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Cabin John Park Volunteer Fire Chief and Fresno Fire Department Fire Chief honored at Fire Rescue International
August 28, 2009, Appleton, Wis. – Fire Chief Magazine today announced the 2009 winners of the annual “Fire Chief of the Year” awards. Winners are honored for their dedication and leadership in the fire and emergency services. The 14th annual awards are sponsored by Pierce Manufacturing Inc., an Oshkosh Corporation Company (NYSE: OSK), and were presented during the opening session at the 2009 International Association of Fire Chiefs (IAFC) Fire-Rescue International Exhibits and Conference in Dallas, Texas. Career Fire Chief Randy R. Bruegman of Fresno, Calif. and volunteer Fire Chief James P. Seavey, Sr. of Cabin John Park Fire Department in Bethesda, Md. received the awards.
“The top fire chiefs in the United States possess a vast array of experience and know-how as well as extraordinary dedication and we seek to honor that, “ said Wilson Jones, Oshkosh Corporation executive vice president and president, Fire & Emergency. “Chief Bruegman and Chief Seavey are two outstanding individuals that reflect these qualities and who have set a high standard for leadership in the fire and emergency services community. They have each served with distinction for more than a quarter of a century in both a career and volunteer capacity. We are truly proud to present them with these awards.”
Career Fire Chief Honoree – Chief Randy R. Bruegman, Fresno Fire Department, Calif.
For thirty years Chief Bruegman has served as a professional firefighter in a variety of roles including training officer and since 1991 has served as chief in increasingly complex organizations in California, Illinois and Oregon. Fellow Fire Chief, Cliff Jones, of the Tempe, Arizona Fire Department nominated him for this award. Bruegman began firefighting as a volunteer in Nebraska. Since then, he has served in a variety of key leadership positions where he has implemented service and efficiency initiatives. He is an author of primarily administrative textbooks including “Advanced Fire Administration” slated for publication later this fall. He has also lectured extensively at national, state and local levels.
Chief Bruegman has served as chair of the Commission of Fire Accreditation International and has led the effort in two of his departments to attain accreditation. For the past 18 years Bruegman has served in a variety of national leadership roles – currently, since 2004 as President of the Board of Directors of the Center for Public Safety Excellence. As Chief of the Fresno Fire Department, he led the formation of Fresno Fire Chief’s Foundation, a non-profit established to provide for enhanced life-safety education and community outreach and created the “4 Minutes to Excellence” theme to focus community and political efforts toward reducing response time.
Volunteer Fire Chief Honoree – Chief James P. Seavey, Sr., Cabin John Park Fire Department, Md. Two members of the National Volunteer Fire Council (and previous recipients of this award) nominated Chief Seavey, with endorsements from the Board of Directors of the Eastern Division of the International Association of Fire Chiefs and the Montgomery County Fire Rescue Association. Although Seavey had made firefighting his career and currently serves on a large urban fire department, he began his dedication to the fire service when he joined his local fire department as a junior member at the requisite age of 16 and has served as a volunteer since 1976. He has held, by election, position as Chief of Cabin John Park Fire Department since 1992 and is the longest serving chief in its history. Chief Seavey has led his department heroically in times of crisis, including administering the department’s staff and operations while his apparatus responded to the Pentagon following the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks.
Chief Seavey has demonstrated a commitment to, and leadership in, the fire service on an international, national and local level. Through his efforts, his department has cultivated a relationship with the Halsenbek Volunteer Fire Department located outside Hamburg, Germany creating an opportunity for cultural, technological and educational exchange between U.S. and German fire services. Seavey has served as Director and Alternate Director for Maryland on the National Volunteer Fire Council Board of Directors, President and Board Member of the Eastern Division of the International Association of Fire Chiefs, Chairman and Executive Committee Member of the Maryland State Fireman’s Association and member of many, taskforces and work groups that support and further the fire and emergency services.
About Fire Chief Magazine
Established in 1956, Fire Chief is the magazine for progressive fire service leaders. Articles by fire officers from across the country and worldwide cover a wide variety of important areas to today's fire service leaders. In addition, a monthly lineup of departments provides even more information, in a quick, accessible format. Fire Chief’s monthly readers include chief officers, with a sizable contingent of incident commanders, training officers, safety officers, and other titles and ranks. Issue content and more information on the publication can be found at http://www.firechief.com
About Pierce Manufacturing
Pierce Manufacturing Inc., an Oshkosh Corporation [NYSE: OSK] company, is the leading North American manufacturer of custom fire apparatus. Products include custom and commercial pumpers, aerials, rescue trucks, wildland trucks, mini-pumpers, elliptical tankers, and homeland security apparatus. In addition, Pierce designs its own foam systems and was the first company to introduce frontal airbags and the Side Roll Protection system to fire apparatus. To learn more about Pierce visit www.piercemfg.com
About Oshkosh Corporation
Oshkosh Corporation is a leading designer, manufacturer and marketer of a broad range of specialty access equipment, commercial, fire & emergency and military vehicles and vehicle bodies. Oshkosh Corporation manufactures, distributes and services products under the brands of Oshkosh®, JLG®, Pierce®, McNeilus®, Medtec®, Jerr-Dan®, BAI™, Oshkosh Specialty Vehicles, Frontline™, SMIT™, CON-E-CO®, London® and IMT®. The Oshkosh brands are valued worldwide in businesses where high quality, superior performance, rugged reliability and long-term value are paramount. For more information, log on to www.oshkoshcorporation.com.
Forward-Looking Statements
This press release contains statements that the Company believes to be “forward-looking statements” within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. All statements other than statements of historical fact, including, without limitation, statements regarding the Company’s future financial position, business strategy, targets, projected sales, costs, earnings, capital expenditures, debt levels and cash flows, and plans and objectives of management for future operations, are forward-looking statements. When used in this press release, words such as “may,” “will,” “expect,” “intend,” “estimate,” “anticipate,” “believe,” “should,” “project” or “plan” or the negative thereof or variations thereon or similar terminology are generally intended to identify forward-looking statements. These forward-looking statements are not guarantees of future performance and are subject to risks, uncertainties, assumptions and other factors, some of which are beyond the Company’s control, which could cause actual results to differ materially from those expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements. These factors include the consequences of financial leverage associated with the JLG acquisition, including the level of the Company’s borrowing costs, the increased interest rates the Company would face if it experienced a deterioration or downgrade in credit agency ratings and the Company’s ability to maintain compliance with its financial covenants under its credit agreement; the cyclical nature of the Company’s access equipment, commercial and fire & emergency markets, especially during a global recession and credit crisis; the duration of the global recession, which could lead to additional impairment charges related to many of the Company’s intangible assets; risks related to the required increase in the rate of production for the M-ATV and FMTV contract, and the amount, if any, of additional orders for M-ATVs and/or FMTVs that the Company may receive; the expected level and timing of U.S. Department of Defense procurement of products and services and funding thereof; risks related to reductions in government expenditures and the uncertainty of government contracts; risks related to production delays as a result of the economy’s impact on the Company’s suppliers; the potential for commodity costs to rise sharply in a future economic recovery; risks associated with international operations and sales, including foreign currency fluctuations; risks related to the collectability of receivables during a recession, particularly for those businesses with exposure to construction markets; and the potential for increased costs relating to compliance with changes in laws and regulations. Additional information concerning these and other factors is contained in the Company’s filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission. All forward-looking statements speak only as of the date of this press release. The Company assumes no obligation, and disclaims any duty, to update or revise publicly any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise.
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