Attendee Information

Stephen Hrustich is the Project Manager for Vision 20/20, which partners with organizations and experts to make communities safe, healthy, and resilient through community risk reduction.  Stephen will explain how Vision 20/20 identifies gaps, evaluates, and applies data-drive strategies and resources to provide guidance in implementing adaptive measures to reduce fire and other risks; saving lives, and protecting first responders and property.  Stephen will also introduce the new Vision 20/20 online educational training available for elected and appointed officials of emergency services organizations.

Retired Fire Chief Dennis Reilly had been involved with fire protection for over forty years—twenty years as a chief officer and has served communities in North Carolina, New Jersey, Missouri, Kansas, and California. Chief Reilly has switched roles and is now serving on the Board of Fire Commissioners of a Florida fire district where he hopes to create a value driven organization that empathizes excellence in service delivery and accountability to the community the district servers.  Dennis will talk about his experiences with fire district boards and his new perspective from the board room, particularly building an effective Chief.

Why are manufacturers so far behind on delivery of new apparatus? What is the current impact of the supply chain on apparatus manufacturing? Will emergency services apparatus ever be electric?  Is anyone developing self-driving apparatus?  Come ask your questions from a panel of apparatus manufacturers who will be sharing the latest apparatus information from the drawing room to the assembly line.

In the early 1980s, Kevin Mallinson became the first openly gay firefighter in the United States when he was hired into the Key West Fire Department. Over the subsequent years, Kevin became the target of fierce and unrelenting homophobia taunts and assaults intended to force him out of the Department.

Even today, there is widespread acknowledgement that LGBTQ firefighters and emergency personnel face discrimination, intimidation, and harassment in the workplace. The consequences of not addressing issues of discrimination such as homophobia and transphobia may result in personal injuries and can have severe legal and financial ramifications to emergency services organizations and its taxpayers.

Dr. Mallinson speaks to the duty of officials at all levels of fire and emergency services, including elected officials, to prevent abuses of LGBTQ personnel and take appropriate action when needed to respond to discrimination. Keven uses his unique experience and sense of humor to assure that emergency services organizations can recruit and retain talented personnel from diverse communities.

There is power in numbers and Cole Arreola-Karr is working for NAEFO to help engage and build coalitions, develop and implement grassroots advocacy solutions, and works with government officials, to expand and advance NAEFO’s networks at the national level.  Come hear Cole provide key updates on developments at the Federal level that could impact or is impacting your emergency services district and the strategic engagement and influence that is needed to get results in Washington, DC.

Arizona Proposition 310 was designed to generate approximately $150 million per year for Arizona’s 144 fire districts from a 1/10^th% sales tax. Although the sales tax came close to passing on the November 2022 ballot, Arizona EMS and fire services are regrouping and do not plan to give up the fight to provide better funding to communities throughout the state. Hear about how this sales tax was designed, what it took to get the measure on the ballot, how Arizona EMS and fire services raised $500,000 to promote passage of the sales tax, what are the lessons learned from defeat, and what might a future similar effort look like.

In December 2021 the Marshall Fire destroyed more nearly 1,100 homes totalling $2 billon and killing two in northwest of Denver near Boulder.

After the wind died down and the devastating fire was extinguished, there were so many more issues that arose,  and the problems weren’t going to be solved by just government officials or elected leaders. 

Cheryl took the mission to help people in her neighborhood to a whole new level by organizing a neighborhood committee called UBC that at first met every week with disaster recovery managers. The UBC became educated on a wealth of wildfire-related topics, including ditches, watersheds, grasses, building materials, fencing, and landscaping—all needed expertise for wildfire mitigation and preparedness.

When Cheryl learned there wasn’t enough water in the Marshall area where the fire began, Gordon organized a roundtable that resulted in a grant application. When the county passed a new tax for wildfire mitigation, she put together a petition to give residents more of a voice in how the money is spent.  Nearly two years after the Marshall Fire, citizen input to federal legislation, state laws, and local regulations continue to be important when trying to rebuild what was lost.