State firefighters’ convention coming to Houma in 2008

The Houma Firefighter’s Association will host the 62nd annual Louisiana Professional Firefighter’s Association State Convention in Houma next year.

The event, which is hosted by a different association each year, will make its return to Houma for the first time since the 1980s, according to Houma Firefighter’s Association committee chairman Terry Leonard.

“At our conventions, we go ahead and ask two years ahead if anybody wants to host the convention. It’s been a long time since we’ve had it in Houma, so our organization decided to go ahead and host it in 2008,” he said.

Leonard estimated between 250 to 300 firefighters, along with their wives or girlfriends, will be in town for the convention, which will take place Feb. 21-23, 2008, at the Quality Inn. “We think it will be nice,” he said. “It will help bring some tax dollars into our area and show (firefighters) a good time.”

Leonard said the annual convention usually starts with a ceremony honoring fallen firefighters within the previous year. “Then when the session starts, we discuss any type of legislation that’s coming up in Baton Rouge,” he said. “Things that would better our job and make our job safer for us.”

The Houma Firefighter’s Association will also host a golf tournament during the week leading up to the convention. “What we’re doing is we’re opening the golf tournament to anybody that wants to play golf,” he said. “It will be the Wednesday before the convention starts, and we open it to everybody.”

Another key aspect unique to the Houma Firefighter’s Association is a “Burn” fund.

Leonard said the association has a fund that goes toward helping Terrebonne Parish residents that lose a certain percentage of their homes in fires. “Anybody in Terrebonne Parish that loses ‘x’ amount of percentage of a home, we ask the volunteer fire departments … to contact us and we give out vouchers so that people can get clothes and food,” he explained. “We have it lined up to where we can give them a few night’s stay at a few of the motels.

“Hopefully, some of the money that we can raise at this convention, we can put aside to go into that Burn fund.”

In all, Leonard said between 40 and 50 fire departments throughout the state belong to the Louisiana Professional Firefighter’s Association.