Summer 2019

For 17 years, the Truman Little White House in Key West, Florida, has honored President Harry S. Truman with an annual symposium. This year’s event (May 5 and 6) was hosted by the Key West Little White House, the National Fallen Firefighters Foundation (NFFF), the National Fire Sprinkler Association (NFSA), and many corporate sponsors.

Walking the blackened earth where a wildfire has passed through, there’s much to learn. We can see the growing scope of the hazard, how a brush fire explodes into a catastrophe, the challenges firefighters face, and the choices people make that can save or threaten lives and property.

Part of the Florida Forest Service’s mission is “to protect Florida and its people from the dangers of wildland fire,” and that guides many of our outreach objectives. One of the highest priorities of those objectives is the preparedness and education of residents regarding wildfire in the wildland-urban interface (WUI).

Dr. Jeff DeGraffenreid serves as the fire chief and director of emergency management for the City of Olathe, Kansas. He’s a frequent conference speaker and has authored many articles and textbook chapters on varied emergency service topics. Dr. DeGraffenreid currently sits on the editorial board of the International Fire Service Journal of Leadership and Management, and he has traveled the world working on some of the most significant disasters.

ISO Community Hazard Mitigation has an ongoing program in place to actively work with fire departments on Public Protection Classification (PPC®) and Fire Suppression Rating Schedule (FSRS) education. As part of this effort, representatives from ISO have been conducting presentations on Tuesday evenings during the “Additional Learning Opportunity” available to students attending the National Fire Academy (NFA) in Emmitsburg, Maryland.