Member News

 Governor Jerry Brown has signed CPF-sponsored legislation easing an arbitrary limit on survivor benefits for the families of firefighters stricken by job-related cancer.

 Governor Jerry Brown has signed CPF-sponsored legislation easing an arbitrary limit on survivor benefits for the families of firefighters stricken by job-related cancer.

CPF President Lou Paulson and PORAC President Mike Durant forcefully respond to an odious Sacramento Bee editorial, which attacked police and fire death benefits on the day of the Peace Officers Memorial Ceremony in Sacramento. 

 It is with a great deal of sorrow that IAFF Local 1014 announces that Fire Fighter Specialist Darrell Rice, Fire Prevention Division, Petroleum Chemical Unitpassed away Tuesday April 22nd, 2014.

It is with a great deal of sorrow that IAFF Local 1014 announces that Fire Fighter Specialist Darrell Rice, Fire Prevention Division, Petroleum Chemical Unit passed away Tuesday April 22nd, 2014.

S.A.V.E. -- CPF's California Fire Foundation has launched the Supplying Aid to Victims of Emergency (SAVE) program. The program allows firefighters at the scene of destructive events to provide victims with a gift card to help get them back on their feet. 

It is with deepest regret and sorrow to report the line-of-duty death of Assistant Chief Renny E. LeRoy of IAFF Local 2881 - CDF Fire Fighters, Sacramento. Brother LeRoy, 60, passed away on Thursday, April 3, 2014 from pancreatic cancer.

Camp Pendleton Professional Firefighters #F-85 member William Walsh grew up with his cousin, Edward Walsh, in the Boston suburb of Watertown. Edward Walsh, 43, died last week in as nine-alarm blaze along with fellow Boston Fire Fighters Local 718 member Michael Kennedy. The Walsh men come from a firefighting family.

More than 40 California State Legislators and staff members participated in the California Professional Firefighters Fire Ops 101 training session March 5 on the west steps of the Capitol and got a chance to take some heat.

 It is with deepest regret that the Briceland Volunteer Fire Department announces the passing of Briceland Fire Chief Tim Olsen.

California firefighters now have a forceful advocate on EMS issues as CPF Secretary-Treasurer Lew Stone has been sworn in as the new chair of California's Emergency Medical Services Commission.  

San Jose Mayor Chuck Reed has officially suspended efforts to place a pension-change measure on the November ballot, but he also plans to come back with another proposal in 2016. What do you think? Take this poll from The Sacramento Bee.

A Sacramento judge has rejected San Jose Mayor Chuck Reed's effort to rewrite the attorney general's ballot description of his pension-slashing initiative. The ruling virtually assures it will not be on the ballot in 2014. 

Welding is being investigated as the cause of a five-alarm fire that started Tuesday night in San Francisco. Two San Francisco Fire Department firefighters suffered minor injuries battling the blaze at an apartment complex under construction in the city's Mission Bay neighborhood. Half of the city's on-duty firefighters were on the scene within an hour of the initial alarm sounding.

More than 40 California State Legislators and staff members participated in the California Professional Firefighters Fire Ops 101 training session March 5 on the west steps of the Capitol and got a chance to take some heat, albeit not from their constituents.

WHO: California Fire Foundation
WHAT: California Fire Foundation LA Fundraising Gala
WHERE: Sheraton Universal Hotel, 333 Universal Hollywood Dr, Universal City, CA 91608
WHEN: May 15, 2014

Outside interests are gathering to press their attacks on firefighter pensions after initial defeats and the anti-pension forces have stepped up efforts on the local level. It's a Wall Street battle against public employees.

California Governor Jerry Brown sent a letter in support of Checkoff CA Month to express his appreciation for those who promote Checkoff CA and the generous taxpayers who donate to worthy causes on the CA Income Tax Form through this program.

Judi Cutaia, a former Davis fire captain, retired three years before having enough service time to receive a maximum retirement. Attacks on pensions are prodding workers into thinking about leaving sooner with the benefits they have, she said, rather than risking reduced benefits or paying more and more toward them.

United Firefighters of Los Angeles City Local 112 President Frank Lima says high overtime costs for the Los Angeles Fire Department stem from LAFD's failure to hire firefighters over the last five years.

An Oceanside couple whose premature baby was saved by two Oceanside firefighter-paramedics has found a unique way to pay tribute to their child's rescuers. The two middle names of little Zavier Morgan Stephan Pestana honor the Local 3736 members who saved him.

More than 70 members of Marin Co. Firefighters Local 1775 -- clad in red local T-shirts -- "walked the talk" Tuesday night, joining labor partners in sinking a plan by the Marin Co. Board of Supervisors to back Chuck Reed's anti-pension ballot initiative. 

The California Fire Foundation has an easy way for you to designate all or a portion of your California tax refund to the expansion and upkeep of the California Firefighters Memorial. Just check off Line 406 on your tax return. 

It is with deepest regret and sorrow to report the line-of-duty death of Firefighter Clyde Watarai of IAFF Local 798 - San Francisco. Brother Watarai, 57, passed away on Feb. 5, 2014 from job-related lung cancer. 

Job-related cancer has claimed the lives of two San Francisco Fire Department firefighters in the past eight days. Burning household toxins are to blame, say several department and union officials.

Santa Clara supervisors may impose sanctions against Chuck Reed’s San Jose for slow response times caused by staffing, equipment shortages.

It is with deepest regret and sorrow to report the line-of-duty death of Lieutenant John G. Murphy of IAFF Local 798 - San Francisco. Brother Murphy, 49, passed away on Jan. 28, 2014 from job-related cancer.

The latest issue of our award-winning newspaper includes stories about what firefighters think about their profession, CPF's international media awards, the California Firefighters 2013 Memorial ceremony, California's groundbreaking cancer presumption law and much more.

This opinion piece from PublicCEO.com takes San Jose Mayor Chuck Reed to task for using the word "eliminate' in his own ballot measure description. So why is he suing Attorney Governor Harris for using the same word in describing his proposal to end the vested benefit rights of public employees?

This opinion piece from PublicCEO.com takes San Jose Mayor Chuck Reed to task for using the word "eliminate' in his own ballot measure description. So why is he suing Attorney Governor Harris for using the same word in describing his proposal to end the vested benefit rights of public employees?

Pension-slashing proponents go after Attorney General Harris on ballot summary for proposed Reed initiative.

Legislation allowing Californians to continue honoring the memory – and helping the surviving families – of fallen public safety officers was introduced earlier today in the California Assembly. Assemblymember Freddie Rodriguez is authoring AB 1561 to extend the sunset date of the state’s voluntary personal income tax check-offs for the California Firefighters Memorial Fund.

Legislation allowing Californians to continue honoring the memory – and helping the surviving families – of fallen public safety officers was introduced earlier today in the California Assembly. Assemblymember Freddie Rodriguez is authoring AB 1561 to extend the sunset date of the state’s voluntary personal income tax check-offs for the California Firefighters Memorial Fund.

Previewing a new Terrorism Consequence Management training program from the CFFJAC designed to get fire and law enforcement working together to save lives during a violent incident. 

 As firefighters corral the 2,000 acre Colby Fire, climatologists are warning that mid-summer-like conditions have created a risk of "explosive" wild land fires throughout California.

CPF joins Orange Co. Professional Firefighters  Local 3631 and the entire fire service in mourning the sudden loss of OCFA Apparatus Engineer Greg Hennessey. Brother Hennessey died suddenly January 20th while on duty in Rancho Santa Margarita.

A firefighter memorial service is scheduled for February 5, 2014 at 10am in Pasadena honoring John Tennant, CPF Second District Emeritus and former State Fire Marshal. Brother Tennant died this past weekend after a short illness.

A fast-moving fire near Glendora in Southern California has scorched over 1,700 acres and forced thousands to evacuate. Gov. Jerry Brown has declared a drought emergency in California in response to the widening risk. 

Decimated by budget cuts that have left the department down as many as two-dozen firefighters per shift, San Jose has once again failed to meet the countywide 9-1-1 response standard. It's the 14th straight month that San Jose has failed to meet the standard. 

Governor Jerry Brown's 2014-2015 State Budget has been released. Thanks to a huge surplus, the spending plan calls for modest increases in many areas, while paying down billions in debt.

Governor Jerry Brown's 2014-2015 State Budget has been released. Thanks to a huge surplus, the spending plan calls for modest increases in many areas, while paying down billions in debt.

Anti-pension forces are still actively considering a November ballot attack on retirement security in the wake of new ballot language released this week. California Attorney General Kamala Harris issued the all-important title and summary of the pension measure by San Jose Mayor Chuck Reed. 

A Look Back: 2013 was a year of success and sorrow for the fire service. In Prescott, Arizona, the profession had its largest one-day loss since 9/11, while in California, teamwork and training helped cope with one of the largest fires in California history.

 A Santa Clara Superior Court judge has invalidated the central provision of a pension-slashing initiative in San Jose that threatened basic retirement rights for millions of California workers. The closely-watched decision ruled that the city's Measure B illegally cut the pensions of current workers. 

California Professional Firefighters and Local 2881 are saddened to announce the loss of their own. On December 20, 2013 CAL FIRE Fire Captain Pete Santana passed away at the age of 64 after a nearly two year courageous battle with job-related cancer.

Public pension foes got yet another lump of coal in their holiday stockings. The non-partisan Legislative Analyst's Office says San Jose Mayor Chuck Reed's initiative to gut retirement security could cost into the billions over the next two decades, and long-term savings could be offset by cost increases in other areas.

Chuck Reed's pension-slashing ballot initiative receiving extremely low public support, according to a recent survey.

It is with the deepest regret and sadness that Los Angeles County Firefighters Local 1014 informs you of the death of Fire Captain John Mazzocco in the line of duty. Captain Mazzocco passed away on December 12th at age 48, after battling job-related pancreatic cancer.

Modern Training for Modern Threats: The California Fire Fighter Joint Apprenticeship Committee (CFFJAC), working under a grant from Cal OES, has tasked its Terrorism Consequence Management (TCM) Committee to develop “TCM: Unified Response to Violent Incidents." This training program, which is still under development, will cover the strategies and tactics First Responders must consider when confronting present-day violent threats such as the Boston Marathon bombing or the school shooting in New Town, Connecticut.

Public-sector workers typically face a greater risk of suffering an injury on the job than other segments of the workforce. Read these five key takeaways from new industry-level data to learn why.

This evening, a new HBO documentary will spotlight the cancer risks posed by toxins in furniture and the groundbreaking CPF-backed flame-retardant standard recently enacted in California.

On Thursday, Governor Jerry Brown announced that California has approved rules to curtail the presence of hazardous flame-retardant chemicals in furniture, a change that CPF has worked for years to get approved.  This rule change will reduce harmful exposures and make the job safer for firefighters throughout California.

Fueled by money from anti-retirement billionaires, the Pew Center has been advocating for slashing the pensions of firefighters and other public workers. But when they went out and asked the public what they thought, they found the people weren't buying the spin.

Firenuggets.com launched in 2000 to share valuable nuggets of information with members of the fire service to help keep them safe.  After the website closed in January 2013, members of the Berkeley Fire Fighters Association Local 1227 sprung into action to save this vital firefighter safety resource.

Responding to concerns about a firehouse known among firefighters as “the cancer station," SJFD administration decides to track firefighters’ work histories and illnesses.

The effort by San Jose’s mayor to roll back retirement security for current employees suffered multiple blows. The measure was withdrawn for a rewrite as two of its original backers drop their support.

Working Together for Firefighter Training: The San Diego Fire-Rescue Department and San Diego City Firefighters Local 145 are recognized with the 2013 Partnership for Success Award for being a stand-out example of successful collaboration between management and labor.

Livermore-Pleasanton Firefighters Local 1974 and CPF are saddened to announce the death of Livermore-Pleasanton Captain Paul Chenkovich in the line of duty. Brother Chenkovich died November 5th after a three-year battle with job-related brain cancer at the age of 48. Memorial services are scheduled for Friday, Nov. 15 at 11:00am, St. Augustine Church, Pleasanton.

Los Angeles County Firefighters Local 1014 is saddened to announce the death of LACoFD Firefighter Specialist Shawn Bayer of job-related cancer. 

An Emotional Tribute to Our Fallen: Governor Jerry Brown joined uniformed firefighters, family members, grateful citizens and dignitaries from throughout California, who gathered on the grounds of the California State Capitol Saturday, October 5th, in a solemn tribute to those who have given their lives to protect the state and its citizens.

Contra Costa County's largest fire district is canceling plans to shut down another fire station, citing the region's rebounding real estate values that have pumped more property taxes than expected into the struggling agency's bank account.

With an Enron profiteer and powerful anti-worker ideologues in his corner, San Jose Mayor Chuck Reed this week launched a statewide campaign to cut the heart out of retirement security for millions of firefighters, teachers and other public workers. 

The family and colleagues of fallen firefighter Thomas Taylor are expressing their appreciation to their firefighter family for helping to keep a murderous arsonist behind bars.

Davis firefighters have hit the streets to let the public know about their concerns about the direction of their department.

The election to fill two seats employee seats on the CalPERS Board of Administration is over, and there won't be a runoff. J.J. Jelincic and Michael Bilbrey -- both backed by California Professional Firefighters -- won their reelection campaigns with more than 50% of the vote.