Symposium 6 – Presenters

Greg Adams

Greg Adams is the Director of Education and Outreach for the Tennessee State Fire Marshal’s Office, overseeing programs that include fire incident reporting, fire data analysis, fire department recognition, public education, community risk reduction, and the “Get Alarmed Tennessee!” program that provides free smoke alarms for Tennessee residents.

Greg joined the Tennessee State Fire Marshal’s Office in 2008, and held a variety positions before accepting his current role in January 2017. Since then, his team has used fire incident and demographic data to identify communities with high risk for fires and work with local fire departments to implement prevention and mitigation strategies.

Marty Ahrens

Marty Ahrens, Fire Analysis Research Manager in the NFPA’s Applied Research group came to NFPA in 1997 after 11 years as the Research Analyst in the Massachusetts State Marshal’s office.

Marty has written numerous reports on various aspects of the fire problem, including home fires, smoke alarms, sprinklers, cooking fires, candle fires, vehicle fires, and fires in various occupancies. She has been a member of the American Burn Association’s (ABA’s) Burn Prevention Committee since 2014 and in 2019 was honored with the ABA’s Burn Prevention Award. She is also a member of NFPA’s Educational Messaging Advisory Committee (EMAC) and has served on several advisory panels for fire data projects.

Marty has an MSW from Boston University and a BA in Psychology from the University of Connecticut.  She enjoys sharing her findings, talking with data users about how they use the information, and learning from their activities.

Presentation: What do we Know?

Will Broscious

Will Broscious is a Battalion Chief with Columbia-Richland Fire Rescue (CRFR). Chief Broscious manages the department’s Bureau of Volunteer Services which is staffed with over 100 volunteers on a daily basis. CRFR is located in Columbia, SC and is tasked with serving and protecting roughly 415,000 community members across 772 sq. miles which includes the City of Columbia (capitol city of SC) and Richland County. 

Prior to joining CRFR, Chief Broscious worked as a Lieutenant within the Fire Prevention Bureau of the Greenville City Fire Department (GCFD) in Greenville, SC. During his time at GCFD he became the department’s first community risk reduction (CRR) Coordinator and Public Information Officer and developed and implemented several CRR initiatives including a smoke alarm installation tracking system.  

Chief Broscious holds an Associates in Applied Science with a major in Fire Science Technology from Greenville Technical College, and a Bachelor of Science with a major in Fire Science Administration from Waldorf University

Chief Broscious serves as a contract instructor for the National Fire Academy and has served as a subject matter expert for multiple CRR projects. In 2018 he was one of eleven people in North America selected as an NFPA Star.

Presentation: A CRR Approach to Volunteer Recruitment 

H. “Butch” Browning Jr.

Louisiana State Fire Marshal H. “Butch” Browning, Jr. was appointed the Louisiana State Fire Marshal on March 8, 2008. Over the past 34 years, he has served in all levels of the fire service. Browning also served as Fire Chief for the District 6 Fire Department in Baton Rouge, and prior to his appointment as State Fire Marshal, he proudly served as the City of Gonzales Fire Chief.

His accomplishments include being an Eagle Scout, Past President of the Louisiana State Firemen’s Association, Past President of the National Association of State Fire Marshal’s and Past President of the Louisiana Arson and Fire Prevention Association.

He has led the reorganization of the State Fire Marshal’s office to include cross-training of personnel, decentralizing the office to all areas of the state, and development of a modern day data management system. As a young child, Fire Marshal Butch Browning personally witnessed the destructive power of fire and is a burn victim. He has since dedicated his entire life to public safety and service to his community and state in his quest to protect the lives and property of others.

Presentation: Information Management Systems and Fire Investigations

Dana Cardenas

Dana Cardenas has been an RN for 20 years. She is a graduate of Western New Mexico University. She works as the EMS/Community Coordinator for Tempe Fire Medical Rescue (TFMR) in Tempe Arizona. Prior to that, Dana spent most of her career as a critical care nurse specializing in emergency room and critical care nurse transports. She manages the Patient Advocate Services Program (PAS), which is Tempe Fire Medical Rescue’s Community Para-Med Program. The Program is a means to identify and bridge the gaps in the healthcare system for the City of Tempe residents.

Dana helped TFMR become one of the first fire departments in the country to partner with the Veterans Administration (VA) to provide medical and behavioral health services to veterans through the VA Tele-Med Program. 

Dana is a fellow with Hospice of the Valleys Dementia Program. Her “change project” partnered with Tempe Police Department to educate over 450 first responders in dementia awareness in 2019. 

Dana’s goals include helping to standardize Community Para-medicine and helping other fire departments gain suitability for their programs. 

Joseph Casciotti

​Joseph Casciotti currently serves as the Battalion Chief of Community Medicine for Harris County Emergency Services District #48 in Katy, Texas. Chief Casciotti has been with the department since September of 2018 and is responsible for managing and/or developing all of the department’s community health programs that include AHA CPR, Stop the Bleed, A Matter of Balance Fall Management, and the MIH/Community Paramedic Program. Chief Casciotti also oversees infection control as the department designated Infection Control Officer.

Prior to service with Harris County ESD #48, Chief Casciotti worked 5 years as a Flight Nurse for Memorial Hermann Life Flight in Houston,Texas. Chief Casciotti is a licensed Registered Nurse and Paramedic in Texas, and a certified Community Paramedic from IBSC. In addition, he holds Certified Emergency Nurse and Certified Flight Registered Nurse certifications from BCEN.

Chief Casciotti is currently enrolled in the Doctor of Nursing Practice/Family Nurse Practitioner Program at University of Texas Health Sciences Cizik School of Nursing in Houston,Texas.

Daniel Chacon

Daniel Chacon’s roots in the fire service began at a young age as a son of a Fire Chief. His interest in the fire service continued in high school as he completed his fire academy, EMT training, and lifeguard certification. Daniel worked as an emergency dispatcher at Biola University as he pursued his bachelor’s degree in sociology and social work. In 2006, Daniel became a seasonal firefighter with Cal Fire and completed four seasons. After graduating college, he left the fire service and joined the Alisa Ann Ruch Burn Foundation.

In 2011, Daniel left the burn foundation in order to move to the San Francisco Bay Area and work as a high school teacher, but later returned in 2013. Currently, he serves as the Assistant Director, and overseas all programs and services in burn prevention, including the Burn Foundation’s Firefighters In Safety Education (F.I.S.E) Program; a community risk reduction program, based on knowledge and behavioral change.

Daniel is the past Co-Chair for the Northern California Fire Prevention Officers Public Education Committee, he is a Community Risk Educator, and is a Youth Firesetter Intervention Specialist. He has presented at the Conference of the Rockies, American Burn Association, and SafeKids Worldwide.

Presentation: BeSafe Tool – Applying Behavioral Science to Fire Safety Education

Paulette Church

Paulette Church is a retired educator with an MA in educational technology.  She has taught pre-school through graduate school.  Her focus on educating her community about protecting their homes in the Wildland Urban Interface and the more than 3,000 volunteer hours invested each year paid off. It allowed firefighters to direct the 416 fires away from Durango, Colorado.  She received a 2019 Wildfire Mitigation Award from the International Association of Fire Chiefs, NFPA, and partners.

She received the Award for Excellence from the El Pomar Foundation as the Executive Director of the Durango Adult Education Center.  The Colorado Nonprofit Association awarded her the William Funk Award for Building Stronger Communities for her work in purchasing and remodeling a 45,000 sq. ft. building into a nonprofit center.  She was named Rotary District 5470 Rotarian of the Year.

Paulette is the Firewise Ambassador for Falls Creek Ranch (FCR) and Vice Chair of the Wildfire Adapted Partnership board.  Her FCR team holds an educational meeting for the 100 lot owners annually and lead workdays on the 840 acres of common property.  Workdays end at noon with beer, brats and a potluck. Too many white fir trees became Christmas trees.  Mitigation and restoration have become the standard.

Presentation: Firewise USA Site Implementation

Listen to what Paulette has to say about her presentation on Short Takes from CRR Radio

Josh Fulbright

Josh Fulbright, the Community Risk Reduction (CRR) Section Chief with South Carolina State Fire, leads a team of seven tasked with fire and life safety data analysis, curriculum coordination, and outreach. Chief Fulbright coordinates statewide CRR through the Fire Safe South Carolina program, uniting multiple fire service organizations to engage influential community partnerships in support of local fire departments and their services. He manages fire fatality research of the Community Loss Education and Response (CLEAR) Team, multiple educational programs, NFIRS reporting, and alarm technology distribution.

His team hosts quarterly Fire and Life Safety Educator Trainings, a Fire and CRR Summit, and supports local CRR practitioners. As Situation Unit Leader for the Palmetto Incident Support Team and as a State Duty Chief, he manages routine and emergency response coordination of personnel.

A native of North Carolina (NC), Chief Fulbright served with the Cary Police Department, earning the rank of corporal and gained valuable community-building experience. He has a B.A. in Criminology from NC State University and a M.J.A. from Methodist University. Chief Fulbright serves as a Vision 20/20 Technical Advisor, National Fire Academy contract instructor, subject matter expert to multiple grant-funded CRR projects, and is a member or state representative to multiple state and national associations.

Mark Griffioen

​Mark Griffioen is Deputy Fire Chief of Community Risk Reduction, and Deputy Emergency Program Coordinator.  He is responsible for Fire Prevention, Emergency Preparedness and Community Engagement for the City of Surrey, British Columbia, Canda.  Mark has been active as a firefighter since 1994 and was promoted to management in 2016.

In addition to his role as a member of the Suppression Command Staff, he manages the Fire Prevention Division.  He leads the Electrical Fire Safety Investigation Team which has been active for the past 15 years managing risks associated with illicit, medical and licensed cannabis growing operations.  He also leads the Community Property Safety Team reducing fire and overdose risk associated with unauthorized occupancy of vacant and abandoned properties.

Mark leads the fire service’s response to the opioid crisis in Surrey focusing on data-driven research to understand and proactively influence this growing epidemic. He co-chairs Surrey’s Community Action Team established to facilitate life-saving responses, early intervention, and access to evidenced-based proactive treatment.

​Katie Harrington

Katie Harrington, Esq. is a firefighter for the City of Worcester, Massachusetts.  She was sworn into her position in 2003.  Katie has worked simultaneously as an attorney throughout her career in the fire service.  She spent time in suppression, training, and fire prevention before transferring to the Public Education/Community Risk Reduction Unit.  Katie has received many certifications in the fire service including Fire Prevention Officer I/II, Advanced Arson Investigations, Student Awareness of Fire Education, and Juvenile Fire Setter Intervention Specialist.

Katie educates adults throughout Worcester in fire and fall safety and children about fire prevention and safety.  She also teaches peers at the Massachusetts Fire Academy in areas of prevention and EMS.  She has been a part of many State and Federal grants.

Katie’s partnerships continue on a daily basis with work in the community.  She represents the department in Hub-Cor, is the community representative for the HeadStart preschool program, partners with Red Cross for smoke alarm installation and is on the task force for the Senior Support Team and Massachusetts Fire and Life Safety Education.  When not working, Katie can be found at the horse barn, soccer field, or dance competitions with her five children.

Victoria Hutchison

Victoria Hutchison is a Research Project Manager at the Fire Protection Research Foundation (FPRF), the research affiliate of NFPA, where she plans, manages and facilitates research in support of the NFPA mission. At the Foundation, her research is focused on the hazards associated with emerging technologies, the reliability and effectiveness of safety systems and other relevant fire and life safety related issues.

Victoria is a graduate of Oklahoma State University and Worcester Polytechnic Institute, where she earned her B.S. in Fire Protection and Safety Engineering Technology and her M.S. in Fire Protection Engineering, respectively. Victoria also has experience at a fire protection engineering firm where she focused on fire protection system design and engineering analyses for commercial and residential properties.

Karla Klas

​Karla Klas, BSN, RN, CCRP manages the University of Michigan Trauma Burn Center’s nationally acclaimed community and family-centered injury prevention programs.  Her 27-year distinguished career in critical care burn/trauma nursing, youth firesetting intervention, research, education, injury prevention, community risk reduction, professional development training, program management, and mentoring has produced numerous medical journal publications, textbook chapters and grant awards.  She has advanced training in several specialty topics, such as:  Drug Endangered Children Response, Forensic Interviewing in Children, Child Abuse Identification, Collaborative Institutional Training Initiative on Research, Screening-Brief Intervention-Referral to Treatment (SBIRT), Motivational Interviewing, Advanced Burn Life Support, Stop the Bleed, CarFit, Advanced Trauma Care for Nurses, and others.

Karla is a Contract Instructor at the National Fire Academy.  She has been appointed to multiple national leadership roles and committees devoted to injury reduction, including:  American Burn Association Burn Prevention, YFIRES National Youth Firesetting Database, MI Arson Prevention, Safe States Alliance Injury Prevention, Michigan Trauma Coalition Injury Prevention, U-M Injury Research Center, etc.  An award-winning educator, speaker, and author, Karla also mentors at-risk youth, volunteers in survivor support programs, and enjoys all kinds of outdoor adventures with her family.  To learn more, visit:  https://traumaburn.org/karla-s-klas-bsn-rn-ccrp

Randy Miller

Randy Miller is Deputy Fire Marshal, Camas-Washougal Fire Marshal’s Office, Camas, Washington. Randy spent five years as a paramedic in Portland Oregon prior to being hired by the Camas, WA Fire Department in 1991. In 2000, Randy was promoted into the Fire Marshal’s office as a Deputy Fire Marshal where he has served for the last 19 years.

Randy has been instrumental in developing incentives for developers and builders that resulted in the installation of residential fire sprinklers in thousands of single-family homes in Camas. The Fire Marshal’s Office now serves two cities as the Camas- Washougal Fire Marshal’s Office.

Aileen Pettinger

​Aileen Pettinger has served in suppression on the Saginaw Fire Department in Saginaw, Michigan since 1997 and was promoted to Lieutenant in 2012.  She is a member of MI Prevention, a statewide community risk reduction (CRR) team that has provided informative data, innovative training, and smoke and carbon monoxide alarms to fire departments throughout Michigan.

In 2011, Lieutenant Pettinger was appointed by Governor Snyder and again in 2019 by Governor Whitmer to the Michigan Fire Fighters Training Council as a representative of the Michigan Professional Fire Fighters Union.  The Council has had the opportunity to provide a variety of training, including CRR training, to firefighters across Michigan.

In 2019, Lieutenant Pettinger led the “Sound Off with the Home Safety Patrol” educational program in second and third grades in Saginaw schools. This is a pilot program in Michigan.  Due to the successful outcome of this program, she will help teach the Sound Off concept to five other fire departments in Michigan in 2020.  She is eager to share her Sound Off success story with all of you.

Chelsea Rubadou

​Chelsea Rubadou currently works as a Community Risk Reduction (CRR) Strategist at NFPA. Her goal is to better understand the challenges and obstacles communities face when working to reduce risks, and to develop strategies so that NFPA can better meet the needs of these stakeholders. Previously she was an engineer on the Technical Services team at NFPA, where her assignments involved supporting various committees and developing solutions to meet stakeholder technical needs.

Prior to joining NFPA, Chelsea was a mechanical engineer with Tyco Fire Protection Products. Chelsea earned her Master’s Degree in Fire Protection Engineering from WPI.

Michael Sedlacek

Michael Sedlacek currently serves as the Captain of Community Risk Reduction for Madison Fire & Rescue, in North Alabama. He has been in the fire service for 14 years and 11 at Madison. He is the designer of the Fire and Safety Technology VR program and is working to make technological fire education mainstream.

Michael also teaches for the Alabama Fire College and the National Fire Academy in the Community Risk Reduction sections. He holds a bachelor’s degree in Public Safety and Emergency Management from Grand Canyon University. He is a graduate of Leadership Greater Huntsville, as well as the Alabama Public Safety Leadership Academy. His driving passion is serving his community and mentoring young people. He and his wife Courtni live in Hazel Green Alabama and have 3 beautiful children. 

Kevin Sehlmeyer

Kevin Sehlmeyer was appointed to serve as the Michigan State Fire Marshal in April 2017. Sehlmeyer also leads the Michigan Bureau of Fire Services as the Bureau Director within the Michigan Department of Licensing and Regulatory Affairs, and serves as an ex-officio member of the Michigan Fire FightersTraining Council and State Fire Safety Board. Sehlmeyer has served as a director with the International Fire Marshal Association since 2018.

Prior to his State Fire Marshal appointment, Sehlmeyer served with Grand Rapids Fire Department (GRFD). Kevin retired in January 2016 after 30+ years with the GRFD as a Deputy Fire Chief.  Before joining the Grand Rapids Fire Department, Sehlmeyer was a crash rescue firefighter for the Michigan Air National Guard. From 2016 to 2017 Kevin served as the Training Chief for the Courtland Township Fire Department. Sehlmeyer holds a bachelor’s degree in management and organizational development from Spring Arbor University.

Vishant Shah

Vishant Shah leads the fire analytics team for the Memphis, Tennessee Fire Department. He manages a team consisting of performance analysts, programmers and firefighter-paramedic subject matter experts. He worked closely on the Insurance Services Office (ISO)Class 1 Public Protection Classification (PPC) review and currently serves on a Community Risk Assessment project funded by FEMA.

Vishant collaborates with stakeholders and leverages data to improve the delivery of public services. He co-hosts the Fire+EMS Data Collaboratory Slack channel, “mutual aid” for over 300 analysts in the fire service across North America and Europe.

Vishant has more than 25 years of experience working in the financial services, cyber security, and critical infrastructure sectors. He has served as the Deputy Director of Control Systems Security for the U.S. Department of Homeland Security National Cyber Security Directorate. He has an MS degree in Information from the University of Michigan.

Joshua Smith

Josh Smith is a Firefighter/Paramedic with Richland Fire & Emergency Services (RF&ES) located in southeast Washington State. Josh has been in the fire service for 17 years both as a career and volunteer firefighter, spending the last 5 years with RF&ES. He currently serves as the organizations Medical Training Coordinator and is the program manager of Heart Safe Richland, a public education initiative aimed at increasing sudden cardiac arrest survival through equipping community members with the necessary knowledge, skills and abilities. 

Josh is also a member of the Citizen CPR Foundation’s program advisory committee on Heart Safe Communities. He recently led the City of Richland in becoming the first Heart Safe Community designated by the Citizen CPR (CCPR) Foundation under their new objective criteria. In 2019, Josh was a recipient of the inaugural 40 under 40 award at the Citizen CPR Foundations, Cardiac Arrest Survival Summit, in Seattle, WA. This award recognizes individuals under the age of 40 who are considered to be future leaders in cardiac arrest survival. 

Kim Stouse

Kim Stouse is the Community Relations/Education Specialist with the Pocatello Fire Department/Bannock County, Idaho Ambulance District. She is assigned to the Fire Prevention Bureau and is responsible for education, outreach, emergency preparedness, the juvenile firesetter intervention program, fire inspections and is the public information officer.

Kim joined the fire service in 2015. Prior to that she was a 911 dispatcher and juvenile probation officer. Kim has a Master’s Degree in Homeland Security from American Military University; a Bachelor’s in Sociology from Idaho State University and is a nationally certified EMT. She is the NFPA Education Representative for the State of Idaho.

Kim works with various community partners and sits on several boards that work to address the needs within the community. Kim has been actively working on moving her department towards the Community Risk Reduction Model. Kim is an active member on the Idaho Region 3 All Hazards Incident Management Team.  When she is not at work, she loves to be doing activities with her husband and 2 active boys.

Presentation: Collaboration Reduces Call Volume to Assisted Living Facilities

Listen to what Kim has to say about her presentation on Short Takes from CRR Radio.

Zoe Susice

Zoe Susice is the Director, Research Amplification for the UL Firefighter Safety Research Institute.  She is responsible for leading marketing and enabling functions as well as strategic communications and public safety outreach to amplify the impact of UL FSRI’s research-driven insights.  She leads the UL217 Steering Committee that develops smoke alarm safety content for the UL enterprise, as well as the ‘Close Before You Doze’ campaign. Prior to joining UL FSRI, Zoe held progressive roles in communications, marketing and strategy at consumer brands including Panasonic, Frank’s RedHot, and Pepperidge Farm and across UL, most recently as the Director, Strategy & Marketing for Underwriters Laboratories.  She holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Business Administration from Bucknell University, a certificate from the Yale School of Management for completing The New Science of Marketing: Strategic Marketing Development Program and a Harvard University credential in social media marketing.

Symposium 6 is a partnership between The Vision 20/20 Project and these organizations.

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