Kittitas Valley Fire and Rescue Chief John Sinclair was installed Aug. 18 as president and chairman of the board of the International Association of Fire Chiefs (IAFC), pledging to “shine a light” on several important challenges facing the fire and emergency service, according to a news release from the association.
Sinclair will lead the association’s 18-member board of directors. He will serve as the association’s primary spokesman on national and international issues, testify on behalf of the organization at Congressional hearings and serve as the association’s representative dignitary. During his inaugural address at Fire-Rescue International 2016 (FRI), the annual conference of the IAFC, Sinclair said he would work for and with IAFC membership.
“We are facing significant challenges in the fire service and I want to shine a light on some of them,” Sinclair said. “We are learning more and more about PTSD, and behavioral health issues facing firefighters. Firefighter suicide is a trend we must reverse. Firefighter cancer is on the rise and we need to work together to change the culture of the fire service, honoring the nobility of firefighting, but focusing on health and safety issues after the fire is out. Working together, we can make progress on these issues.”