Dennis L. Rubin was first appointed as a Fire Chief in December of 1996. Chief Rubin’s experience spans more than 30 years. He has served as a line firefighter, company officer, command officer, and chief of the department in several major U.S. Cities. 
 
In 1994, Rubin was the President of the State Fire Chiefs Association of Virginia. Chief Rubin hosted the 1999 Southeastern Fire Chiefs Association Conference held in Dothan, Alabama. He was appointed to several committees with the International Association of Fire Chiefs, including a two-year term as the Safety Committee and Program Committee Chairs. Rubin is the Ad Hoc Chair for the Wingspread Conferences.
 
Chief Rubin’s educational accomplishments include a Bachelor of Science Degree in Fire Administration from the University of Maryland and Associates of Applied Science Degree in Fire Science Management from the Northern Virginia Community College. Rubin is a graduate of the National Fire Academy’s Executive Fire Officer Program (EFOP) and the Naval Post Graduate School’s Executive Leadership Course in Homeland Security. Rubin is a certified emergency manager (CEM); and a certified incident safety officer as well has obtained the Chief Fire Officer Designation (CFOD) and Chief Medical Officer Designation (CMOD) bestowed by the Center for Public Safety Excellence.
 
Rubin’s teaching credentials are significant. Rubin is an adjunct faculty member with several state fire-rescue training agencies and at the        National Fire Academy. Rubin is a popular lecturer at local, state, national and international venues. Rubin has been a member of seven National Fire Academy course development teams. Included among the development teams that Rubin has served on are: Incident Command, Infection Control for the Fire Service, and Tactical Operations.
 
Rubin is the author of several emergency service textbooks. His first release is entitled Rube’s Rules for Survival. This book is a collection of case studies dealing with the important topic of fire fighter safety.  The next book that Rubin authored was Rube’s Rules for Leadership.  The Chief discusses his 13 core values and describes how each can be applied to improve one’s personal leadership capabilities. Chief Rubin’s third book, D.C. FIRE was released at the Fire Department Instructors Conference (FDIC) by Fire Engineering Books. Finally, Chief Rubin recently completed of his fourth textbook, It’s Always About Leadership! which is currently available on Amazon and through Fire Engineering Books. Chief Rubin contributes to several fire-rescue service publications and has written more than 250 technical articles relating to fire-rescue department operations, administration, training and safety.

The Chief is a frequent guest on "5-Alarm Task Force," and has been a long time supporter and proponent of our mission.

He can be reached at [email protected]

Chief Varner began his fire service career with the Phoenix (AZ) Fire
Department in 1967, promoting to Deputy Chief in 1985. He has professional Fire Service experience through all ranks to the position of Fire Chief. Served as Fire Chief Carrollton, TX 1992 – 2004, Fire Chief Santa Rosa, CA 2004 – 2010.

He is experienced as a Program Manager, Instructor, Lecturer, member, and Chair of NFPA fire service standards committees. Named Fire Chief Magazine “Career Fire Chief of Year” – 2001. Received Chief Fire Officer Accreditation 2003, renewed 2007 and 2010. Retired from Santa Rosa Fire Department December 30, 2010. Post retirement includes instructor and consulting work, Principal at BHVarner & Associates.

He has previously served as an advisor to UCLA PHASER Team and an SME on the GLANSER project (DHS S&T Directorate projects) and member of the NFPA Protective Clothing and Equipment Project since 1985. In March 2009 team member for a study of fire services in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam.

In December 2011, received Blue Card Incident Commander and Instructor certification. Awarded Fellow grade membership in the Institution of Fire Engineers January 2012, and Companion Fellow by IFE Board of Directors in March 2016. In 2014 appointed to and participated in the National Academies of Science Panel on Review of the Engineering Laboratory at the NIST. FHWA (Federal Highway Administration) Master Instructor “Traffic Incident Management” Train the Trainer Program. Pro Board certified as Fire Department Incident Safety Officer and Fire Department Health Safety Officer. Instructor for HSO, ISO and PPE Technician. Principal organizer of IFE Asia-Pacific Forum 2016, San Diego, CA. Elected to IFE International Board Member and Trustee in 2017 and IFE International President for 2019 -2020. Holds OSHA General Industry Trainer Certification. Remains on the IFE International Board as immediate past president until November 2021. Is currently serving as Business Manager for the IFE-USA Branch and co-chair for Wingspread VII.

He can be reached at [email protected] and on Twitter @Chief1700.

John Vance started as a Fire Explorer in 1982 and has been involved in fire
department and/or municipal service ever since. He has been the Fire Chief of the Minnetonka, Minnesota Fire Department since August of 2013. Prior to that he spent nearly 12 years as a chief officer with the Harris Township Fire Department and the Clay Fire Territory in South Bend Indiana. He holds a bachelor degree in Fire Service Management from Southern Illinois University, a certificate in Executive Management from the University of Notre Dame and is an accredited Chief Officer from the Center for Public Safety Excellence. John has been a Blue Card Lead Instructor since its inception since 2008 and leads by the mantra of “Be Safe, Be Effective and Be Nice”.

I help individuals and organizations achieve exceptional performance by applying specific tools and techniques that guide your leadership development. We talk about vision, but also deploy specific actionable steps that deliver measurable results. I have worked in a variety of industries including for profit, non-profit and city government, but my heart is with the public sector where I enjoy helping the people who protect and serve our communities.

Uniquely qualified to work with Fire Departments, have 20+ years of experience in Human Resources with 10 years as an HR partner (partially embedded) to a 350 person municipal fire department in Mesa, Arizona.

My focus is developing leaders through High Performance training programs, coaching, and consulting to solve organizational problems and prepare leaders for the future.

Specialties: Coaching (ICF Certified), speaking, creating and presenting training programs, group facilitation, assessing individuals for career development, and mediation

Together with her business partner, Chief Dan Jones (ret) the launched www.bravefireleader.com to promote and teach their unique approach to cultivating the leaders of both today and tomorrow.

Chief Dan Jones entered the fire service in 1974 and rose through the ranks to retire as a Fire Chief in 2015. He served for over 16 years in the Pinellas Park FL Fire Dept. before relocating to Chapel Hill NC in 1990 to become Fire Chief there. Upon his retirement, Chief Jones was the longest serving municipal fire chief in the State of North Carolina.

Chief Jones has served on a variety of committees, councils and board, at the local, state and national levels. He is the former Editor-in-Chief of Fire & Rescue Magazine and is a Past-President for the International Society of Fire Service Instructors. He is a former special on-air commentator for CNN Headline News Network on breaking fire and rescue stories.  He is a frequent emergency services conference speaker and is recognized throughout the fire service as an authority in the field of leadership.

Along with his business partner, Kelly Walsh, they founded www.bravefireleader.com to take their leadership course offerings and lectures across the country, both in person and via teleconferencing.

Chief Gary Ludwig is the immediate past president of the IAFC and currently serves as the Fire Chief of the Champaign (IL) Fire Dept. He is a well-know author and lecturer, who has forty years of fire, rescue and EMS experience. His most recent book is entitled, "Fully-Involved Leadership." Additionally, he is a devoted proponent of the firefighter health and wellness.

Chief Ludwig started his career with the City of St. Louis at the age of 18, just two months out of high school, rising through the ranks and retiring as the Chief Paramedic of the St. Louis Fire Department, after 25 years of service. He also served 10 years as the Deputy Fire Chief for the Memphis Fire Dept., managing their EMS system.

Chief Ludwig previously served on the EMS Executive Board of the International Association of Fire Chiefs for 22 years, with six years as the Chairperson. He is also a member of the IAFF EMS Standing Committee and has written monthly columns for FIREHOUSE Magazine for over 20 years.

The Chief holds a Master's Degree in Business and Management and has been a licensed paramedic for over 38 years. He has written over 500 articles for professional publications, such as FIREHOUSE Magazine, Fire-Rescue, Fire Engineering, JEMS and EMS World Magazine. He has also been invited to speak at over 250 professional EMS or Fire conferences or seminars, including, Fire-Rescue International, FDIC, FIREHOUSE Expo, EMS Today and EMS Expo.

He is the co-author of several books and is the author of "Blood, Sweat, Tears and Prayers - Firefighting & EMS in Some of the Toughest Cities in America," and "Welcome to the Butterbeck School of Mismanagement: The Business School that Creates Terrible Leaders."

In 2014, he was awarded the James O. Page EMS Leadership award.

Jacob got into the Katy Fire Department on June 9, 2000 at the age of 15. He was a junior member of the department, basically a glorified water boy for all the firefighters who were on the scene of a fire, but he was able to train with them every week and ride the apparatus when there was an open seat. Throughout the years he have moved up in the ranks and changed departments in 2007. He was one of the original full time members ever hired by the Pearland Fire Department, where he currently sits today as a proud member of the B shift as a  Battalion Chief. He has taught at numerous schools around Texas and has started traveling to teach his mentoring class over the last year. He has taught for FD Tactics, Bearers of The Oath and numerous over departments across the state and nation. He is first a Husband and a Father to a beautiful family back home, wife Lauren and son Luke. He enjoys hunting and playing golf on his days off. If you can't find him there, he will be in his office at home enjoying a book, magazine or podcast with a glass of Jameson in hand.
"The fire service is my passion but Mentoring and seeing others succeed is what drives my soul and defines my mission."