NFPA Journal - November/December 2020 - 6

NFPA BOARD OF DIRECTORS

OFFICERS
Amy R. Acton, Chair
The Phoenix Society for
Burn Survivors, Inc.
Grand Rapids, Michigan
James Pauley, President
President and CEO, NFPA
Quincy, Massachusetts
Russell B. Leavitt, First Vice Chair
Telgian Corp.
Tempe, Arizona

First Word

R. David Paulison, Second Vice Chair
Global Emergency Solutions
Davie, Florida

by Jim Pauley

NFPA President

John D. Bonney, Secretary
Alendi Consulting Ltd.
Ropley, United Kingdom
Donald R. Cook, Assistant Secretary
Shelby County Department of
Development Services
Pelham, Alabama
Roger W. Montembeault, Treasurer
The Montembeault Group, Inc.
Tampa, Florida
Kwame Cooper, Assistant Treasurer
Los Angeles Fire Department, retired
Los Angeles, California

n my six years at NFPA,
wildfire has been an area that
has continually concerned me.
NFPA has been in the wildfire arena for more than two
decades, and over that time we've seen the
problem continue to worsen. We have some
great programs, including Firewise USA®
and our work with the home ignition zone,
but clearly those efforts are not enough.
Frankly, the policymakers often can't get
out of their own way long enough to really
consider what needs to happen. When governors refer to wildfires as "climate fires,"
I believe they do a disservice to addressing
real change that could impact the problem. We may very well be going through a
period of warmer and dryer conditions, but
attempting to address the impacts of wildfire through a discussion focused solely on
climate change is a waste of time. Doing so
only means that millions of additional acres
will burn before anything substantial shifts
in our approach to managing this problem.
We must recognize two facts if we hope
to mitigate the devastating effects of wildfires. The first is that wildfires are going to
happen, whether they're caused by nature,
people, or the infrastructure of human society. The second is that fire departments will
not always be staffed or equipped to save
property located in the path of a wildfire.
Faced with more wildfires that are bigger
and increasingly severe, though, we refuse
to change our behavior. Communities allow

new homes to be built in burned-out areas
exactly as they were before they were lost
to a wildfire. We continue to see resistance
to appropriate forest management practices
critical to controlling fuel loads. When we
consider wildfire using the principles of
the NFPA Fire & Life Safety Ecosystem™,
it's clear that our approach is profoundly
flawed. As a result, tragedies still occur.

Faced with increasingly
severe wildfires, we refuse
to change our behavior.

It doesn't have to be this way. Homes
can be built to better withstand wildfires if
we apply the research and standards that
inform how and where they are built. But
the same special interests that have pushed
back on smoke alarms, arc fault circuit
interrupters, and home fire sprinklers are
now pushing back against better building
practices in the wildland/urban interface.
As we enter 2021, you will hear more
from NFPA about attacking the wildfire
problem comprehensively, including key
policy changes that need to be made at the
state and local levels. Without driving real
change in how and where we build and in
how we manage fire-prone lands, we will
only see the problem get worse.

*Sally P. Everett, Assistant Secretary
Secretary of the Corporation, NFPA
Quincy, Massachusetts
*Paul DeFronzo, Staff Officer
Chief Financial Officer, NFPA
Quincy, Massachusetts
Terms Expire 2021
Brion Callori
FM Global
Johnston, Rhode Island
Martha Connors
Digital Media & Marketing Consultant
Newton, Massachusetts
Reginald D. Freeman
Hartford Fire Department
Hartford, Connecticut
William J. Fries
Department of Defense
Washington, DC
Louis Paulson
California Professional Firefighters
Walnut Creek, California
Michael Wallace
West Palm Beach, Florida
Terms Expire 2022
Hatem Kheir
Kheir Group
Cairo, Egypt
Patrick J. Morrison
International Association
of Fire Fighters
Washington, DC
Teresa L. Deloach Reed
Oakland Fire Department, retired
Oakland, California
Stacy N. Welch
Marriott International
Bethesda, Maryland
Term Expires 2023
Dr. Denis Onieal
US Fire Administration,
Federal Emergency
Management Agency, retired
Gettysburg, Pennsylvania

*Not a board member

NFPA

Wildfire Reckoning

Keith E. Williams,
Immediate Past Chair
Underwriters Laboratories, retired
Northbrook, Illinois

6 | NFPA JOURNAL * N O V E M B E R / D E C E M B E R 2 0 2 0

First Word_11.20 DCS FINAL.indd 6

10/29/20 4:18 PM

NFPA Journal - November/December 2020

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of NFPA Journal - November/December 2020