Metro Chiefs Elect New Board Members, Issue Annual Awards
June 9, 2020 – Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, for the first time in its 55 year history, The Metropolitan “Metro” Fire Chiefs Association, a section of the International Association of Fire Chiefs (IAFC) and National Fire Protection Association (NFPA), was forced to cancel its annual conference. The conference, which was scheduled for June 6-11, 2020 in Pittsburgh, Pa., has been rescheduled for May 16-21, 2021, also in Pittsburgh. All Association business that is normally managed at the conference site, including the election of executive board members, the selection of award recipients, and charitable donations was completed electronically.
The new officers are:
- Chief John Lane, president; Winnipeg Fire Paramedic Service, Winnipeg, Man., Canada
- Chief Don Lombardi, vice president; West Metro Fire Protection District, Lakewood, Colo.
- Chief Robert Rocha, secretary; Corpus Christi Fire Department, Corpus Christi, Tex.
- Chief Edward “Loy” Senter, Jr., treasurer; Chesterfield County Fire and EMS, Chesterfield County, Va.
The new board members are:
- Chief Ernest Malone, board member; Indianapolis Fire Department, Indianapolis, Ind.
- Chief (retired) Dr. Denis Onieal, senior board member; Jersey City Fire Department, Jersey City, N.J.
- Chief John Butler, alternate board member; Fairfax County Fire and Rescue Department, Fairfax County, Va.
- Chief (retired) Michael “Mike” Duyck, immediate past president; Tualatin Valley Fire and Rescue, Tigard, Ore.
The Metro Chiefs bestowed the following 2020 Metro Awards:
- Chief Charles H. Hood of the San Antonio (Tex.) Fire Department was named Fire Chief of the Year
- Chief (retired) Dr. Denis G. Onieal of the Jersey City (N.J.) Fire Department and former Superintendent of the National Fire Academy and Deputy Administrator of the United States Fire Administration received the Lifetime Achievement Award
Continuing its long history of support, the Metro membership approved financial donations to the National Fallen Firefighters Foundation ($5,000), the Canadian Fallen Firefighters Foundation ($3,500), and the Home Fire Sprinkler Coalition ($2,000).
As all of us continue to navigate the evolving situation with COVID-19, NFPA remains committed to supporting you with the resources you need to minimize risk and help prevent loss, injuries, and death from fire, electrical, and other hazards. For information on NFPA’s response to the coronavirus, please visit our webpage.
The Metropolitan Fire Chiefs (Metro) Association brings together fire chiefs from large metropolitan fire departments to share information and focus on major issues effecting policy changes in the U.S. and abroad. Its members belong to the IAFC and NFPA and are the fire chiefs of jurisdictions with minimum staffing of 400 fully paid career firefighters. For more information, contact Metro Executive Secretary Russ Sanders.
About the National Fire Protection Association (NFPA)
Founded in 1896, NFPA is a global self-funded nonprofit organization devoted to eliminating death, injury, property and economic loss due to fire, electrical and related hazards. The association delivers information and knowledge through more than 300 consensus codes and standards, research, training, education, outreach and advocacy; and by partnering with others who share an interest in furthering the NFPA mission. All NFPA codes and standards can be viewed online for free at www.nfpa.org/freeaccess.
