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2005 SESSION


SENATE JOINT RESOLUTION NO. 369
Commending Edward P. Plaugher.
 
Agreed to by the Senate, January 20, 2005
Agreed to by the House of Delegates, January 28, 2005
 

WHEREAS, Edward P. Plaugher, chief of the Arlington County Fire Department and a veteran of 35 years of service to fire departments in Northern Virginia, retired on June 30, 2004; and

WHEREAS, a native of Arlington, Edward Plaugher earned his degree in fire administration and technology from George Mason University and was one of the first graduates of the Executive Fire Officers program at the National Fire Academy in Emmitsburg, Maryland; and

WHEREAS, Edward Plaugher joined the Fairfax County Fire and Rescue Department as a firefighter in 1969, and over the next 16 years moved through the ranks to become deputy fire chief in 1985; and

WHEREAS, in 1993, Edward Plaugher was named chief of the Arlington County Fire Department; and

WHEREAS, in 1995, after the sarin gas attack in the Tokyo subway system, Chief Plaugher saw the need for a terrorism response team in the Washington metropolitan area; and

WHEREAS, Chief Plaugher persuaded the Arlington County Fire Department and the National Capital Region of the need to prepare for the possibility of a terrorist attack and helped establish the framework for the National Medical Response System, which has been adopted by more than 100 metropolitan areas nationwide; and

WHEREAS, the Arlington County Fire Department, under the direction of Chief Plaugher, was the lead agency for the Pentagon response on September 11, 2001, and his visionary leadership and foresight, especially in fostering cooperative relationships with federal and local agencies, were instrumental in the department's efforts to save lives; and

WHEREAS, the Arlington Fire Department's extensive After-Action Report on the Pentagon response has been shared with departments across the nation, and the 9-11 Commission's recent Final Report praised the coordination and control of the response to the Pentagon attack; and

WHEREAS, long active in statewide and national professional organizations, Chief Plaugher is a former president of the Virginia State Fire Chiefs Association and is a member of the International Association of Fire Chiefs Terrorism Committee; and

WHEREAS, Chief Plaugher was appointed to serve on Governor Gilmore's Homeland Security Panel and on the Department of Homeland Security's Emergency Response Senior Advisory Committee, and he is nationally and internationally recognized for his expertise in emergency response; and

WHEREAS, to cap his outstanding career, Chief Plaugher was named 2004 Career Fire Chief of the Year at Fire-Rescue International, the annual conference of the International Association of Fire Chiefs; now, therefore, be it

RESOLVED by the Senate, the House of Delegates concurring, That the General Assembly hereby commend Edward P. Plaugher on the completion of an exemplary career of service to the citizens of Arlington, the Commonwealth, and the nation; and, be it

RESOLVED FURTHER, That the Clerk of the Senate prepare a copy of this resolution for presentation to Edward P. Plaugher as an expression of the admiration, respect, and gratitude of the General Assembly.