For the Record 3/20

Hoover Named Deputy U.S. Fire Administrator

National Fire Academy Superintendent Tonya Hoover was named Deputy U.S. Fire Administrator and will oversee day-to-day operations for the U.S. Fire Administration (USFA). As the senior career federal fire official, Hoover will be responsible for numerous high-level tasks and operations at the USFA, including:

• the annual training of more than 100,000 first responders at and through the National Fire Academy (NFA);
• the National Fire Incident Reporting System, which documents and analyzes 27 million fire department emergency responses per year;
• the USFA's fire prevention, public information and public education programs; and
• the 26 campus buildings and the grounds of the historic National Emergency Training Center.

Hoover, who has more than 20 years of management experience in both local and state government, was named NFA Superintendent in May 2017. She will continue her work in that role, providing leadership for the NFA’s ongoing efforts to enhance the capability of fire and emergency services to deal more effectively with emergencies.

From July 2009 to July 2016, she served as California State Fire Marshal, which put her in charge of statewide fire prevention, fire engineering, fire service training, pipeline safety, code and regulations development, analysis and implementation, and wildland urban interface programs.

For more information, visit usfa.fema.gov.

Willette Named Executive Director of NAFTD  

Ken Willette, who is a 35-year veteran of the fire service, was appointed as the first executive director of the North American Fire Training Directors (NAFTD). Willette will lead efforts to support the member organizations that train more than 1 million volunteer and career emergency responders in the United States and Canada by working with state, provincial and federal government leaders and private-sector representatives. 

Willette worked as a Department of Defense aircraft rescue firefighter, volunteer firefighter, municipal firefighter and shift commander before rising to the rank of fire chief in two Massachusetts towns. He then spent eight years leading teams that support first-responder standards development and fire service solutions at the NFPA. In that role, Willette launched the NFPA Responder Forum, which is a thinktank that educates leadership candidates from more than a dozen top fire service organizations on new life safety threats, innovative technologies, cultural issues, fire data, and responder health and wellness. Willette is a former president of the Fire Chiefs Association of Massachusetts and a graduate of the National Fire Academy Executive Fire Officers Program. He has a bachelor’s degree in fire protection from SUNY Stony Brook. 

“NAFTD is excited to have Ken Willette leading our efforts to effectively engage our members and mobilize the resources of NAFTD to enhance the delivery of training across North America,” NAFTD President John Cunningham said. “His background as a firefighter, department official and NFPA spokesperson, and his reputation for being a progressive industry collaborator, make him ideally suited to be the first executive director of our organization. The board of directors stands ready to work with Ken as he seeks to implement our strategic plan and develop new strategies for NAFTD to enhance its brand and foster an even greater level of fire service knowledge and skills throughout North America.”  

Willette will oversee day-to-day operations of NAFTD, including formulating and recommending policy; responding to members’ needs; providing outreach to other first-responder organizations; and engaging in activities that underscore NAFTD’s position and priorities. He also is charged with monitoring and responding to industry affairs; ensuring that NAFTD stays current with today’s growing demands of emergency response and workplace concerns; and compiling and sharing fire service training statistics and insights.

“Firefighters play an important role in our society,” Willette said. “We have made great strides reducing loss, particularly here in North America, but our first responders face an even wider array of challenges today. NAFTD plays a major role in preparing the men and women of the fire service for all hazards, and by working with like-minded organizations and individuals in the days ahead, we will meet the expectations of our membership and the communities that we serve.”

For more information, visit naftd.org.

Correction

In the February 2020 issue of Firehouse Magazine, in “Hot Shots,” the description of the photograph from the incident that took place in New York City on Nov. 8, 2019, which appears on page 59, should have noted that Battalion 58 transmitted a second alarm and that the particular location was Brooklyn. We regret the errors.

Line-of-Duty Deaths

8 U.S. firefighters recently died in the line of duty. Four deaths were health-related, three firefighters were killed in motor vehicle accidents and one firefighter was killed when he was struck by a motor vehicle. This edition of Firehouse is dedicated to these firefighters.

FIREFIGHTER MARK HORWICH, 51, of the Clover-Roane Volunteer Fire Department in Spencer, WV, died on Jan. 11. Horwich was responding to a structure fire in an engine when the vehicle was involved in a rollover crash. Horwich died at the scene from the injuries that he sustained in the crash.

FIRE CHIEF JOHN A. BRESNAN, 58, of the Homewood, AL, Fire and Rescue Service, died on Jan. 10. Bresnan was found unresponsive in his office at the station. He was transported immediately to Brookwood Baptist Health Medical Center, where he was pronounced deceased from a medical emergency that has yet to be determined.

LT. DAVID HILL, 39, of Lubbock, TX, Fire Rescue, died on Jan. 11. Hill and another firefighter responded to the scene of a vehicle crash on the northbound lanes of Interstate 27 in Lubbock. While working at the scene, Hill, the firefighter and a police officer were hit by a passing vehicle. Hill and the firefighter were transported immediately to the hospital, where Hill passed away from the injuries that he sustained. The other firefighter was listed in critical condition. The police officer died at the scene.

CHIEF DARYL “TADDY” DRUSCH, 49, of the Howard Lake, MN, Fire Department, died on Jan. 13. Drusch responded to an EMS call for an automobile submerged in ice. Early the next morning, he suffered an apparent heart attack at his home and was rushed to the hospital, where he passed away.

DRIVER-OPERATOR ROGER D. DELONGCHAMP, 66, of the Willow-Caswell, AK, Fire Department, died on Jan. 18. DeLongchamp was preparing to depart the station in a tanker on an emergency response for a reported structure fire when he collapsed. He was treated immediately by other responders, but efforts were unsuccessful. DeLongchamp was declared deceased from an apparent heart attack. 

FIRE MARSHAL TIMOTHY P. SMITH, 56, of the Orange, CT, Fire Marshal's Office, died on Jan. 19. Smith was returning home after responding to a house fire. His vehicle left the road and hit a tree. Smith died instantly from the injuries that he sustained in the accident.

FIREFIGHTER JOHN KEVIN CASH, 43, of the Roswell, GA, Fire Department, died on Jan. 21. Cash worked a 24-hour shift on Jan. 20. The next morning, the incoming day crew noticed that he hadn’t left the station to go home. They entered his bunk room to awaken him but found him deceased. The nature and cause of his death are currently under investigation.

FIREFIGHTER CORBIN ROGERS, 21, of the Spring Lake, NC, Fire and Rescue Department, died on Jan. 31. Rogers was returning home from a mandated aerial training class when he was involved in a vehicle accident. He passed away at the scene.