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Minnesota House of Representatives

State Representative Joe Atkins

583 State Office BuildingState Office Building
100 Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd.
651-296-4192

For more information contact: Matt Swenson 651-297-8406

Posted: 2010-03-02 00:00:00
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FIREFIGHTERS NAME ATKINS THEIR "LEGISLATOR OF THE YEAR"

ST. PAUL, MN – Firefighters came together today to thank state Rep. Joe Atkins for his ongoing efforts to prevent fires and provide adequate training for firefighters across Minnesota.

"When people are in need, they call firefighters. When firefighters are in need, we call Joe Atkins," said Tom Thornberg, President of the Minnesota Firefighters Association.

Nyle Zikmund, St. Louis Park Fire Chief and chair of the Minnesota Fire Chiefs Association said legislation passed by Atkins has produced, "The most important updates in fire safety laws in over 30 years. These changes will save lives."

In fact, an estimated 15 to 20 lives are saved every year in Minnesota as a result of a bipartisan “fire safe” cigarette law Rep. Atkins passed for firefighters in 2007. The new law requires all cigarettes sold in our state to be “fire-safe,” meaning the cigarette self-extinguishes if left unattended too long.

“There is no single issue that will have a greater impact on reducing the occurrence of fires and more importantly, fire deaths, than this new law,” said Zikmund. “In fact, this legislation ranks second only to smoke detector legislation, which was passed in the early 1970s, in terms of making an impact.”

Atkins has also passed legislation to upgrade fire safety codes and help provide adequate fire training for Minnesota firefighters.
This session Rep. Atkins has worked with firefighters on the “Fill the Boot” bills, a measure that would help firefighters raise charitable funds to help kids in need in our area, specifically children with muscular dystrophy.

After receiving the Legislator of the Year award today, Atkins said, “I have received various awards over the years, but there is no award that has meant more to me than this one.”

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