WILKES-BARRE, Pa. — Inside the Princess Room at Genetti's in Wilkes-Barre, fire chiefs from all over the state are meeting in person for the first time in a long time for a Pennsylvania Career Fire Chiefs Association conference.
"So for almost two years, because of COVID, we had have virtual zoom meetings," explained President of the PCFCA and Wilkes-Barre Fire Chief Jay Delaney. "And these fire service leaders really like to get together to talk about what's happening in their communities. What can we do to be better at what we do? So for them to get together and to break bread once again."
Delaney says it means a lot.
"The bond that these fire service leaders have, you just can't do that on a monitor screen. Okay? Having these in-person conversations for almost three days and getting to sit down and talk with them over issues," added Delaney. "Some of these fire chiefs have had line of duty deaths, they lost firefighters due to fires and other things in their departments. So to be able to sit down and talk about that up and personal computer screen doesn't cut it."
FEMA and State Officials were here too to help address and brainstorm on problems facing departments.
"So it's pretty simple. It's people, we need people," said acting State Fire Commissioner Thomas Cook. "There's not enough firefighters in Pennsylvania. So, where do we find more volunteers? Where do we get more correct people interested in and career in firefighting? Then the second priority becomes funding. How do we get more money into the hands of the fire departments to cover their costs of doing business?"
These are just some of the topics discussed here in addition to grant applications and combating problems from the pandemic.
"They were challenges during the pandemic period because we were unable to do a lot of the things face to face that are became routine business for fire departments over the last 2030 years," said Cook.
The focus for the chiefs from across the state was education and leadership and will continue tomorrow with business matters and legislation topics.
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