Fire chiefs from the United States, Canada and the United Kingdom participated in the National Fire Protection Association (NFPA) Urban Fire Forum (UFF) in Quincy, Mass. September 4-7, 2014. United States Fire Administrator Chief Ernest Mitchell, IAFC CEO and Executive Director Mark Light, United Kingdom Chief Fire & Rescue Advisor Peter Holland and Chief Fire Officers Association of the United Kingdom incoming President Peter Dartford were also in attendance.
The group endorsed the following three important documents as official UFF-Metro Chief position papers:
Fire Behavior and Tactical Considerations
Fire-Based Community Healthcare Provider Programs
“The fire service today faces greater challenges than ever before and responds to a broader range of emergency and catastrophic events,” said NFPA Metro Chiefs Executive Secretary Russ Sanders who coordinates the event. “These position papers are critical resources for departments to use to apply the latest fire research and implement best practices for usual and extraordinary circumstances.”
According to Sanders, the Urban Fire Forum brings together the fire chiefs who are responsible for protecting some of the largest urban centers in the world. The program objectives are to provide the chiefs an opportunity to learn from their peers and expert speakers, and for NFPA to stay abreast of current trends and needs in the fire service. The core group of the Urban Fire Forum is the Metropolitan Fire Chiefs Association (Metro) Executive Board. These chiefs are joined by a select group of at-large Metro Chiefs.
This year’s participating chiefs and guests were:
Chief Ken Block – Edmonton Fire and Rescue Services, Edmonton, Alberta
Chief G. Keith Bryant – Oklahoma City Fire Department, Okla.
Chief William “Shorty” Bryson – Miami Fire Rescue (retired), Fla.
Commissioner Salvatore Cassano – Fire Department New York (retired)
Chief Kelvin Cochran – Atlanta Fire Rescue Department, Ga.
Chief Otto Drozd – Orange County Fire Rescue Department, Fla.
Chief Larry Few – Fulton County Fire and Rescue, Ga.
Chief Luther Fincher – Charlotte Fire Department (retired), N.C.
Commissioner Joe Finn – Boston Fire Department, Mass.
Chief Terry Garrison – Houston Fire Department, Texas
Chief Jon Hannan – Charlotte Fire Department, N.C.
Commissioner Edsel Jenkins – Detroit Fire Department, Mich.
Chief Kara Kalkbrenner – Phoenix Fire Department, Ariz.
Chief Rhoda Mae Kerr – Austin Fire Department, Texas
Chief Maurice Kemp – Miami Fire Rescue, Fla.
Chief Daryl Osby – Los Angeles County Fire Department, Calif.
In addition to several UFF Chiefs and NFPA staff members who served as speakers, other speakers included:
Chief Tom Currao – Fire Department New York
Casey Grant – Fire Protection Research Foundation, NFPA
Stephen Kerber – UL Firefighter Safety Research Institute
Daniel Madrzykowski – National Institute of Standards and Technology
Dr. Lori Moore-Merrell – International Association of Fire Fighters
Chief Joseph W. Pfeifer – Fire Department New York
Dr. Rita Fahy – NFPA
The Metropolitan Fire Chiefs (Metro) Association brings together fire chiefs from large metropolitan fire departments to share information and focus on major issues effecting policy changes in the U.S. and abroad. Its members belong to the IAFC and NFPA and are the fire chiefs of jurisdictions with minimum staffing of 350 fully paid career fire fighters. For more information, contact Metro Executive Secretary, Russ Sanders.
