Panel to reexamine America Burning report
America Burning: The Report of the National Commission on Fire Prevention and Control–the document that first focused attention on the nation`s fire problem and the needs of the fire services and allied professions and prompted the creation of the U.S. Fire Administration and the National Fire Academy–will be reexamined by a recently appointed panel. Panel members were selected by James Lee Witt, director of the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), at the request of the President. The objective of the study, Witt explains, is “to continue tangible reductions in our country`s losses to fires.”
The panel`s first meeting was scheduled for September (after press time) in Washington, D.C. The USFA/ FEMA list of committee members follows: George K. Bernstein, Esq., chair (he reportedly has had extensive experience in developing federal programs that address and manage hazards), Washington, D.C.; Chief Mike Bell, Toledo (OH) Fire Department; Chief Alan V. Brunacini, Phoenix (AZ) Fire Department; Chief John M. Best, Reedy Creek Emergency Services, Lake Buena Vista, FL; Ron Coleman, Elk Grove, CA; Chief John Eversole, Chicago (IL) Fire Department; Chief Jack McElfish, Richmond (VA) Fire Department; Chief Herman Brice, Palm Beach County (FL) Fire Department; Chief John Buckman, German Township (IN) Fire Department, Inc.; Chief Bill Pessemier, Littleton (CO) Fire Department; Chief Bill Peterson, Plano (TX) Fire Department; Alvina Drennan, New York City, NY; Al Whitehead, general president, International Association of Fire Fighters, Washington, D.C.; Jane Smith, San Francisco, CA; Carol Shelton, Naval Surface Warfare Center Fire & Rescue Division, Dahlgren, VA; Dean Ockerbloom, Avon, CT; Lamont Ewell, city manager, Durham, NC; Melvin L. Stark, Washington, D.C.; Cynthia Wilk, chair, NFA Board of Visitors, Trenton, NJ; Glenn Corbett, professor of fire science, John Jay College, New York City, and technical editor, Fire Engineering, Waldwick, NJ; Arthur J. Glatfelter, Volunteer Firemen`s Insurance Services, Inc., York, PA; and Louis T. Fiore, president, Central Station Alarm Association, Sparta, NJ.
