Jack Murphy, fire marshal (ret)/former deputy chief of the Leonia (NJ) Fire Department is the recipient of the 2012 Tom Brennan Lifetime Achievement Award. The award will be presented at the FDIC General Session on Thursday, April 19, 8 a.m. to 10 a.m., Sagamore Ballroom, Indiana Convention Center.
“I am humbled and honored to receive the Tom Brennan Lifetime Achievement Award,” Murphy exclaimed upon learning that he was to be the recipient. He noted that being in the company of the outstanding fire service members who had previously received the award was “beyond my wildest dream of being a good firefighter.”
“Tom Brennan challenged me to write for Fire Engineering while I was attending the John Jay College graduate program,” Murphy recalls. At that time, Brennan was editor of Fire Engineering. Murphy recalls that his first article was rejected. “It was a humbling experience in earning one’s stripes in this business,” he says. He adds that he and Brennan had become friends over the years through the Fire Department Instructors Conference and he is grateful to have known him.
A fire service instructor for 27 years, Murphy developed a program that fostered a good working relationship between New Jersey school districts and their local Bureau of Fire Prevention.
An attendee of FDIC for 17 years, Murphy says, “The quality of fire service training from the Hands-On-Training evolutions and workshops, main program features, the many classroom subject matter selections, and the exhibits offers me a well-rounded educational experience that makes me want to come back for more. You couldn’t get a better job-related networking tool anywhere in the United States.” He observed that the firefighters who attend FDIC are more “into the job” than “on the job.”
Murphy is a 29-year veteran of the fire service and the principal official of JJM & Associates, LLC. He is a certified State of New Jersey Fire Official/Fire Inspector. He has been involved with codes for more than 25 years and served for two and a half years on the New York City Model ICC Building and Fire Codes Program. He is the New Jersey State Deputy Fire Coordinator (Bergen Region), the vice-chairman of the Fire Safety Directors Association (New York City), and a member of the National Fire Protection Association committees for High-Rise Building Safety and Pre-Incident Planning. He is an editorial advisory board member of Fire Engineering magazine.
