The Iosco County Firefighter's Association has been around for many years... many decades, in fact. It is the goal of the membership to raise funds to enhance the ability and safety of all firefighters, and other public safety personnel, of Iosco County.
We achieve this goal through several fundraising efforts, including an annual Lions vs. Firefighters Basketball game in March, annual Golf Tournament Fundraiser in May, and annual Country/Western Show in August. Some funds are also received from the State of Michigan's Fire Service Bureau, Office of Firefighter Training. However, we are finding that with state budget cuts, many of those state-supported funds are being lost.
Our two main areas of focus are training and safety. We accomplish training by way of several offerings every year. We are sure to offer at least one Firefighter I/II class every other year, so that new firefighters are able to meet state legal requirements for training. We also have recently offered other classes, such as Clandestine Drug Lab Awareness, Driver's Training, Detection of Arson and Suspicious Fires, and many more.
The firefighters of Iosco County are very aware of the hazards of our profession, and the necessary steps required to minimize those hazards. The Iosco County Firefighter's Association has purchased safety equipment for all members to use. Some equipment purchased includes: Posi-Check for testing our life-saving airpacks, Hose Tester for testing the suitability of the hoses we use to put fires out, and Fit Testing Equipment to test that the people who enter hazardous areas are fit to do so.
The Association has recently undertaken the hiring of national speakers in an effort to combine our goals of safety and training. In January of 2007, Mike Wilbur visited the county to discuss apparatus design and driving safety and in March of 2008 Billy Goldfeder presented his famous seminar. We currently have Gordon Graham scheduled for January of 2009.