Monday, June 18, 2007
Cade Speaks to MSFA Convention
Greg Cade with MSFA Convention Chairman Leonard KingGreg Cade didn't hesitate when he was asked about plans for his new job: "To continue Dave Paulison's efforts to reduce firefighter deaths by 50 per cent."
It isn't Chief Cade's only goal as he is waiting to be sworn in to lead the U.S. Fire Administration, but Cade made it clear that the safety of firefighters will be at the top of his list.
Cade was in familiar territory in Ocean City for the Maryland State Firemen's Association Convention. Backstage Monday morning, getting ready for his speech to help open the event, Greg Cade was greeted by old friends. Many of them people he worked with as both a volunteer and a career firefighter in Prince George's County.
The well-wishers included a group from the Glenn Dale Volunteer Fire Department. Cade pointed out that when he joined Glenn Dale in 1968, the requirements weren't much more than someone telling him to pick out some gear that fits and to get on the firetruck when the siren went off.
Today, the requirements to be a volunteer firefighter are much greater and are one of the challenges of a system where "normal, everyday citizens help protect the community." Cade expects to do what he can from a national level to support the volunteers across the U.S.
When asked about the sometimes rocky relationship between career and volunteer firefighters, Cade points out that his own career has been spent working in and leading combined systems. Cade said, "if I had a dime for each time someone told me the volunteers are going to go away, I'd be a very rich man."
Greg Cade remembered, much earlier in his career, a longtime President of the Prince George's County Volunteer Fire & Rescue Association telling him, "the volunteers are going to be here until they decide not to be here".
Cade talked a lot about data collection. He is hoping, through the internet and other sources, that USFA will be able to quickly provide the important information fire chiefs and firefighters need to get the job done.
Greg Cade said he is eager to get started. Today, though, was a chance to relax and talk with firefighters and their families. With his coat and tie off, Chief Cade and his wife Debbie strolled along the booths setup at the Ocean City Convention Center.
Looking at all the firefighting memorabilia on display, Debbie Cade laughed and joked that before they move to Washington, "maybe this is a way to sell off all of the stuff Greg has gathered during his career".
Greg Cade with Montgomery County Fire Chief Tom Carr
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