, EMS and police department chief and deputy chief officers; senior emergency managers; and fire marshals). Relevant examples of recently disseminated CIP information include “Potential Terrorist Use of Emergency Vehicles” (10/14/04) and “How Terrorists Might Exploit a Natural Disaster” (9/15/04). The sensitive CIP informationsharing initiative supports effective preparedness and mitigation activities by emergency departments. It provides a degree of knowledge that agency leaders must have to enhance organizational survivability, continuity “I am fortunate,” he said. “I have flexibility. … I could not have an inside job. “And I have beautiful customers,” Torres said. “They are wonderful people to work with.” ✠ Jule Gardner is IAFC’s communications manager and editor of On Scene. Sign up now: Sensitive information sharing targets specific regions of operations, and mission success. Several chief officer recipients of this no-cost sharing endeavor have said it gives them the time and information necessary to appropriately adjust emergency plans and operations, and to protect their internal critical infrastructures against terrorism. To receive sensitive CIP information, you must be willing to provide your full name, duty position or title, electronic address, organization/agency name and physical address. @ For more information on how to sign up to receive this information, visit: http://disasterhelp.gov/usfacip. html. 6 IAFC On Scene/January 15, 2005
By Chief John M. Buckman III German Township Volunteer Fire Department VCOS Chairman: 1994-1997 When I became chairman, I envisioned an organization that would provide something to chiefs of volunteer departments to help them become better leaders. One of our first projects was to research volunteer leadership training throughout the country. We found very few courses designed for volunteer leadership with volunteer subjects. That’s when the committee developed the leadership course, still delivered today as an updated version of the original. We also spent considerable time at board meetings to see how the organization worked and quickly realized that if we were to be effective, we needed to establish ourselves as a section. We were successful in motivating the IAFC members at the St. Louis Fire-Rescue International to sign the petitions and attend the very first meeting. That meeting room in St. Louis overflowed. The crowd was loud and boisterous and I am forever indebted to Chief Mike Chiaramonte, who was serving as a board member, for coming forward to run the first meeting. I really enjoyed my tenure as chairman and still look at the VCOS board and officers with a tremendous amount of pride in what they are doing to help the volunteer and combination leadership. ✠ Ten years of VCOS: Reflections on IAFC’s Volunteer/Combination Officers Section By Chief Fred Windisch Ponderosa Volunteer Fire Department VCOS Chairman: 1997-1999 During the “formative” years of my chairmanship, we had a lot of focus on bylaws, organizational procedures and our attempts to “nationalize” the VCOS. (We’re still working on that…) I remember the solid support given by the IAFC Board of Directors and IAFC staff. We understood we were still new, but the constant support helped guide us through the hard times. I also remember discussing with Chief Buckman two dreams. The first one was the development of the Leadership Course and the second one was the symposium. The Leadership Course is truly more than a dream; it’s a very successful effort to educate our peers. That dream became a reality when a simple question was posed to Pierce Manufacturing: What can you do to help educate the volunteer fire service? The rest is history. The Symposium started as a “what if” question. We started with 105 attendees; six years later we had 350. We’ve broken even or lost a little in some years, and we had some positive revenue to do more VCOS projects in other years. I believe symposium attendees will attest to the success. VCOS is truly an organization of dynamics. The commitment of our past, present and future board members, along with a strong membership base, will certainly benefit our nation’s volunteer and combination fire service. ✠ By Deputy Chief Larry Curl Hilmon Firefighters, Inc. VCOS Chairman: 2002-present Just over two years ago when I stepped into this position, my first reaction was fear. I was truly fearful of not being able to lead such a terrific organization as well as my predecessors had done. Since taking office, I have been assisted by an executive committee made up of Robert Bettenhausen, Fred Windisch and Tim Wall, and we work together as a real partnership in the managing of VCOS. We’ve just completed our tenth year, and what a success story that has been. We have had the opportunity to lay a strong foundation upon which we continue to build. We have had some of the very finest fire service leadership join our board and assist in the overall development and management of VCOS. We have strengthened the 21st Century Leadership program that was started just a few years ago and remain thankful to our sponsor of this program, Pierce Manufacturing. We’ve just completed our sixth VCOS Symposium and, while getting started was a bit shaky, we have overcome that and are now on the road to providing all our attendees with one of the finest educational opportunities available. We have established a strategic plan (just over two years old) that will soon be going into a revision mode, and we have created a list of partnerships more valuable to us than gold. It would be a huge misstatement to say all of these things, and others I didn’t have space to mention here, are the direct result of my being chairman. What I can say is that under my term as chairman, our successes are due to those who surround me. ✠ Note: Chief Peter McMahon (Retired), Grand Island Fire Co., also served as VCOS Chairman: 1999-2000. The VCOS crew at a board meeting: Bottom row, from left: Tim Wall, John Buckman, Fred Windisch, Robert Bettenhausen. Top row, from left: Neil Good, Gary Scott, Mike Chiaramonte, Pete McMahon and Ed Arons By Chief Fire Inspector Michael Chiaramonte Lynbrook Volunteer Fire Department VCOS Chairman: 2000-2002 At the time of my chairmanship, the VCOS had few funds and we needed to communicate with our members. We obtained sponsorship to print a quarterly newsletter and we developed the VCOS Web site. New board members came on board and used their talents to advance the mission of the VCOS. Partnerships were made, including one with the National Volunteer Fire Council. The VCOS Leadership Course was refined. We were at the beginning of being recognized as the voice of the volunteers. We changed our name from the Volunteer Chief Officers Section to the Volunteer and Combination Officers Section, recognizing the ever-growing number of volunteer departments that have gone combination. We realized that these organizations are managing volunteers and we needed to take care of our members. We worked closely with the National Fire Academy to allow more members of the combination fire service to attend VIP courses. In fact, we worked with the academy to increase the number of VIP courses as well. Overall, it was a very productive and exciting time in the history of the VCOS. ✠ John Buckman checks over one of the exhibit halls at Fire Rescue International. The VCOS Board following a symposium and board meeting in Florida: Bottom row (from left) John Buckman, Robert Bettenhausen, Larry Curl, Tom Kuntz; Top row (from left) Fred Windisch, Steve Miller, John Leahy, Tim Wall, Jim Wilson, John Heath, Mike Chiaramonte Fred Windisch takes brainstorming to a new level at a VCOS board meeting at IAFC. IAFC On Scene/January 15, 2005 7
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January 2005.indd - International Association of Fire Chiefs

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