Welcome to our newly redesigned website! Knowing that you depend on our research and insight to develop new, innovative ideas and strengthen policy and practice, we’ve rebuilt our site to make it much easier to find and share resources. As part of our commitment to keeping our work easily accessible, we have created a more navigable website with additional resources, better tools, and a new visual design to support our mission in the areas of information sharing, legislative initiatives, fire officer certification courses, seminars, and emerging issues. Stay tuned in the coming months for new resources in each of these areas.

If you want current, relevant information about your job, advocacy for pending legislation, networking with professionals, or just want to discuss an issue with another chief, you need the Illinois Fire Chiefs Association. The Illinois Fire Chiefs Association (IFCA) is a professional organization dedicated to promote excellence in the fire service. IFCA is a participatory, member-run coalition of fire chiefs and officers from municipal fire departments, fire protection districts, industrial fire brigades, government fire agencies – volunteer and paid members, large and small organizations, new and old members. Every part of the State of Illinois is represented. Membership is open to all Illinois fire chiefs and officers.

The Illinois Fire Chiefs Educational & Research Foundation is a not-for-profit 501 (C) (3) charitable organization to benefit the Illinois Fire and EMS organizations. The Foundation Board of Directors is entrusted with the oversight of private fund raising while offering educational programs and courses. The Foundation also awards and manages educational scholarships, grants, and special projects. Please visit our page to view the many services that we provide.

 

The IFCA Announces the 2012 Fire Chief of the Year Recognition Program  Application

It is the intent of the Illinois Fire Chiefs Association (IFCA) to recognize outstanding contributions to the fire service at the state and national level.

The IFCA will consider nominations of chief officers in Illinois who have significant, ongoing contributions in our profession. Considerations include, but are not limited to, public education and life safety advancements; innovative and entrepreneurial efforts and accomplishments; education and or credential portfolio; public-private sector contributions; and other significant recurring performance hallmarks. 

Deadline for submittal is March 1, 2012.

National Fallen Firefighters Foundation and Chicago Fire Department Release New Everyone Goes Home Video

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In an effort to make personal safety a top priority, the National Fallen Firefighters Foundation (NFFF) and the Chicago Fire Department (CFD) today released a new video, Chicago Fire Department - Everyone Goes Home®. Members of the CFD and families of fallen firefighters share their stories in this compelling and moving testimonial of the importance of adhering to safety standards and accepting personal responsibility for following procedures.

Chicago Fire Commissioner Robert Hoff was impressed by a video that the NFFF and the Fire Department of New York produced several years earlier to educate members about the importance of training and safety standards. The FDNY leadership had noticed behavioral improvement among its members following the release of their video. Hoff felt that the members of the CFD could benefit from hearing first-hand accounts of the lessons learned by their colleagues and invited the NFFF to collaborate on a video for Chicago.
"The culture of firefighting requires us to do everything we can to make sound decisions so we can be in a position to help the people we serve when they most need it," said Ronald J. Siarnicki, executive director of the NFFF. "With this video the firefighters and leadership of the Chicago Fire Department are clearly showing the rest of the fire service you can still be a firefighter and at the same time do your best to make sure everyone goes home®."

More than two dozen survivors of fallen firefighters, including coworkers and family members, participated in the filming of Chicago Fire Department - Everyone Goes Home®. The video took nearly one year to complete and was produced and directed by Rob Maloney of Cool Water Multimedia.

IFCA Resources