The third annual U.S. Fire Administrator’s Summit on Fire Prevention and Control is scheduled for October 8 at the National Emergency Training Center in Emmitsburg, Maryland.
As reported by the National Volunteer Fire Council (NVFC), the summit will gather fire service leaders from across the nation to discuss important issues impacting the fire service.
Topics include climate change, building codes, recruitment and retention, firefighter health and safety, EMS, and the National Emergency Response Information System (NERIS).
According to the event website, the summit will feature testimony from national fire service leaders presented to White House Cabinet Secretaries and other federal leaders.
The afternoon sessions will focus on specific areas such as Structure Fire Impact and Resilience, Science to the Station, Climate Driven Data and Technology, and the USFA Wildfire Evacuation Project.
The summit begins with preliminary sessions on October 7, featuring presentations on research and development grants and various leadership workshops.
These sessions, held exclusively in person, include topics like building quality leaders, retooling crisis response strategies, and calculating leadership quotients.
On October 8, the summit opens with a breakfast with partnering sponsors, followed by a roundtable discussion involving federal government leaders and national fire service leaders.
Other key sessions include a discussion with Commissioner Adam Thiel and Chief Frank Leeb, a review of the World Fire Congress with international testimony, and the afternoon State of Science sessions.
Registration for the summit is free and includes housing on the NETC campus from October 6 through October 9.
Attendees are responsible for travel expenses and a meal ticket costing $108.92 for the campus dining hall, which must be purchased in advance.
The U.S. Fire Administrator’s Summit continues a long-standing tradition initiated by President Harry S. Truman in 1947, who convened the first National Conference on fire prevention, life safety, and control activities.
The summit resumed two years ago on the 75th anniversary of the original conference, focusing on the nation’s fire problems and the needs of fire and emergency medical responders.
The 2022 summit marked the continuation of this tradition, engaging national leadership, evaluating the state of science, and establishing working groups to implement steps aimed at reducing the overall fire problem and protecting responders.
This year’s summit seeks to build on those efforts by connecting top federal officials and fire service leaders to foster improvements in the fire service sector.