Lorraine Carli, vice president of Outreach and Advocacy, and Olga Caledonia, director of International Development at the National Fire Protection Association (NFPA), bring complementary perspectives to the mission of advancing fire and life safety.
While Carli focuses on public education, domestic advocacy, and stakeholder engagement in the United States and Canada, Caledonia drives NFPA international initiatives by promoting the use of safety codes and standards, while supporting efforts to strengthen regulatory frameworks through collaboration with governments and private sector partners.
In this joint interview, the two leaders discuss the importance of a unified approach to fire protection, share lessons from recent tragedies, and highlight how the NFPA Fire & Life Safety Ecosystem™ can guide safety efforts across diverse regions.
From smoke alarms in homes to the implementation of NFPA codes in Latin America, their shared goal remains constant: protecting lives and property through education, support, and cooperation.
Lorraine Carli: As vice president of Outreach and Advocacy, I oversee media, public affairs, government affairs, and advocacy efforts.
I am also responsible for the NFPA wildfire division, public education, and the US/Canada regional operations division, community risk reduction and stakeholder engagement, as well as the association’s magazine, NFPA Journal.
My role is to advance the NFPA mission by developing programs and campaigns that raise awareness about the threats of fire and other hazards, what actions can be taken to prevent loss, as well as supporting those who use our codes and standards to protect lives and property in their communities and businesses
Olga Caledonia: As director of International Development, I lead NFPA’s international efforts to expand the use and implementation of our codes and standards.
Working closely with governments, industries, and NGOs, our team helps build safer communities worldwide by strengthening regulatory frameworks and providing technical knowledge to support effective fire and life safety practices.
As a global organization our audiences may differ, but our work is closely aligned.
Effective safety depends both on strong regulations and an informed public.
Whether we are advocating for smoke alarms or sprinklers in homes or helping a country implement the latest fire and life safety codes, we share the same goal: empowering people, institutions, and communities to prioritize safety and embrace proven fire protection strategies.
The NFPA Fire & Life Safety Ecosystem is a framework that identifies eight interconnected elements that must work together to reduce loss from fire, electrical, and related hazards.
It highlights that safety is not achieved through codes alone—it requires sound policy, effective enforcement, educated public and professionals, and a commitment to safety at every level.
Created by NFPA in 2018, following high-profile tragedies like the Grenfell Tower fire in London, a high-rise fire in an unsprinklered residential building, and the Ghost Ship warehouse fire in Oakland, the Ecosystem was the first framework of its kind to describe comprehensively all the elements needed to protect lives and minimize risk.
In each of those tragedies, there was not just one thing that went wrong.
Multiple things that went wrong but no one saw the entire scenario.
Whether working locally or globally, the Ecosystem is a guide to thinking holistically and addressing vulnerabilities before tragedy strikes.
Fire Prevention Week™ has been a cornerstone of public fire safety education for over 100 years, and its impact is undeniable.
Campaigns focused on smoke alarms, escape planning, and cooking safety have significantly increased awareness and driven behavioral changes that save lives.
There are countless examples of success where people have taken action for their own safety when they have the right information.
By continually evolving our messages to reflect current risks, we ensure that public education remains a powerful and relevant tool for prevention.
The NFPA standards development process is the best in the world with thousands of volunteers coming together in a fully transparent process to create more than 300 codes and standards.
We focus on building collaborations and providing information, knowledge and education about this process and the standards themselves.
NFPA codes align with best practices support resilience, economic development, and public safety goals.
All of this make a strong case for their use.
We also offer training, globally recognized certifications like Certified Fire Protection Specialist, and technical resources that help local stakeholders customize implementation based on their unique needs and capacities.
Jim Pauley, our president and CEO, refers to all that we bring to the table as a ‘toolbox’ of resources and solutions that we’ve built over our nearly 130-year history.
A significant obstacle is the general lack of understanding about how codes and standards are developed and maintained.
Although people are surrounded by safety every day—in their homes, workplaces, and public spaces—few realize the critical role that codes, standards, and expert processes play in protecting them.
This lack of awareness can breed complacency and lead policymakers and legislators to yield to special interests and circumvent time-tested standards development processes.
Safety organizations like NFPA must do a better job explaining the importance of expert-driven standards and their integral role in saving lives.
We recently explored this issue in depth in our NFPA Journal cover story, “The Assault on Safety.”
Tragic incidents like the fire at the Grand Kartal Hotel in Turkey reinforce the importance of proactive prevention.
They show that having codes and standards on paper is not enough—rigorous enforcement, proper maintenance, and a shared commitment to safety are critical.
Global safety leaders must learn from these events and prioritize full implementation of all elements of the Fire & Life Safety Ecosystem to avoid repeating such devastating outcomes.
In the United States, collaborative efforts during Fire Prevention Week have led to increased awareness in smoke alarm installations and home fire escape planning.
NFPA’s advocacy for home fire sprinklers, working alongside fire service organizations and safety advocates, continues to push for safer residential construction.
Electrical safety is another area where we are seeing widescale training initiatives driven by stakeholders who are investing in the training of employees in increasingly complex environments.
Internationally, our many collaborations with governments and businesses in Latin America and the Middle East have helped modernize fire and life safety codes and improve fire service training programs.
Whether it is lithium-ion battery fires, rapid urban growth, the influx of wildfires in urban areas, NFPA is continuously evolving to meet emerging challenges.
For example, we are in the process of developing a new standard, NFPA 800, which will address lithium-ion battery safety across the entire lifecycle, including manufacturing, storage, transportation, use, and disposal.
We have also created public education information available on our website and numerous online resources for first responders on fighting battery fires.
In such a rapidly changing technological landscape, we are being more digital, delivering information and knowledge on these topics online and through our groundbreaking digital platform – NFPA LiNK.
LiNK provides access to not only our codes and standards but supplemental information and use cases.
The platform includes more than 40 codes and standards translated into Spanish, many of which are incorporated into legislation across various Latin American countries and adopted as industry best practice, particularly in sectors such as mining and petrochemicals.
Our website was recently redesigned to make finding all the resources easier.
A successful fire safety culture is one where safety is prioritized at every level and is recognized as a shared responsibility.
It’s not just the fire service that keeps people safe—it’s policymakers, regulators, industry leaders, community organizations, and individuals all doing their part.
The NFPA Fire & Life Safety Ecosystem provides a clear vision of what success looks like: strong codes, effective enforcement, public education, investment in safety systems, and a skilled workforce to create resilient communities.
Building that culture means committing to prevention, valuing expert-developed standards, educating the public, and maintaining a constant focus on protecting lives and property.
