NJ Division of Fire Safety: TEL (609) 324-7336 FAX (609) 324-8493

MINUTES OF THE MEETING

MEMBERS PRESENT: Dan DeTrolio, Bob Yaiser, Vincent Corsaro, Joyce Lynch, Justin Lizza, Ernie Zih, Andrew Scheideler, William Illge, Marc Kiempisty, Anthony Alfano, Ralph Castellano, Michael Brothers.

DIVISION OF FIRE SAFETY STAFF: Charles Lavin.

I. OPENING

Chairman DeTrolio called the meeting to order at 10:20 AM.

II. RECRUITMENT AND RETENTION

In the absence of Alan Musicant, no report was given.

III. NEW JERSEY F.I.R.E. BOWL

Charles Lavin reported that the planning for the New Jersey FIRE Bowl’s 4^th Annual competition is already underway. It is scheduled to take place throughout the Spring of 2009, culminating (again) sometime in mid-to-late May. Currently, the venue for the final event is undecided. Ideally, the program would take place in (or near) a school so that as many students as possible could attend. State Fire Marshal Petrillo will be meeting with School Superintendents in the near future to decide this.

It was announced that this year’s competition currently includes Bayonne, Belleville, Carteret, and newly-added City of Camden. Camden’s Board of Education had approved the program the week before and their seven middle schools would be competing. Mr. Lavin also said the program is still looking for

IV. POSTER CONTEST

Charles Lavin reported that the New Jersey Fire Safety Poster Contest was moving along as scheduled. All applications are out to the schools’ art instructors, principals, as well as local fire officials. The theme for this year’s program is “Prevent Home Fires” and posters are due at the county level by March 15, 2009.

A lengthy discussion took place as to how to drive participation up for the Poster Contest. Ernie Zih spoke about incentives that he has added on the local level such as drawings, gift cards for 1^st, 2^nd, and 3^rd place at each school, etc. The goal is to get as many children, regardless of artistic ability, involved to get the message out. Charles Lavin said the State Winners will again receive laptops this school year (as opposed to desktops in the past).

V. SMOKE DETECTORS

In the absence of Charlie Luxton, no report was given. Chairman DeTrolio talked about the WABC-7 Operation Save-A-Life program which is coming up again this winter. It is hoped that, even with the nation’s struggling economy, Kidde and the other sponsors will continue to donate their goods and services to this successful program.

VI. JUVENILE FIRESETTERS

In the absence of Charlie Luxton, no report was given. However, Bob Yaiser reported that this year’s 6^th Annual Juvenile Firesetters Conference would be held at the Middlesex County Fire Academy on December 4-5, 2008.

VII. NEW BUSINESS

A lengthy discussion was held on the topic of sprinklers in high-rise buildings. The Council members talked about the possibilities for adoption in New Jersey in 2009, and Chairman DeTrolio said that this was something the NJ Fire Safety Commission was planning to look at more in-depth in the near future.

Vincent Corsaro spoke about the need to concentrate some fire safety education resources on graduating high school seniors. Many of these kids will be going off to colleges in other states where the regulations may not be up to the same standard as New Jersey – and it is important, overall, to equip them with fire safety education for their lives. He suggested using some of the smoke detectors that the Division receives and using them as hand-outs when speaking to high schools.

Bob Yaiser brought up a new computer program he’d discovered on the internet. The program is basically a blank “Jeopardy”-style game format that one can enter questions and answers into – then project onto a large screen. He suggested this could be useful for the FIRE Bowl in the future. The product can be found online and is made by C3 Software.

Chairman DeTrolio took a moment to congratulate Bob Yaiser on his being named “Fire Inspector of the Year” by the New Jersey Fire Prevention and Protection Association.

VIII. SCHEDULING OF NEXT MEETING & ADJOURNMENT

The next meeting of the Public Education Advisory Council is scheduled to take place at 10 A.M. on Wednesday, January 15, 2009 at the Middlesex County Fire Academy.

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