NFPA would like to thank the volunteer committee that helps to maintain the Certified Hazard Recognition Specialist (CHRS) Certification. As a part of the CHRS committee, volunteer members work with NFPA staff to create new exam items, modify existing items to improve performance, and perform cut score studies. This important work helps ensure the reliability and validity of CHRS exam results.
The hard work and dedication of the following individuals, along with the rest of the volunteer committee, is appreciated.
Ibrahim F. Almuhawis, CHRS
Director of Environmental Health and Safety (EHS)
Northern Area Armed Force Hospital
As environmental health & safety director, Ibrahim Fahad is responsible for developing and implementing best practices including the evolution and institution of fire warden and evacuation training, hazardous materials and waste management, facility compliance with NFPA and OSHA requirements, and overseeing the replacement and testing of existing and new fire alarm and wet pipe sprinkler systems.
Ibrahim expanded into the healthcare industry more than two years ago, after serving five years in the industrial field. He worked his way up to be facility safety director, overseeing several of NAAFH facilities. Ibrahim has also served on several committees for MDT and FMS as chairman/ co-chairman.
Ibrahim Fahad recently established the first environmental health and safety department within the ministry of defense hospitals. He holds a Bachelor of Science degree in fire protection engineering and is currently looking toward a master’s in emergency management. The most worthwhile aspect of his job is seeing patients and workers leaving the facility safe and sound.
Jason W. Brandt, MS, CHRS
Battalion Chief
Louisville Fire & Rescue
Jason has 20 years of service with Louisville Fire & Rescue and oversees daily and emergency operations for six to seven suppression companies located in five fire stations. He is the intelligence liaison officer to Kentucky Intelligence Fusion Center of the Kentucky Office of Homeland Security. A subject matter expert for external curriculum peer review and an instructor in the Hazardous Materials Technician for CBRNE incidents class (HMT) and Hazardous Materials Technologies: Sampling, Monitoring, and Detection class (HT) at the Center for Domestic Preparedness (CDP) in Anniston, Alabama.
Jason holds a Master of Science degree in emergency services management from Columbia Southern University and a Bachelor of Arts with majors in biology and environmental studies.
Vincent Del Borrello, LEED AP, SFP, ICE, RPA, FMA, CSITMS, CHRS
Chief Engineer
RedSky Management
Vincent Del Borrello has been involved in the facility and property management industry for over 15 years. He has held different positions within the operational side of facilities and is currently working at a Class "A" high rise trophy property in downtown West Palm Beach, Florida. He previously managed the opening of a state-of-the-art baseball park, and a television production and news building as facility manager. Vincent has been involved with several different office type facilities and has been involved in fire and life safety, overseeing the replacement and testing of existing and new fire alarm and wet pipe sprinkler systems.
He has worked closely with area fire departments in developing and instituting fire warden and evacuation training, facility compliance with NFPA and OSHA requirements, and is certified as a BOMI International instructor for both facility/property management and engineering. He is a past president of the local IFMA chapter and served on several committees for IFMA and BOMA as well as serving on the CIMS-GB technical committee for ISSA.
Patrick T. Earley, CFEI, CFPS, CHRS
Fire Inspector and Fire Investigator
City of New Brunswick Fire Department
Patrick T. Earley, has 25 years in the fire service from volunteer fire fighter to his current position as fire inspector and fire investigator for the city of New Brunswick’s fire department in New Jersey. Mr. Earley is a certified fire protection specialist from the National Fire Protection Association, certified fire and explosion investigator from the National Association of Fire Investigators, certified evidence collection technician from the International Association of Arson Investigators, as well as a state of New Jersey fire official, fire instructor level I, fire fighter level II, and EMT.
In his career he has served many roles in the fire service, from a fire officer over seeing an engine company, to overseeing fire prevention in a city that houses a state university, two hospitals, the world headquarters of a large pharmaceutical company, a theater district, and a thriving downtown. He is an instructor for the fire departments fire recruit class, speaking on fire investigation and fire prevention.
William V. Fabijancic, Jr., CFI II, CFPE, CHRS
Assistant Chief
Windsor Township Emergency Services
Bill Fabijancic has over 24 years of experience in the fire service, proudly serving the citizens of Windsor Charter Township located in Dimondale, MI since 1997. He has served as a fire fighter/EMT, lieutenant, and has been an assistant chief since 2009. Bill is also a fire instructor I and EMS instructor coordinator, as well as the fire inspector for the community.
When Bill is not at the fire station he enjoys spending time with his four children and grandson.
Jason Harris, CHRS
Manager and Lead Consultant
Step One Safety, LLC
Jason has over 35 years of experience in construction project management. He is an experienced project safety manager. He is authorized by OSHA as an outreach trainer, by the NSC as a first aid and CPR instructor, and is an experienced public speaker. This combination of construction experience, safety training, and teaching skills, gives him a unique ability to assist construction firms with setting and attaining safety, training, quality and profitability goals.
Starting his new consulting business is allowing him to address the safety needs that persist in this industry, and that have been such an integral part of his career. When this opportunity arose to work with the NFPA on this project, he was very happy to contribute, and to benefit from this experience. It has been a great opportunity for him to work with such a fine group of professionals.
Michael Obertone, Fluor Fellow, SME, CHRS
HSE Director
Fluor Corporation
Michael has 39 years of experience in fire protection design and management in the oil & gas industry. Thirty five years with Fluor Corp as a subject matter expert in fire protection and four years as a fire protection analyst with the City of Huntington Beach Fire Department. Focus has been on special hazards, fire and gas systems, code reviews, inspections, training, and plan reviews. His approach to loss prevention is from a process standpoint, using fire hazard analyses, piping & instrument diagrams, and narratives as a tool to solidify the fire protection scope required on oil & gas projects.
He participates as a mentor in his company’s management program and has developed and maintained company fire protection practices and guidelines.
Jeff Pauley IAAI-CFI, CFEI, CHRS
Fire Marshal (ret.)
Bedford County (VA) Fire & Rescue
With over 40 years of public safety experience in law enforcement and the fire service, Jeff recently retired as the fire marshal for Bedford County, Virginia, where he served for seven years. He holds many Virginia and ProBoard fire service certifications including fire fighter II, fire instructor II, fire officer, fire inspector, fire investigator, and fire and life safety educator. Jeff is the chair of the International Association of Arson Investigators’ health and safety committee’s best practices subcommittee, and a certified fire investigator.
William R Phillips, PhD, CGC, CIAQP, CSITMS, CHRS
Founder / CEO
RITEway Building Services, Inc.
William Phillips has worked in the healthcare compliance area for over 35 years and founded RITEway Building Services, Inc. RITEway Building Services, Inc. provides complete support services management, consulting services and written compliance programs for environment of care compliance and emergency preparedness and disaster planning for healthcare facilities, specializing in hands-on programs and compliance documentation for long term care facilities, specialty hospitals, and ambulatory surgery centers nationwide.
Rob Plonski, P.E., CHRS
Senior Fire Protection Engineer
Savannah River National Laboratory
Rob Plonski spent the first part of his career at the Los Alamos National Laboratory, supporting both nuclear and non-nuclear facilities. During this time, Rob developed several tools that interfaced between various fire-modeling software for use within U.S. Department of Energy nuclear facilities. He also assisted in the rewrite effort of DOE-HDBK-1081-2014, Primer on Spontaneous Heating and Pyrophoricity, DOE-STD-1066-2012/2017, DOE Standard Fire Protection, and authored a section of the Plutonium Handbook pertaining to fire protection considerations in plutonium facilities.
Rob is currently the senior fire protection engineer for the Savanah River National Laboratory, a high-hazard nuclear research facility, and is recognized as the site expert on combustible metals, powders, and dusts. He received his undergraduate degree in mechanical engineering from the University of Colorado, masters in fire protection engineering from University of Maryland, is a licensed professional engineer in fire protection engineering, and is currently pursuing a PhD in systems engineering at Colorado State University with an emphasis on wildland fire decision support systems.
As the former CSRA-SFPE chapter secretary, vice president, and current president, Mr. Plonski remains dedicated to the advancement of the fire protection engineering community through outreach, community service, and continuing education.
Duncan Rydall CMM-II CFEI, PFLSE, CHRS
Chief Fire Prevention Officer
Town of the Blue Mountains, Ontario Canada
As a division chief, Duncan manages the day to day prevention, inspection and public education activities in his municipality. Duncan is active in several fire education facets sitting on ULC workgroup committees for standards revisions, is a current director for the public education section of NFPA, a proctor for 1031 & 1033 written and practical examinations and writes exam content for a private education facilitator program. Duncan is certified in multiple NFPA areas and blue card incident command. Most recently Duncan has begun public speaking on being authentic and overcoming personal adversity in life through mindfulness and forgiveness.
Anthony Sharo, CSITMS, CHRS
Operations Area Manager
Rutgers, the State University of New Jersey
Anthony (Tony) Sharo has over 10 years of experience working with fire protection systems. He is currently the operations area manager at Rutgers University’s Newark, New Jersey campus. Tony leads a crew of 12 tradespeople and is responsible for maintaining over a million square feet of educational facility space.
Tony holds a Bachelor of Science degree in fire protection and a Master’s degree in public administration. He holds NICET fire sprinkler and Universal 608 certifications as well as state licenses in HVAC, fire inspector, and fire sprinkler systems.
He enjoys spending his free time with his wife and two kids and working on his motorcycle.
Christopher J Shirar, CFAITMS, CHRS
Chief Engineer
UCSF Medical Center Mission Bay
Chris Shirar has been involved in facilities management operations for over 20 yrs. He has held several positions in his 20 years of service in facilities management. He has opened up three hospitals during his career. Most recently, he opened up a one million square foot, state of the art medical center, in San Francisco. His responsibilities include inventory and testing of FLS, emergency power, medical gases inspection, testing, and maintenance programs, and other regulatory testing for the medical center. He also supervises 34 stationary engineers that support the maintenance programs for UCSF Medical Center Mission bay.
Chris holds a degree in fire science.
Russell T. Yamada, PE, CFAITMS, CHRS
Deputy, Production Facilities & Equipment Management Division
Pearl Harbor Naval Shipyard, Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam, Hawaii
Russell Yamada has been an engineer with the naval shipyard for 35 years, of which 25 have been in the area of facilities and plant equipment management. In his current position, one of his responsibilities is for planning, programming, budgeting, and maintenance of fire protection systems for 175 buildings and structures under shipyard jurisdiction, some of which support nuclear work. He is also responsible for providing direction to building managers in the area of fire protection systems compliance/training and tracking of required maintenance and deficiencies on a web-based computer program. Additionally, he is involved with studies for new fire protection systems being designed and evaluations of continued reliability for aging systems.
Russell is a registered professional engineer with an MS in civil engineering. Besides membership in the NFPA Industrial Fire Protection Section, he is also a member of the American Society of Civil Engineers, National Society of Professional Engineers, U.S. Naval Institute, and American Society of Naval Engineers, among others. NFPA Standards training include: NFPA 3/4, 13, 25, 72, and 101 through the NFPA. NFPA 10 self-study, practical experience, and examination resulted in licensure in fire extinguishers from the local municipality. He is a 34 year veteran of the University of Hawaii Orchestra and member of the Musicians Association of Hawaii.
Gregory Yount, CHRS
Security and Emergency Response Coordinator
SI Group Inc.
Greg’s 23 year career in the fire service has made him a highly motivated professional with solid and diverse experience in emergency management, fire suppression and fire prevention. He has worked in the public and private sector, specializing in industrial emergency services. Greg has demonstrated proficiency in working with facilities to achieve high standards in fire safety. Greg has successfully completing training and taught at some of most recognized schools in emergency services. He has a demonstrated and very knowledgeable understanding of Emergency Management, NIMS, and Fire and Life Safety Codes.
Greg currently holds certifications from the Texas Commission on Fire Protection, Pro Board, IFSAC, NFPA, and Texas Department of State Health Services. He is also Chairman of Brazosport CAER, Community Awareness and Emergency Response, a petrochemical community emergency notification and mutual aid organization. He has also served as a volunteer firefighter since 1996.
Greg has lived in the Houston-Galveston area his entire life. He has been married for 20 years and has two teenage sons.