The Professional Fire Fighters of Maine Supports the Peter L. Rines Memorial Schorarship Fund PLEASE DONATE TODAY! Professional Fire Fighters of Maine Peter L. Rines started his career as an on-call firefighter for the Town of Wiscasset, eventually serving the community as Fire Captain, Director of the Ambulance Service, and Interim Fire Chief.

WEINGARTEN RIGHTS EMPLOYEE'S RIGHT TO UNION REPRESENTATION The right of employees to have union representation at investigatory interviews was announced by the U.S. Supreme Court in a 1975 case (NLRB vs. Weingarten, Inc. 420 U.S. 251, 88 LRRM 2689). These rights have become known as the Weingarten rights. Employees have Weingarten rights only during investigatory interviews.

GARRITY RIGHTS Garrity Rights protect public employees from being compelled to incriminate themselves during investigatory interviews conducted by their employers. This protection stems from the Fifth Amendment to the United States Constitution, which declares that the government cannot compel a person to be a witness against him/herself.

Sisters and Brothers, Firestrong is an independently operated online resource for members of the Fire Service and their families. The mission of Firestrong is to offer mental, emotional, and physical support to each member of the fire department and their families by providing educational tools, resources, crisis intervention assistance (crisis line) and peer support services. The Professional Fire Fighters of Maine has partnered with Firestrong and have incorporated their resources into the PFFMaine’s Behavioral Health Response Program.

Study: Exposure to flame retardant chemicals means firefighters face higher cancer risk than previously thought ELLSWORTH, Maine — New research by a Blue Hill scientist shows that during a fire, firefighters are exposed to dangerous levels of toxic, cancer-causing chemicals created when commercial flame retardants burn.