On Sunday afternoon, delegates and members of the Pennsylvania State Fire Police Association gathered at Penn Forest Volunteer Fire Company No. 1's Whispering Pines hall for their final quarterly meeting of 2014.

Representatives from 19 counties attended, coming from as far away as Westmoreland, Crawford and Warren counties.Aside from the regular business, there was a special presentation by Steve Austin, project manager of the Emergency Responder Safety Institute.According to Austin, the institute was created by the Cumberland Valley Volunteer Firemen's Association."Many people do not realize that the roadway is the second most dangerous place to be, and sometimes for our members, the road can be more dangerous than being inside a burning building," Austin said. "The ERSI serves as an advisory group to public safety leaders and transportation experts committed to reducing deaths and injuries to America's emergency responders."Austin stressed the three most important characteristics that make for good fire police."You must exhibit good safety practices, you must have good training and you must behave in a professional manner," Austin said. "I cannot stress training enough."Austin's group practices what he preaches. The ERSI website was created to provide a high level of training for all first responders. The website is free to all who register, and at the completion of each module the responder receives a certificate attesting to their proficiency.While Austin admitted that the current program is geared to firefighters, he said the program is meant for all first responders, firefighters, EMT and ambulance personnel, fire police, police officers and tow and recovery personnel.Another important issue near and dear to the hearts of the fire police association is the Public Safety Officer's Benefits Act."The State Association of Fire Police do not lobby. We have delegates to the State Firefighter's Association, and our voice is heard through them," said Robert Hill, Kidder Township Volunteer Fire Company's president-elect and fire police captain."Currently the fire police are covered by their respective municipalities if they should be injured in the line of duty," Hill said.In Pennsylvania, firefighters and other first responders, including the fire police, are covered by the workers' compensation insurance that covers paid township employees, even though they are volunteers. But, according to Hill, the firefighters and police are also eligible for federal line of duty death benefits, which are available under the PSOB.Fire Police are not included under the PSOB and their families receive no federal death benefits in the event of a duty related death.Hill, who is also an instructor at the state fire academy and a lieutenant in the Carbon County Fire Police Association, said the fire police are an all-volunteer organization."Our members are generally responsible for all of their own equipment," Hill said.Each fire police officer must, by law, wear a reflective vest, a uniform hat and carry a flashlight and their badge."It is highly recommended that they wear reflective pants, a helmet and carry a radio, but these are not required," Hill said."Some of us are very lucky, we have fire departments that make sure the fire police are properly outfitted," Hill said. "Unfortunately, we see too many departments that don't. I have seen a fire company pay $2,000 to outfit a firefighter in turnout gear and not a penny to assist a fire police officer who is there to protect, not only the public, but the firefighters as well."