Board of Directors

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Combining Narratives and Technology to Reduce Incidents

This class will explore using narratives and technology to reach a traditionally hard-to-reach audience: college students. It details the efforts of the Poudre Fire Authority to make traditional fire education a more immersive, engaging subject. Drawing on principles of psychology as well as literature, PFA was able to reduce calls.

Additionally, this class will showcase using 360 and virtual reality in education. The materials used will be made available to all attendees. The final portion of the class will be a full walk-through and training designed to teach attendees how to present this material effectively.

Michael comes to the fire service after several years working in international development. His work has ranged from GED prep for refugees on the border of Thailand and Burma to elementary education at a rural orphanage in Kenya, to working on global teacher policy for the United Nations in Paris, France. He holds a Bachelor’s degree in Sociology and a Masters in Diplomacy.

For the past five years, Michael Durkin has been promoting safety as the Community Risk Reduction Manager at the Poudre Fire Authority in Ft. Collins, Colorado. This experience is bolstered by his service as a volunteer firefighter for four of those years. Michael believes education is empowerment and his programs are a unique blend of social work, public health and education.

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I’m Not Public Education – What Do I Do?

Sometimes fire marshals, the probationary firefighter or other officers get asked to conduct public education events. This could happen to you! This class will provide resources for your presentation, current fire prevention messaging and other tips to help you be effective when teaching your community about fire prevention.

Ms. Osmonson started fighting fires in 1987 and quickly developed a passion for saving lives and property through fire prevention and public education. She started with the State Fire Marshal Division as youth fire intervention coordinator in 2012 and has since evolved into a combination youth fire intervention and fire and life safety educator position. She is a contract instructor for the National Fire Academy, writes and reviews peer reviewed scholarly articles and has a master’s degree in forensic behavioral health.

Mr. Reif is an 18-year veteran of the fire service. He is one of Minnesota’s deputy state fire marshals, and still an active firefighter and HazMat tech, Fire and Life Safety Educator and Youth Fire Prevention and Intervention Specialist affiliated with two Twin Cities suburban fire departments. He holds a master’s degree, has
a wealth of experience in the fire service, and also spent 35 years dealing with youth as a high school teacher and coach; his background in these two concurrent careers make him uniquely qualified for dealing with YFPI cases.

Mr. Berger currently serves as he Fire and Life Safety Educator for the City of Saint Paul. He is also a firefighter for the City of New Brighton and a fire inspector at the Minnesota State Fair.

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Rental Properties – AirBnB, Flipkey, & VRBO

The latest craze in the housing rental market – call them VRBO, Airbnb, or Flipkey – these short term rental properties bring unique issues to neighborhoods unlike traditional hotels or rental housing.

Learn about the impacts at other cities across the nation and what you can do in your jurisdiction. Ms. Wiese was originally hired by the city of St. Paul in 2005 as a fire protection engineer and is currently the Fire Safety Manager where she oversees the fire safety inspection program in Saint Paul for both new and existing buildings.

In addition to her regular role in St. Paul, Angie holds a
position on the Code Council Board of Directors and is the current President of Fire Marshals Association of Minnesota, and is also a board member of the Fire and Life Safety section for the International Association of Fire Chiefs.

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Fire Code Update

The new 2020 Minnesota State Fire Code is coming soon.
This course will provide a general overview on how national and
local input contirbuted to the adoptiuon proccess as well
as what major changes are expected in the new fire code.

The SFMD fire code team will address several major changes and
provide insight on their enforcement and intention.

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State Fire Marshal Roles and Responsibilities

Newly appointed State Fire Marshal Jim Smith will describe the major roles and responsibilities of the different sections found within the SFMD. This discussion will provide insight to how the division operates as well as how you can access an immense amount of resources that will help you while performing your everyday duties.

The SFMD mission is to protect lives and property by fostering a fire-safe environment through investigation, enforcement, regulation, data collection and public education. Join Jim to find out more about how the SFMD wants to help you make your mission a success.

– KEYNOTE ADDRESS –

USFA Deputy U.S Fire Administrator &
NFA superintendent Tonya Hoover

On the 5th of February of 2020, Tonya Hoover was named Deputy U.S. Fire Administrator. She is currently responsible for the day-to-day operation of the U.S. Fire Administration (USFA). Her duties now include the annual training of over 100,000 first responders at and through the National Fire Academy; the National Fire Incident Reporting System, which documents and analyzes 27 million fire department emergency responses a year; the USFA’s fire prevention, public information and public education programs; and the 26 campus buildings and the grounds of the historic National Emergency Training Center in Emmitsburg, Maryland.

Ms. Hoover is an accomplished executive with more than 20 years of management experience and Prior to her new role served as Superintendent for the National Fire Academy. Ms. Hoover has been active in both local and state governments prior to her federal service and has served as California State Fire Marshal, fire marshal/battalion chief for a local fire department, and was a deputy campus fire marshal for the University of California at Berkeley.

Ms. Hoover has served on the Board of Directors for the National Fire Protection Association, and currently holds a Board of Director position with the International Fire Service Training Association. Listening to Deputy Administrator Hoover’s experiences in the fire service will encourage you to use and share your talents in positive ways for your community.

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Fire Case Study (Minneapolis Fire Department personnel and State Fire Marshal Division)

On Wednesday, November 27, 2019 just before 4:00 am a fire
in a 25-story high rise apartment building in Minneapolis claimed the lives of 5 victims.

Local and state fire officials will describe the incident,
timeline of events, firefighting operations, what worked and what went wrong in this incident.

This session will look at how the building performed in this fire, factors that contributed to the fire spread and loss of life, and what lessons could be learned from this tragic event.

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2020 Certification Track
(FIRE AND LIFE SAFETY EDUCATOR I)

Fighting fire with prevention education not only saves lives and property, it is a service to your community. Learn how to effectively relate to all age groups, use up to date messaging and conduct a community risk assessment in order to reduce the risks in your community. This course and certification will start with education based on the Principles and Practices Second edition Jones & Bartlett book, and conclude with the certification exam. After this course participants will learn to present effective lessons, adapt lesson plans to their audience, market their programs, disseminate educational information and evaluate their programs.

Course Instructors: Sara Ahlquist and Kellie Murphy-Ringate

Ms. Ahlquist has been a firefighter and public educator with Minnetonka Fire for the past 12 years. Prior to that she was an elementary school teacher, with a Master’s Degree in Education. Sara’s untiring commitment and successful career working with fire and life safety education makes her judgement and opinions highly valued within the Minnesota fire marshal community.

Ms. Murphy-Ringate has been a firefighter and public educator with the Excelsior Fire District for over 26 years, became a Fire inspector in 2005, and has been Fire Marshal since 2017. Kellie is responsible for fire code inspections, code enforcement, public fire and life safety education, fire sprinkler plan review, fire investigations, and public relations. Kellie serves on the Minnesota State Fire Chiefs Public Education Committee, and helped develop MSFCA Public Education Messaging Guide. Kellie has served on several committees and continues to be an active leader in public education.

MINNESOTA FIRE SERVICE CERTIFICATION BOARD PUBLIC FIRE LIFE SAFETY EDUCATOR I SKILLS TESTING GUIDE
https://secure.mfscb.org/pdfs/certpdf/f&lse.pdf

Prior to attending this course students must also register at the Minnesota Fire Certification Board Website. Instructions on how to register can be found on the MFSCB website under the GENERAL INFORMATION tab.

Total Cost: Conference Registration cost+ $120.00 Cert Board Fee

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Fire Protection Effectiveness

This session will explore the effectiveness of smoke alarms, fire alarm systems, and fire sprinkler systems for the past 16 years in Minnesota. It will examine the nuisance alarm issue and identify the cost impact on fire departments in Minnesota.

Mr. Nisja started his fire service career in 1978 and began working in the areas of fire prevention and fire investigation in 1983. He has served as Fire Marshal for two communities and as a Fire Safety Supervisor with the Minnesota State Fire Marshal Division since 1990. He supervises the fire loss data, fire protection, and training sections for the State Fire Marshal Division. He is a former President of the Fire Marshals Association of Minnesota (1997-2003) and is also a past president of the International Fire Marshals Association (2006-2008).

Jon has authored chapters in five books. His areas of fire protection interest include fire safety history, means of egress, fire protection systems, building construction, and using performance measures to show effectiveness.

Recognition’s include the International Fire Marshals
Association Meritorious Service Award (2009) and the NFPA Shannon Advocacy Medal (2019).

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Media management: A guide for the fire service

This session is designed to address public speaking, dissemination of public information, communication during crisis situations, and how to deal effectively with the news media.

This course will also discuss best practices as related to social media. The intent is to provide each attendee with the basic skills needed to be successful in their position as it relates to communicating with the public via traditional and social media.

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Crowd Management and Event Planning

Across the State of Minnesota there are a number of new and old festivals which take place throughout a given year. Additionally, now we are turning a farm into an event center for parties, weddings and concerts. With the growing number large festivals in Minnesota it is important to understand the political dynamics and a strategic look at standards which may apply.

Within this session we will identify some of the festival types being held in Minnesota and how the political landscape of how they are run. Also, from a code perspective, what are some of the strategic areas you might want to consider when one of these events are located within your jurisdiction.

Mr. Hayes is a 27 year public safety professional. His background includes not only command and operations, but codes and standards. He has assisted in the planning and management of a number of large scale events and incidents. Currently, he serves as the Director of Public Safety for the Shakopee Mdewakanton Sioux Community.

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Chapter 1306 & City Fire Code Amendments

On March 31, 2020 the new Minnesota State Fire Code (MSFC)
will be effective. Searching many city websites and their city codes you will find many have not been updated in years. Some even reference the old Uniform Fire Code.

This session will present information on whether or not you have to adopt the MSFC in your community, what parts you are allowed to amend, items to consider adding such as language on fire lanes, department policies, permits, and appendices. In addition he will discuss Minnesota Building Code Rule 1306, special fire protection systems.

Mr. Jenson was hired as a Deputy State Fire Marshal in April of
2013 and is Code Specialist. Tom’s main duty is responding to
2000+ emails or phone calls per year regarding questions on
fire and building codes.

In addition, Tom is involved in the development of Minnesota amendments for the fire code adoption process having completed his fourth fire code adoption (and last). Tom also enjoys opportunities to teach fire code at a number of seminars, SFMD fire code academy, and SFMD fire protection demonstration trailer.

Tom retired from Edina Fire Department in August of 2012
after 31 years with the last 12 years as fire marshal. Tom brings a unique perspective to the role of fire marshal having been a business owner for 27 years and balancing code requirements with cost impact to property/business owners.

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Fire Resistance – Penetrations and Firestopping

Within the regulatory community fire rated construction plays an important role as key ingredient to effective building and fire code enforcement. This presentation will equip code officials with a better understanding of fire rated construction and will expand the knowledge of the audience by providing information related to fire resistant products and assemblies as well as testing and the latest UL search tools that can be used to find products and assemblies through a hands-on group learning exercise.

– COURSE DESCRIPTION –

NFPA 13- Storage

Storage occupancies present a unique challenge to sprinkler system design and installation. NFPA 13 has complex and varying rules for the protection of stored commodities. This interactive seminar will explore the hows and whys of determining various types of commodity classifications, storage components and configurations, and basic fire sprinkler operating principles.

Mr. Kaiser has been involved in the Fire Sprinkler industry for 40 years. Since 2005 he has served as a Deputy State Fire Marshal for the state of Minnesota. As an instructor for the State Fire Marshal’s office, Dan has authored numerous newsletters and training materials in regard to the design, installation and inspection of fire sprinkler systems.

Dan holds a Level IV certification from NICET in Water-Based Systems Layout. He also serves as a subject matter expert for NICET.
Dan sits on a number of industry technical committees including NFPA 13, Sprinkler System Discharge Criteria and twelve UL Standards Technical Panels. In 2015, the American Fire Sprinkler Association, the nation’s largest fire sprinkler association, awarded Dan the prestigious “Fire Sprinklers Save Lives Award” for the contributions he provided to the fire sprinkler industry.

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UL Resources for Fire Code Officials

UL plays an integral part in many things we do as fire and code officials.
This presentation will provide fire safety officials with a more thorough understanding of the UL world and how it can help them their daily operations. Throughout the presentation we will expand the knowledge of the code officials by providing a glimpse into the little understood world of UL including, fire research, fire testing, new technologies, available search tools, all the other resources available from UL and what it all means to a fire code official.

– COURSE DESCRIPTION –

NFPA13-NFPA 13R Podium Construction

When can you use NFPA 13 and 13R in the same building? Let’s investigate how podium-style building construction can lead to more economical sprinkler system designs methods. Join us as we explore the construction requirements that unlock the secrets to using both NFPA 13 and 13R within the same building and review the life safety and property protection differences between these two standards.

Mr. Kunst has been a Deputy State Fire Marshal and Fire Protection Specialist with the Minnesota State Fire Marshal Division since 2015. Ryan is a Minnesota state certificated fire inspector, investigator, and instructor with over seven years of sprinkler design experience. Additionally, Ryan was a chief level fire officer with 14 years of fire suppression and EMS experience and a critical care paramedic with over 11 years of paramedic experience.