April 2010

SFFMA's 4th Vice President and long time member of SFFMA passed away on April 3rd, 2010 at approximately 10:50am.

Vice President Pat Barrett suffered a severe and fatal stroke on March 31st while having dinner in League City at a fire service function.

A Memorial Service will be held in College Station, Texas on Friday, April 9th at 10:00 a.m. and a committal service will be held on Saturday May 1st at 2:00 p.m. in Spur, Texas. Details of the committal service in Spur will be released later this week.

The Memorial Service on Friday, April 9th will be held at Central Baptist Church, located at 1991 F.M. 158, College Station, Texas 77845. This church is near the intersection of Harvey Road & Boonville Road. A fire service processional will travel from the church to the Brayton Fire Training Field immediately following the memorial service. Lunch and refreshments will follow at the Henry D. Smith Building. Information details regarding report times and apparatus staging for the procession will be transmitted on Tuesday.

In lieu of flowers, the family requests that gifts be made to the Pat Barrett Scholarship Fund at the Texas A&M Foundation. This scholarship will benefit students of the Brayton Fire Training Field. Checks should be made payable to the Texas A&M Foundation and mailed to 401 George Bush Drive, College Station, Texas 77840-2811.

We have been notified by several hotels that they are offering discounted rates for Thursday night (April 8th). These include: Holiday Inn & Suites – 2500 Earl Rudder Freeway, College Station, TX 979-485-8300 Towne Place Suites – 1300 E. University Drive, College Station, TX 979-260-8500 Hilton Hotel – 801 University Drive, College Station, TX 979-693-7500 Courtyard by Marriott – 3939 State Hwy. 6, College Station, TX 979-695-8111

You are encouraged to use the www.teex.org/fire website and click on Pat Barrett Updates (bottom left hand corner) to get the latest posted details regarding the services and other information.

We will greatly miss Pat and his service, dedication and his contributions he has made for the fire service of Texas.

Please continue to keep Pat's family and his wife, Janet, in your thoughts and prayers.
Article courtesy of the State Fireman's and Fire Marshal's Association

February 2010

For Clay Deatherage of the Hawley Volunteer Fire Department, it’s a simple equation:

“Training equals knowledge. Knowledge equals safety. And the more training we have, the higher level of service we can provide for our community,” Deatherage said.

More than 60 volunteer and career firefighters from across West Texas gathered here Saturday for the inaugural Clearfork Fire Control Conference, hosted by the Hawley VFD in conjunction with the Texas Engineering Extension Service’s Emergency Services Training Institute.

The daylong conference was designed to equip local firefighters with the latest training, and to inform them of developments in fighting fires. The hands-on training helps participants gain experience in various fire control and fire protection methods. It also provides invaluable experience in working together with other groups in a coordinated effort, which is often required in large fires.

In addition to the classroom training in the morning, a vacant field near Hawley High School was turned into a fire laboratory, where firefighters practiced skills and techniques. Experienced instructors led teams in various methods of wildfire control. They practiced creating hand lines (using hand-tools like shovels, rakes and hoes to remove dried grasses and brush to serve as a fire break) and backburning, or starting smaller controlled fires to burn up the fuel to stop a larger fire.

In many communities around the Big Country, volunteer fire departments are the first line of defense against of property damage and loss of life due to fire. Deatherage, who serves as the Hawley VFD’s safety officer, said this type of training is crucial, and is part of ongoing efforts to educate and train the volunteer forces in the area.

“Training is very difficult to obtain for small fire departments that are isolated. Opportunities are hard to come by,” he said. “On top of everything else in a volunteer’s life — school, kid’s activities, and so on — getting away for a week to go to Texas A&M for a training session isn’t realistic. “Conferences like this help us be able to provide the very best for the people we serve,” Deatherage said.
Article courtesy of the Abilene Reporter News

Internal Training

June 7, 2010

Business Meeting

June 14, 2010

TBA

June 21, 2010

TBA

July 5, 2010

Business Meeting

July 12, 2010

TBA

July 19, 2010

TBA

External Training

June 19, 2010

Rope 'N Smoke

Haskell, TX

August 16-19, 2010

Abilene Area Fire Control Conference

Abilene, TX