Congressional staffers will get a chance to don full firefighting gear and battle fires on the morning of Nov. 6, when the Congressional Fire Services Institute holds its annual Congressional Fire Training Day.

[IMGCAP(1)]The advocacy group has hosted the annual event for about 15 years, usually busing 60 or 70 staffers to the Maryland Fire and Rescue Institute in College Park for a day of firefighting activities. To sign up, staffers can call 202-371-1277.

“The goal is that at the end of day they walk away with an understanding of what firefighters need to know to do their job and how hard the job actually is,— said Bill Webb, the Congressional Fire Services Institute’s executive director.

Participants will go through a variety of exercises, including learning how to put out flames and cutting open a car in a rescue simulation. The drills will last until about noon.

Working for the Man. Manpower Inc., the large, international employment services company, is hoping to tap into the federal government’s spending with a new subsidiary aimed at public agencies.

Launched this week, Manpower Public Sector Inc. will be a one-stop shop for the federal government, combining the resources from its four major U.S. branches to offer staffing, consulting and recruiting services for public projects. Most work will probably fall in the executive branch, although at least one legislative branch agency — the Office of the Architect of the Capitol — has used Manpower’s services in the past.

Andrew Jones, vice president of Manpower Public Sector, said the company realized it was missing a key client in not targeting the federal government — especially when it is now managing billions of dollars of stimulus funds.

“It’s a very, very large — probably one of the largest — clients in the United States,— he said, and yet, “realistically, Manpower had never pursued the federal government to any great extent.—

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