California Professional Firefighters

Nine fires that have collectively burned more than 400,000 acres may get an assist from Mother Nature as winds have begun to die down. More than 8,000 firefighters have been on the lines battling the blazes, the largest of which is on BLM land straddling the California-Nevada border.

In Part 2 of a series of profiles commemorating the 10th Anniversary of the California Firefighters Memorial in Sacramento, CPF President Emeritus Dan Terry recalls the founding of the Memorial. 

 California Professional Firefighters has published its 2011 Annual Report, reviewing the highlights and accomplishments of the year as well as the challenges ahead. CLICK HERE to read and download the report.

Media reports about the bankruptcies in Stockton and San Bernardino have tried to link these disasters to pension costs. CalPERS President Rob Feckner says the facts tell a different story.

CPF is pleased to work with Kaplan University to offer a special opportunity for CPF members. CPF members can earn degrees in fire science and emergency management online while on the job, and may receive credit for JAC or SFM training. 

The decline in secure pensions has coincided with a disturbing increase in elder poverty and future "reforms" could push millions into poverty. So says a new report from the National Institute for Retirement Security. 

The critics of public pensions have tried to inflate the supposed pension crisis by assuming incredibly low return rates for CalPERS investments. But a respected independent expert who co-authored a book on California government dysfunction says these assumptions have no grounding in history, and, if implemented, could cost the next generation.

The cities' anti-labor, anti-firefighter spin being peddled about municipal bankruptcies is coming unraveled. Turns out Stockton and San Bernardino were sub-prime central, and were done in by housing meltdown ... not labor contracts.

 A statewide pension analyst often quoted by anti-union forces has run the numbers in San Bernardino. Conclusion: Economic meltdown, mismanagement and toxic politics are at the heart of the San Bernardino bankruptcy bid.

 IAFF General President Harold Schaitberger has penned an op-ed for the Huffington Post debunking skewed study from Pew Centers. Bottom line: Funding "crisis" is overstated.