News releases

Three new members named to NFPA’s board of directors

Las Vegas, June 6, 2005—Three new members of the board of directors of the National Fire Protection Association (NFPA) were elected today at the Association’s World Safety Conference and Exposition®.

They are April L. Berkol, of New York City; Thomas F. Norton, of Concord, Mass.; and Wesley (Wes) H. Shoemaker, of Winnipeg, Manitoba. Berkol and Shoemaker will serve a three year term, and Norton will serve in an unexpired term that ends next year.

All appointments are effective immediately.

Berkol has served for 15 years as corporate director, environmental health, fire and life safety for Starwood Hotels & Resorts, where she develops policies, procedures and practices for the more than 750 hotels worldwide. She previously worked as fire and life safety coordinator for the Embassy Task Group, where she coordinated fire and life safety requirements for 26 new embassy and consulate projects, evaluating architectural and engineering proposals. A member of the Society of Fire Protection Engineers and the American Society of Mechanical Engineers, Berkol has served on several NFPA committees, as well as its Standards Council.

Since 1972, Norton has been president and CEO of the Norel Service Company, a fire alarm systems company. He previously worked as a firefighter in Concord and Lincoln, Mass. He is a journeyman and master electrician, and serves on several NFPA technical committees, including the National Fire Alarm Code® and Protection of Cultural Resources. He is the past chair of the board of the Automatic Fire Alarm Association, and a member of the Society of Fire Protection Engineers.

Shoemaker is the fire and paramedic chief of the Winnipeg Fire Paramedic Service and is credited with the amalgamation of the former fire and ambulance departments. He has also created the integrated arson strike force in Winnipeg. A graduate from the Senior Executives in State and Local Government Program, John F. Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University, Shoemaker also attended the Executive Fire Officer Program of the United States Fire Administration/National Fire Academy. He is past chair of the Metropolitan Fire Chiefs Association.

NFPA has been a worldwide leader in providing fire, electrical, building, and life safety to the public since 1896. The mission of the international nonprofit organization is to reduce the worldwide burden of fire and other hazards on the quality of life by providing and advocating scientifically-based consensus codes and standards, research, training and education.

Contact: Margie Coloian, NFPA Public Affairs Office: +1-617-984-7275

URL: http://www.nfpa.org/newsReleaseDetails.asp?categoryid=488&itemId=24737