News

Israel Tolentino, rest easy brother.

Earlier today we received the devastating news that Passaic Firefighter Local 13 member Israel Tolentino lost his life to COVID-19, coronavirus.

We can’t provide him with a true firefighter’s funeral. We can’t have hundreds of firefighters at his house playing with his children and consoling his wife and family. We can’t have food sent to a grieving family and friends because no one can gather. We couldn’t spend time with him in the hospital when he took his final breaths because no visitors are allowed.

Due to the State of Emergency and Executive Orders of the Governor regarding public gatherings and social distancing, The NJ FMBA will hold its April 8, 2020 meeting via a virtual meeting. Instructions are located below regarding the procedures to attend this virtual meeting. These are unprecedented times. It is important for us to share valuable information with our membership, which has prompted this decision. By no means does this constitute any changes to our regularly scheduled meetings or meeting times.

This memorandum updates the memorandum dated March 25, 2020. At the direction of the Attorney General and Commissioner of Health, effective March 28, 2020, by 5pm each day, County LINCS agencies must provide the following information via a secure encrypted email to a designated single point of contact at the County Office of Emergency Management:

Dear Mr. President:

As members of New Jersey’s Congressional Delegation, we write to request your support for our state’s first responders as we fight the novel coronavirus disease, COVID-19. New Jersey’s brave career law enforcement officers, fire departments, and other first responders are facing serious challenges due to the spread of COVID-19. Many towns in our state also rely on some or all-volunteer fire departments, ambulance corps, and Emergency Medical Services (EMS)/rescue personnel, which also require critical assistance to avoid staffing and equipment shortages during this unprecedented crisis.