NFFF Joins Effort to Prevent “Single Stairway” Exits
The National Fallen Firefighters Foundation (NFFF) has joined other major fire service groups in opposing the efforts in some jurisdictions to reduce the number of required exit stairwells and permit a single means of egress in multifamily buildings up to six stories. Current model codes require at least two means of egress in residential occupancies above three stories. Several states have used—or are in the process of using—legislation to supersede the model safety codes, thus placing occupants and firefighters at greater risk of injury and death.
National Fire Service Organizations Express Outrage at Cuts to Grants to Local Fire Departments
The International Association of Fire Chiefs, the International Association of Fire Fighters, the National Volunteer Fire Council, the Congressional Fire Services Institute, the National Fallen Firefighters Foundation, and the National Fire Protection Association all joined together in a unified voice to express outrage at recently proposed cuts to the Assistance to Firefighters Grant (AFG) and Staffing for Adequate Fire and Emergency Response (SAFER) programs. Our organizations call upon Congress to restore funding to these programs.
The Public Safety Officer Support Act of 2022
On August 16, 2022, President Joe Biden signed the Public Safety Officer Support Act of 2022 into law. This new law (P.L. 117-172) makes significant changes to the Public Safety Officers’ Benefits (PSOB) program – extending coverage for first responders who die as a result of suicide under certain circumstances or are permanently and totally disabled as a result of traumatic self-inflicted injury. The law is retroactive to January 1, 2019.
