Fire and Life Safety Educators Meet at New York State Fire Academy

More than 175 attendees traveled from throughout the Northeast and Canada to participate in the 42nd Annual Fire & Life Safety Educators’ Conference hosted by the New York State Association of Fire Chiefs and New York State Office of Fire Prevention & Control at the New York State Academy of Fire Science in Montour Falls, NY from May 1-3, 2015. The theme for the 2015 conference was "Fire and Life Safety Begins at Home."

Saturday began with the conference opening session and keynote presentation "The Fire Prevention Paradox: Is Our Culture Killing Us?" with Chief Billy Hayes of Columbia Southern University. The opening session also included the presentation of this year's NYSAFC James W. Wright Public Education Award to the Oriskany Volunteer Fire Department.

Workshops were conducted throughout the day on Saturday and were followed by a barbeque at the fire academy. Additional programs were held on Sunday morning. Workshops included "Are You Smarter than a Middle Schooler? Teaching Fire Prevention in 4-6th Grade Science Classes" with Allicia Rice and Richard Nichols (Southern Adirondack Fire Prevention Team), "Developing and Managing a Junior Fire Camp" with Douglas Atkins and Michael Atkins (Fort Erie Fire Department), "Coalition Building – It Can Be Done" with J.D. Jenkins (Virginia Department of Fire Programs – Virginia Fire Marshal Academy), "Developing a Comprehensive Public Fire Education Program in Your Community" with Brian McQueen (Whitesboro Fire Department – recipient of the 2014 Public Education Award), "Developing Community Awareness for Fire Prevention Education through Fire Corps" with David Spencer (Fire Corps), "Protecting Those Who Didn’t Win the Fire Safety Poster Contest" with John D’Alessandro (FASNY), "Off-Campus Fire Safety: Allowing Students to Remain Invincible" with Tim Knisely (Centre Region Code Administration, State College, PA), "Fire Safety in the Classroom and Beyond" with Kim O’Malley (Delaware Fire School), and "From the Ground Up: Assessing and Redefining Acceptable Risk" with Lynn Schofield (Provo Fire & Rescue).