One of the Foundation's primary goals is to decrease firefighter fatalities and encourage safety practices among firefighters. The National Fire Service Seat Belt Pledge was designed with the same goal in mind. The Pledge was created by Dr. Burton A. Clark, EFO, CFO, an instructor at the National Fire Academy, in honor of 2005 fallen firefighter Brian Hunton.

"I pledge to wear my seat belt whenever I am riding in a Fire Department vehicle. I further pledge to insure that all my brother and sister firefighters riding with me wear their seat belts. I am making this pledge willingly; to honor Brian Hunton, my brother firefighter, because wearing seat belts is the right thing to do."

Firefighter Christopher Brian Hunton, age 27, was a member of the Amarillo (Texas) Fire Department for one year. On April 23, 2005 he fell out of his fire truck responding to an alarm. He died two days later from his injuries. Brian was not wearing his seatbelt.

The goal of the program is to collect one million firefighter signatures by June 21, 2007. If you are a member of the fire service, we encourage you and the members of your department to sign the pledge and always wear a seatbelt. You can download pledge forms from: www.trainingdivision.com/seatbeltpledge.asp.