News releases

May 11, 2007 - The Metropolitan “Metro” Fire Chiefs Association, a section of the International Association of Fire Chiefs (IAFC) and National Fire Protection Association (NFPA) held its 2007 annual conference in Los Angeles from May 4-10. Approximately 150 Metro chiefs from Canada , China , France , Switzerland , the United Kingdom , and the United States attended the conference and elected the Section’s 2007-2008 officers and board members.

The new officers are: Chief Keith Richter of the Contra Costa County, California Fire Department, chair; Chief William Stewart of the Toronto , Ontario Fire Services, vice chair; Chief William "Shorty" Bryson of the Miami , Florida Fire Rescue, secretary; and, Chief Bob Hendricks of the Lexington , Kentucky Division of Fire & Emergency Services, treasurer. The new board members are: Chief Sherman George of the St. Louis , Missouri Fire Department, board member; Chief (retired) Doug Ratto of the Stockton , California Fire Department, senior board member; Chief Greg Fredrick of the Louisville , Kentucky Fire & Rescue, alternate board member; and, Chief (retired) William McCammon of the Alameda County, California Fire Department, immediate past chair.

The Metro Chiefs bestowed the following 2007 Metro Awards: Sir Ken Knight, Commissioner of the London, England Fire Brigade was named Fire Chief of the Year; Chief (retired) Dennis Compton of the Mesa, Arizona Fire Department received the Lifetime Achievement Award; and Ron Siarnicki, Executive Director of the National Fallen Fire Fighters Foundation received the President’s Award of Distinction.

The Metro Chiefs also passed resolutions expressing unanimous support for the immediate confirmation of Virginia Beach, Virginia Chief Greg Cade for the position of Administrator of the United States Fire Administration, as well as for numerous other initiatives, such as the Coalition for Fire-safe Cigarette, residential sprinklers, firefighter safety and diversity in hiring programs, and more.

The 2008 Metro conference will be hosted by the Virginia Beach Fire Department. The conference will be April 25 through April 30 at the Hilton Virginia Beach Oceanfront Hotel.

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 fire fighters. For more information, contact Metro Executive Secretary, Russ Sanders.

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 consensus codes and standards, research, training, and education.

Contact: Lorraine Carli, Public Affairs Office: +1-617-984-7275

URL: http://www.nfpa.org/newsReleaseDetails.asp?categoryid=488&itemId=34317