Twenty fire chiefs from around the world participated in the National Fire Protection Association (NFPA) Urban Fire Forum in Quincy, MA, October 11-13. Also in attendance was Gregory Cade, administrator of the United States Fire Administration who was formerly the chief of the Virginia Beach Fire Department.
The forum focused on a wide range of topics including environmental issues, mutual aide and resource typing, incident management, fire fighter safety, community planning and design, diversity, outreach and recruitment, fire-based EMS, and much more. The forum is sponsored each year by the NFPA.
“Today’s fire chiefs lead sophisticated organizations that provide fire, rescue, EMS, hazardous materials and environmental services, as well as a wide array of public education, code enforcement and community health programs,” said NFPA Metro Chiefs Executive Secretary Russ Sanders who coordinates the event. “The Urban Fire Forum brings together the chiefs who are responsible for protecting some of the largest urban centers in the world – the objective of the program is straight forward: to provide the chiefs an opportunity to learn from their peers and for NFPA to stay abreast of current trends and needs in the of fire service.”
This year’s participants were:
Chief/Director Richard “Dick” Arwood, Memphis, TN
Chief William “Shorty” Bryson, Miami, FL
Chief Eddie Burns, Dallas TX
Chief/USFA Administrator Gregory B. Cade
Chief Gregory Dean, Seattle, WA
Chief Rebecca Denlinger, Cobb County, GA
Chief Richard “Smokey” Dyer, Kansas City, MO
Chief Luther Fincher, Charlotte, NC
Chief Greg Frederick, Louisville, KY
Chief Joanne Hayes-White, San Francisco, CA
Chief Robert Hendricks, Lexington, KY
Chief Tracy Jarman, San Diego, CA
Chief William “Bill” McCammon, (Retired) Alameda County, CA
Lt. Colonel Christophe Mignot, Aix en Provence, France
Chief Doug Ratto, (Retired), Stockton, CA
Chief Keith Richter, Contra Costa County, CA
Chief Roberto Rivera, El Paso, TX
Chief Ken Silvia, Honolulu, HI
Chief William “Bill” Stewart, Toronto, Ontario, Canada
Chief Randy Wolsey, Edmonton, Alberta, Canada
The facilitators for this year’s forum were Alan Brunacini, retired Phoenix, AZ chief and Warren McDaniels, retired New Orleans, LA chief and NFPA Chair of the Board of Directors.
The core group of the Urban Fire Forum is the Metro Chiefs Executive Board. In addition, 15 additional chiefs are invited each year on a rotating basis.
The Metropolitan Fire Chiefs (Metro) Section 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. The Metro is a Section of both the NFPA and the IAFC and its members are the fire chiefs of jurisdictions with minimum staffing of 400 fully paid career firefighters. For more information, contact Metro Executive Secretary Russ Sanders.
NFPA has been a worldwide leader in providing fire, electrical, building, and life safety to the public since 1896. The mission of the international nonprofit organization is to reduce the worldwide burden of fire and other hazards on the quality of life by providing and advocating consensus codes and standards, research, training and education. Visit NFPA’s Web site at www.nfpa.org.
