Fire Engineering Editorial Advisors

TECHNICAL EDITORS 

Glenn P. Corbett, PE, is an associate professor of fire science at John Jay College of Criminal Justice in New York City, is a technical editor for Fire Engineering, and wasan assistant chief of the Waldwick (NJ) Fire Department. He previously held the position of administrator of engineering services with the San Antonio (TX) Fire Department. Corbett has a master of engineering degree in fire protection engineering from Worcester Polytechnic Institute in Massachusetts and is pursuing a Ph.D. in public administration from Rutgers University. He authored two chapters on fire prevention/protection in The Fire Chief`s Handbook, Fifth Edition (Fire Engineering Books, 1995) and is the coauthor of the late Francis L. Brannigan’s Building Construction for the Fire Service, 4th Edition. He is editor of Fire Engineering’s Handbook for Firefighter I and II. Corbett is an FDIC Executive Advisory Board member. He has been in the fire service since 1978.

BILL GUSTIN is a 41-year veteran of the fire service and a captain with the Miami-Dade (FL) Fire Rescue Department. He began his fire service career in the Chicago area and conducts firefighting training programs in the United States, Canada, and the Caribbean. He is a lead instructor in his department’s officer training program, is a marine firefighting instructor, and has conducted forcible entry training for local and federal law enforcement agencies. He is technical editor for Fire Engineering and an advisory board member for FDIC, and was a keynote speaker for FDIC 2011.

EDITORIAL ADVISORY BOARD

ANTHONY AVILLO, a 26-year veteran of the fire service, is a retired deputy chief from North Hudson (NJ) Regional Fire & Rescue, where he was 1st Platoon regional tour commander. He has a BS degree in fire science from New Jersey City University. He is an instructor at the Bergen County (NJ) and Monmouth County (NJ) Fire Academies. He is a member of the FDIC advisory board and the Fire Engineering editorial advisory board. He is the author of Fireground Strategies, 2nd edition (Fire Engineering, 2008) and Fireground Strategies Workbook Volumes I & II (Fire Engineering, 2002, 2010). He was a contributing author to Fire Engineering’s Handbook for Firefighter I and II (Fire Engineering, 2009) and is co-author of its Study Guide (Fire Engineering, 2010). Avillo was a collaborator in the Tactical Perspectives DVD series (Fire Engineering, 2011).

In Memoriam: ALAN V. BRUNACINI joined the Phoenix (AZ) Fire Department in 1958. He served in every department position, was promoted to chief in 1978, and retired in 2006. He was a graduate of the Fire Protection Technology program at Oklahoma State University. He received a BS and an MPA degree from Arizona State University. He is the past chairman of the Board of the National Fire Protection Association (NFPA) and the NFPA Fire Service Occupational Safety Committee (Standard 1500). He chaired the NFPA Fire Service Career Organization and Deployment Committee (Standard 1710). He and his two firefighter sons developed and taught the local command level Blue Card hazard zone management program. He and his son John owned and operated the fire service Web site www.bshifter.com.

EDDIE BUCHANAN is the immediate past president of the International Society of Fire Service Instructors and a division chief with Hanover (VA) Fire & EMS. He serves on the FDIC and Fire Engineering editorial advisory boards.

MICHAEL N. CIAMPO is a 33-year veteran of the fire service and a lieutenant in the Fire Department of New York. Previously, he served with the District of Columbia Fire Department. He has a bachelor’s degree in fire science from John Jay College of Criminal Justice and is the lead instructor of the FDIC Truck Company Essentials class. He wrote the Ladder chapter and co-authored the Ventilation chapter for Fire Engineering’s Handbook for Firefighter I and II and assisted in rewriting Tools of the Trade (Pennwell). He is featured in “Training Minutes” truck company videos on emberly.fireengineering.com. He is the author of the Fire Engineering monthly column “On Fire” and the Bread & Butter Operations- Portable LaddersDVD (Pennwell).

LARRY COLLINS is 35-year member and a battalion chief of the Los Angeles (CA) County Fire Department (LACoFD). He is a leader of the department’s urban search and rescue team for domestic and international response and serves as a deputy operations chief, branch director, and division/group supervisor on the FEMA US&R incident support teams. For 19 years, he was captain of the LACoFD’s centrally located USAR/rescue company. He has been deployed to rescue operations at Hurricane Sandy; the Japan tsunami catastrophe; the Haiti earthquake, the 9/11 attacks; the Oklahoma City bombing; the Northridge earthquake; Hurricanes Katrina, Ivan, Ike, Gustav, Frances, and others; and a number of wildland disasters and major structure fire events.

PAUL T. DANSBACH is the fire marshal in the Bureau of Fire Safety in Rutherford, New Jersey. He has worked in code enforcement for 34 years, the past 27 as fire marshal. He is a fire instructor at the Bergen County (NJ) Law & Public Safety Institute. He has been a member of the Rutherford Fire Department for 33 years; he is a past chief and served 10 years as a chief officer. He teaches CEU classes for fire inspectors and fire subcode and building subcode officials at Kean and Rutgers Universities. He is a member of the editorial advisory board of Fire Engineering and of the FDIC advisory board. He is the co-author of the Study Guide for Fireground Size-Up and authored the Building Construction chapter for Fire Engineering’s Handbook for Firefighter I and II.

MICHAEL M. DUGAN, a 40-year veteran of the fire service, was a 27-year member of the Fire Department of New York (FDNY), where he served as captain of Ladder Company 123 in Crown Heights, Brooklyn, before retiring. As a lieutenant, he served in Ladder Company 42 in the South Bronx. While assigned as a firefighter in Ladder Company 43 in Spanish Harlem, he received the James Gordon Bennett medal in 1992 and the Harry M. Archer Medal in 1993, FDNY’s highest award for bravery. He was a volunteer firefighter in Halesite, New York. He lectures on truck company operations, building construction, size-up, and today’s fire service. He is a member of the FDIC and Fire Engineering educational/editorial advisory boards.

FRANK L. FIRE has worked for 40 years in the plastics industry and retired as executive vice president of sales, marketing, and international from Americhem, Inc., in Cuyahoga Falls, Ohio, a provider of raw materials to thermoplastics processors. He has taught “Chemistry of Hazardous Materials” to firefighters and other emergency responders for 32 years in the Fire Protection Technology program at the University of Akron (OH) Stark State College; the National Fire Academy in Emmitsburg, Maryland; and, most recently, to civil support teams of the National Guard in Missouri and Minnesota. He has a B.S. degree in chemistry and an M.B.A. degree from the University of Akron. He is the author of The Common Sense Approach to Hazardous Materials; The Common Sense Dictionary for Emergency Responders; A Study Guide to the Common Sense Approach to Hazardous Materials; Combustibility of Plastics;and Chemical Data Notebook: A User’s Manual and a co-author of SARA, Title III: Intent and Implementation of Hazardous Materials Regulations. He has written more than 120 articles on individual hazardous materials for Fire Engineering.

Richard A. Fritz enlisted in the Illinois Air National Guard as a cash-rescue firefighter in 1976. A year later, he became a career firefighter with the Muscatine (IA) Fire Department and in 1981 joined the Davenport (IA) Fire Department. In 1985, he earned his bachelor of science degree in fire service management from Southern Illinois University. In 1990, he pursued a teaching career at Scott Community College in Bettendorf (IA), where he was the program coordinator for the new Hazardous Materials Technician Degree Program.

In 1993, he became a full-time staff member at the Fire Service Institute at the University of Illinois at Champaign-Urbana Illinois. In 1999, he was program director in the Fire Service Technology program at Harrisburg Area Community College (PA). In 2000, he was training coordinator for the High Point (NC) Fire Department and in 2005 was promoted to battalion chief of training until his retirement. He is the author of Tools of the Trade: Firefighting Hand Tools and Their Use (Fire Engineering).

MIKE GAGLIANO has 25 years of fire/crash/rescue experience with the Seattle (WA) Fire Department and the United States Air Force. He is the captain of Ladder 5 and a member of the Seattle Fire Department’s Critical Decision/Tactical Training group. He has written numerous fire service articles and is co-author of Air Management for the Fire Service and the Self-Contained Breathing Apparatus chapter of the Fire Engineering’s Handbook for Firefighter 1 and II (2009). He is a member of the Fire Engineering editorial advisory board and the FDIC educational advisory board; a director for the Cyanide Poisoning Treatment Coalition; and a national instructor on air management, fireground tactics, leadership, and company officer development. He partners with his wife Anne to teach on strategies for developing and maintaining a strong marriage/family.

BILLY GOLDFEDER, EFO, is deputy chief of the Loveland-Symmes (OH) Fire Department. He has been a firefighter since 1973, a company officer since 1979, and a chief officer since 1982. He serves on the International Association of Fire Chiefs board of directors, the September 11th Families Association, and the National Fallen Firefighters Foundation. He has taught at FDIC for 30-plus years and is a member of the Fire Engineeringeditorial advisory board and the FDIC executive advisory board.

LEIGH T. HOLLINS began his fire service career in 1976 at Nottingham Fire Company in Hamilton Square, New Jersey. He retired as a training battalion chief after serving 30 years at Cedar Hammock (FL) Fire Rescue and is the director of Starfire Training Systems Inc. He is a member of the Fire Engineering and FDIC editorial advisory boards and has been a lead instructor for HOT at FDIC since 1996. He produced Fire Engineering’s School Bus Extrication DVD, has written many articles for Fire Engineering, and teaches extrication nationally.

STEPHEN KERBER is the director of the UL Firefighter Safety Research Institute. He has led research with the fire service in the areas of ventilation, structural collapse, and fire dynamics. He is a 13-year veteran of the fire service, with most of his service at the College Park Fire Department in Prince George’s County, Maryland, where he served at ranks up through deputy chief.  He received his bachelor’s and master’s degrees in fire protection engineering from the University of Maryland and is working on his doctorate at Lund University in Sweden. He has also been appointed to the rank of honorary battalion chief by the FDNY and was named the 2014 ISFSI/Fire Engineering George D. Post Instructor of the Year.

RICK LASKY, a 40-plus year veteran of the fire service, proudly serves as fire chief for the Estes Valley (CO) Fire Protection District. Throughout his career he has served as both a career and volunteer firefighter. He served as the co-lead instructor for the H.O.T. Firefighter Survival program at FDIC for over 10 years, is a longstanding editorial advisory board member for Fire Engineering Magazine, and also serves on the FDIC International advisory board. Rick is the author of the best-selling books Pride & Ownership: A Firefighter’s Love of the Job and Five Alarm Leadership: From the Firehouse to the Fireground, published by Fire Engineering Books. He is the co-host for the podcast “The Command Post” heard on FireEngineering.com as well as the podcast “Old School.” In 2017, he was the recipient of the Tom Brennan Lifetime Achievement Award.

DANIEL MADRZYKOWSKI, PE, FSFPE, is a research engineer with the UL Firefighter Safety Research Institute. He has an MS degree in fire protection engineering from the University of Maryland and more than 30 years of research experience aimed at improving fire safety. He is a member of the International Society of Fire Service Instructors and received its 2009 Instructor of the Year Award. He is an honorary battalion chief with the Fire Department of New York.

JOHN M. MALECKY retired as a battalion chief in 2003 from the Bayonne (NJ) Fire Department, which he joined in 1970. He writes the Apparatus Deliveries column for Fire Engineering and the New Deliveries column for FireRescue. A Vietnam veteran, Malecky has a bachelor’s degree in criminal justice with a fire science concentration from Jersey City (NJ) State College.

RICHARD MARINUCCI has been a chief for more than 30 years. He is a speaker at FDIC, a columnist for Fire Engineering and Fire Apparatus & Emergency Equipment, and the editor of the 7th edition of the Fire Chief’s Handbook. He is a past president of the International Association of Fire Chiefs and former chief operating officer of the United States Fire Administration. He is a faculty member at Eastern Michigan University. He has a master’s degree and three BS degrees. He is the executive director of the Fire Department Safety Officers Association.

RAY McCORMACK is the co-publisher and editor of Urban Firefighter magazine. He is a lieutenant and 30-year veteran of the Fire Department of New York. He delivered the keynote address at FDIC 2009. He is lead instructor for Urban Essential H.O.T. He is the author of “Tactical Safety,” a weekly safety column.

DAVID M. McGRAIL is a 33-year veteran of the fire service and an assistant chief with the Denver (CO) Fire Department (DFD) assigned to District #2 in Denver’s downtown high-rise district. As a captain, he served as the company commander of DFD Engine Co. 3 and then Rescue Co. 1. He was the lead instructor and developed the first engine company (standpipe operations) H.O.T. class at FDIC. He was a keynote speaker at FDIC 2009. He is a member of the FDIC educational advisory board and a member of Fire Engineering’s editorial advisory board. He is the author of Firefighting Operations in High-Rise and Standpipe-Equipped Buildings (PennWell, 2007). He has two AAS degrees in fire science technology, one with a focus on fire suppression and the other with a focus on fire prevention. He has two BS degrees, in human resource management and in fire service administration.

JOHN MITTENDORF is a retired battalion chief from the Los Angeles (CA) Fire Department, where he served more than 30 years. He is a national and international speaker on subjects such as strategy and tactics, ventilation operations, truck company operations, building construction, and facing the interview. He has written three books and produced one DVD series for PennWell Publishing. He was the recipient of Fire Engineering’s Tom Brennan Lifetime Achievement Award in 2008.

FRANK MONTAGNA, a 43-year veteran of the Fire Department of New York, retired as a battalion chief, a position he held for 26 years. He was assigned to the department’s Training Academy, where he was responsible for curriculum and officer development and simulation training. He wrote the department’s gas and electric procedure manuals. He is one of the creators of Fire Engineering’s simulations. He has a BS degree in fire science. He teaches a course for John Jay College based on his book Responding to Routine Emergencies, has published numerous fire-related articles, and frequently lectures on these topics.

JACK J. MURPHY, MA, is a fire marshal (ret.) and a former deputy chief. He is the chairman of the New York City High-Rise Fire Safety Directors Association, a member of the National Fire Protection Association High-Rise Building Safety Advisory, and the 1620 Pre-Incident Planning Committees. He has published fire service articles and authored RICS: Rapid Incident Command System Field Handbook, the Preincident Planning chapter of Fire Engineering’s Handbook for Firefighter I and II, and coauthored Bridging the Gap: Fire Safety and Green Buildings. He contributes articles to Fire Engineering and is a member of the Pennwell Fire Group executive advisory board. He was the recipient of the 2012 Fire Engineering Tom Brennan Lifetime Achievement Award.

MIKE NASTA is a retired deputy chief with the Newark (NJ) Fire Department. A 39-year veteran of the South Hackensack (NJ) Volunteer Fire Department, he served five terms as department chief. Nasta is a New Jersey-certified level II fire instructor and a senior fire instructor at the Bergen County (NJ) Fire Academy, a H.O.T. coordinator for FDIC International, and a member of the Fire Engineering editorial advisory board. He has written numerous fire service articles and coauthored Fireground Officer Development with Anthony Avillo and contributed to the search chapter in Fire Engineering’s Handbook for Firefighter I and II.

JERRY NAYLIS has served in career and volunteer fire departments for more than 40 years. He has a bachelor’s degree in fire science from Jersey City State College and a master’s degree in administrative science from Fairleigh Dickinson University. He is a NJ-certified fire instructor and has taught at FDIC and throughout the United States, Canada, and the United Kingdom on a variety of fire-related topics. He is also a certified emergency vehicle technician.

GREGORY NOLL is program manager for the South Central PA Regional Task Force (SCTF), one of nine regional task forces established throughout Pennsylvania. He is also a senior partner with Hildebrand and Noll Associates, a consulting firm specializing in emergency planning, response, and incident management issues. He has 44 years of experience in the fire service and emergency response community. He is the co-author of nine textbooks on hazardous materials emergency response and management topics. He was the recipient of the 2011 John M. Eversole Lifetime Achievement Award of the International Association of Fire Chiefs (IAFC). He is  chairperson of the National Fire Protection Association Technical Committee on Hazardous Materials/WMD Response Personnel and as a member of the InterAgency Board (IAB) Training and Exercise SubGroup. He is a member of the IAFC Hazardous Materials Committee, the Fire Engineering magazine editorial advisory board, and the FDIC advisory committee.

P.J. NORWOOD is a deputy chief training officer for the East Haven (CT) Fire Department and has served four years with the Connecticut Army National Guard. He is a contributor to Fire Engineering and an FDIC instructor and advisory board member. He served on the UL-FSRI Technical Panel for the Study of Residential Attic Fire Mitigation Tactics and Exterior Fire Spread Hazards on Fire Fighter Safety. He hosts a monthly Fire Engineering Blog Talk Radio and Google Hangout. He is certified to the instructor II, officer III, and paramedic levels.

JOHN P. O’CONNELL retired from the Fire Department of New York in 2005 after 26 years of service, the past 18 years with Rescue 3. He is a principal member of the National Fire Protection Association 1670, Standard on Operations and Training for Technical Search and Rescue Incidents, committee and is the task group chair for the structural collapse section. O’Connell is a former charter member and task force leader of New York Task Force 1 urban search and rescue team. He has served as a lead instructor for Federal Emergency Management Agency rescue specialist training and serves as an operations member of the FEMA Incident Support Team at major disasters. He has also been the H.O.T. operations chief for the FDIC International for the past 15 years. O’Connell has written numerous articles on structural collapse and technical rescue and is the author of Emergency Rescue Shoring Techniques (Fire Engineering, 2005) and Collapse Operations for First Responders (Fire Engineering, 2011).

WILLIAM C. PETERS retired after 28 years with the Jersey City (NJ) Fire Department, having served the last 17 years as battalion chief/apparatus supervisor. He was a voting member of the NFPA 1901 apparatus committee for several years and is the author of the Fire Apparatus Purchasing Handbook (Fire Engineering) and numerous apparatus-related articles. He is on the editorial advisory boards of FDIC, Fire Engineering, and Fire Apparatus & Emergency Equipment.

DAVID RHODES is afire service veteran and a battalion chief in an urban fire department in Georgia. He is a chief elder for the Georgia Smoke Diver Program, a member of the Fire Department Instructors Conference (FDIC) Executive Advisory Board, a hands-on training coordinator for FDIC, an editorial advisor for Fire Engineering and the UL Fire Safety Research Institute, and an adjunct instructor for the Georgia Fire Academy. He is a Type III incident commander for the Georgia Emergency Management-Metro Atlanta All Hazards Incident Management Team and is a task force leader for the Georgia Search and Rescue Team. He is president of Rhodes Consultants, Inc., which provides public safety training, consulting, and promotional assessment centers.

FRANK RICCI is an editorial advisory board member for Fire Engineering, FDIC, and the PennWell Fire Group. He is a captain and drillmaster for the New Haven (CT) Fire Department. He co-hosts the radio show Politics & Tactics and hosts a monthly video hangout on health and safety for Fire Engineering. He is a contributing author to several books including the Safety Chapter in Fire Engineering’s Handbook for Firefighter I and II. He delivered the keynote address at FDIC 2010. He won a landmark case before the U.S. Supreme Court, has testified before Congress, and has been a lead consultant for Yale on several studies. He developed the Fire Engineering film Smoke Showing; was a co-creator of Fire Engineering’s Tactical Building Blocks poster series; and is featured in several Training Minute segments. He authored the DVDs Firefighter Survival Techniquesand Fire Engineering’s Tactical Perspectives series, Command, Ventilation, Search, Fire Attack, and Mayday (Fire Engineering Books and Videos). He writes the blog Politics and Tactics, published on fireengineering.com.

ROB SCHNEPP is division chief of special operations for the Alameda County (CA) Fire Department. He is the author of Hazardous Materials Awareness and Operations, a member of the Fire Engineering editorial advisory board; a member of the National Fire Protection Association Technical Committee on Hazardous Materials Response Personnel; a task force member charged with revising NFPA 473, Standard for Competencies for EMS Personnel Responding to Hazardous Materials; coauthor and an instructor of the “Special Operations Program” for the National Fire Academy; an instructor for the U.S. Defense Threat Reduction Agency, providing hazmat and weapons of mass destruction training overseas; a founding member of the Cyanide Poisoning Treatment Coalition; and a board member of the Fire Smoke Coalition.

WILLIAM SHOULDIS served in line and staff positions with the Philadelphia (PA) Fire Department for 35 years until his retirement. He is an instructor at the National Emergency Training Center and a guest speaker at the Graduate School at St. Joseph’s University.

MICHAEL TERPAK, a 40-year fire service veteran, has spent the past 36 years as a deputy chief and a citywide tour commander with the Jersey City (NJ) Fire Department. He is the founder of Promotional Prep, a consulting firm to prepare firefighters and fire officers studying for promotional exams. He has a B.S. degree in fire safety administration from New Jersey City University and is the author of Fireground SizeUp, Assessment Center Strategy and Tactics, and Fireground Operational Guides (Fire Engineering).

ANDREA ZAFERES has worked for 24 years in the field of water rescue/recovery and investigation. She is vice president of Lifeguard Systems and RIPTIDE, has been published more than 150 times, teaches worldwide, is a national award winner for contributions to diving safety, and has presented at more than 100 conferences. She has 19 years of EMS experience, has been working as a medicolegal death investigator for seven years, assists with aquatic death investigations nationally, serves as a forensic aquatic death expert witness, and performs research on aquatic death and homicidal drowning. She is a NAUI course director, PADI master instructor, and an ACUC master instructor trainer, teaching a variety of programs such as public safety diving, large-area search, boat operational diving, surface ice rescue, field neurological evaluations, dive accident management, and aquatic death and homicidal drowning investigations.