NAMES IN THE NEWS
Laura Buchbinder has been appointed superintendent of the Federal Emergency Management Agency’s Emergency Management Institute in Emmitsburg, Md.
The new superintendent replaces Joseph LaFleur, who left EMI to become director of the Pennsylvania Emergency Management Agency.
Buchbinder, who began her government career with the National Fire Prevention and Control Administration in 1975, has a bachelor of science degree from the University of Texas and a master’s degree from the University of Illinois.
Buchbinder was formerly chief of FEMA’s Standards and Assessments Branch Office of Emergency Management Programs, State and Local Programs and Support Directorate. While there, she established a national data system characterizing hazards and state and local emergency management capabilities. She also planned strategy for improving the capabilities.
Chief John B. Stewart, Jr., of Hartford, Conn., has become chairman of the Metropolitan Fire Chiefs Section of the International Association of Fire Chiefs. He’s a 35year veteran of his department, where he became chief in 1980. Stewart is also past chairman of the IAFC Employee Relations and Benefits Committee.
Membership in the Metro Chiefs is limited to representatives of cities with populations of more than 200,000 or fire department payrolls of more than 400. Ninetyeight cities in the United States and 14 in Canada qualify, but Ft. Lauderdale, Fla., isn’t one of them. That’s where Stewart’s predecessor, Jim Sparr, became chief last month after retiring as chief of the Wichita (Kan.) Fire Department. Sparr had been elected Metro Chiefs chairman this past May, at the same time Stewart was elected vice chairman.
The Metro Chiefs come from fire departments that, combined, employ more than 58,000 people, protect 65 million citizens, and own $2 billion worth of first-line fire apparatus.
The staff of Illinois Attorney General Neil F. Hartigan is preparing a training manual to be used in preventing and prosecuting arson cases throughout the state.
Chicago attorneys Edward J. Ozog and Robert Quinlivan have been appointed special assistant attorneys general to coordinate the project, which will be directed by Michael Ficaro, executive director of the Illinois Attorney General’s Office.
The manual will provide practical and legal information to local law enforcement agencies, the state’s attorneys, and the State Fire Marshal’s Office regarding the prevention, detection, investigation, and prosecution of arson cases. Emphasis will be on arson-for-profit incidents.
