The Commission on Fire Accreditation International (CFAI) is governed by an 11-member commission representing a cross-section of the fire service industry, including fire departments, city and county management, code councils, the U.S. Department of Defense, and the International Association of Firefighters. The commission meets biannually, in the spring and during the International Association of Fire Chief's Fire Rescue International conference in the fall, to review all of the agencies applying for accredited status.
In addition, the commission:
- Oversees the development of CFAI materials and training to support its mission.
- Makes recommendations to the Board of Directors on policy and financial decisions.
- Oversees general organizational operation and special programs and activities.
- Revises the accreditation model and self-assessment process.
- Manages issues related to self and peer assessment.
- Researches and develops specific topics within the self-assessment model
Ernst R. Piercy, CFO, Chairman
Representative: U.S. Department of Defense
Fire Chief
U.S. Air Force Academy
10 CES/CEF
6202 Pine Drive, Ste. 100
USAF Academy, CO 80840
afafirechief@msn.com
Mr. Piercy is the Fire Chief at the United States Air Force Academy near Colorado Springs, Colorado. He has served in that position since May 2003.
Mr. Piercy was born at Columbus AFB, Mississippi. He graduated from Leigh High School in San Jose, California in 1978, and enlisted in the Air Force. After completing basic military training at Lackland AFB, Texas, he attended the Air Force Fire School at Chanute AFB, Illinois. From 1978 until 1982, Mr. Piercy served in a variety of fire & emergency service positions while assigned to Tyndall AFB, Florida and Misawa AFB, Japan. He was honorably discharged from the United States Air Force in December, 1982.
In March 1983, Mr. Piercy resumed his fire fighting career when he accepted a position as a fire fighter at Homestead AFB, Florida. In April 1985, he transferred to the Air Force Academy, Colorado as a fire prevention inspector. During his tenure at the Academy, he has held the positions of Station Captain, Assistant Chief for Training, Assistant Chief for Operations, and Deputy Fire Chief, until his 2003 selection as the Fire Chief at the United States Air Force Academy.
Mr. Piercy served as the accreditation manager in the Air Force Academy Fire Department's successful bid for international fire department accreditation in March 2001, and led his team through successful re-accreditation bids in 2006 and in 2011.
Mr. Piercy is a 2011 graduate of the Senior Executives in State and Local Government Program at Harvard University, has completed the Executive Fire Officer Program at the National Fire Academy (2007), and is a Chief Fire Officer Designate (CFOD). He holds several national certifications, including Fire Officer IV, Fire Instructor II, Fire Inspector II, Fire Investigator II, Hazardous Materials Technician, and Hazardous Materials Incident Commander.
Mr. Piercy serves on a variety of professional committees, including the Air Force Fire & Emergency Services Panel, is the Chairman of the Commission on Fire Accreditation International (CFAI), and is the past chairman of the Pikes Peak Community College Fire Science Advisory Committee. Mr. Piercy is the 2010 recipient of the Patriot Award. He is married to the former Linda Centera of Chicago, Illinois; they have two grown sons, Matthew and Jonathan.
Raymond "Allan" Cain, Vice Chairman
Representative: Fire Agencies (serving populations of 100,000 - 249,000)
Fire Chief
Cary Fire Department
100 N. Academy Street
Cary, NC 27511
allan.cain@townofcary.org
Raymond "Allan" Cain is chief of the Cary Fire Department.
Cain began his firefighting journey as a high school student, volunteering for the Cumberland Road Fire Department. He has served as a firefighter for the City of Fayetteville, N.C., Fire Department; assistant emergency management coordinator for Cumberland County, N.C.; and fire chief for the City of Dunn, N.C.
Cain is currently pursuing an MBA at East Carolina University. He has completed certificate programs for Community Preparedness - Disaster Management and Municipal Administration at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and has a bachelor's degree in business administration from North Carolina Wesleyan College.
Steven Westermann, Commissioner
Representative: Fire Agencies (serving populations of 25,000 - 99,999)
Fire Chief
Central Jackson County Fire Protection District
1609 NE Scarborough Drive
Blue Springs, MO 64014
swestermann@cjcfpd.org
Steven Westermann has served as chief of the Central Jackson County Fire Protection District since 1988 and has been in the fire service since 1972.
During this time, from 2007-2008, he served as president of the International Association of Fire Chiefs (IAFC). Prior to serving as IAFC president, he served as the international director for the Missouri Valley Division, as president of the Missouri Valley Division, and on the IAFC's NFPA 1710 Implementation Guide Task Force. He has also served as president of both the Heart of America Kansas City Metro Fire Chiefs Council and the Missouri Association of Fire Chiefs.
Westermann has a master's in public administration from the University of Missouri-KC, is an Executive Fire Officer graduate, Chief Fire Officer designate, and a graduate of the Senior Executives in State and Local Government program at Harvard University.
William F. Jenaway, CFO, Commissioner
Representative: Fire Agencies (serving populations of less than 25,000)
Fire Chief
King of Prussia Volunteer Fire Company
170 Allendale Road
King of Prussia, PA 19406
bjenaway@comcast.net
William Jenaway, Ph.D., is the executive vice president of VFIS, responsible for education, training, and consulting services to insured and clients through the VFIS education and training staff and emergency services consulting group. He also serves as chief of the King of Prussia, Penn., volunteer fire company.
Jenaway was one of the first chiefs to receive the CFO designation from the Commission, and King of Prussia was the nation's first all-volunteer department to achieve CPSE accreditation.
Jenaway has authored several fire service texts, writes extensively for various emergency service tabloids, and is a regular speaker at emergency services conferences. Among his numerous activities, he currently chairs the NFPA Risk Management Committee and the NFPA Committee on Providing Emergency Services to the Public, and is the president of the Congressional Fire Services Institute. Jenaway also was named 2001 Volunteer Fire Chief of the Year by Fire Chief magazine.
Jenaway has a Ph.D. in management, a master's degree in education, a bachelor's degree in business administration, and an associate's degree in fire science.
Edwin W. Smith, Commissioner
Representative: Fire Agencies (serving populations of more than 250,000)
Fire Chief
County of Henrico, Division of Fire
P O Box 90775
Henrico, Va. 23273
esmith@co.henrico.va.us
Edwin Smith oversees the second largest in personnel, fire-rescue department in the state of Virginia with an annual budget of approximately $50 million. Henrico County (HCDF) is staffed by over 540 employees, more than 500 of whom are sworn uniformed firefighters, working out of 20 stations. The men and women of the HCDF serve an urban-suburban community of more than 300,000 residents, businesses and visitors.
He established his career as a firefighter and moved through the ranks to the position of Fire Chief. He has served in every position as a firefighter and officer from riding an engine, a ladder truck, and an ambulance. He has current certifications as a Hazardous Materials Specialist and sworn Virginia Fire Investigator.
After serving as a Division Chief for six years, Edwin was appointed to the Fire Chief position in August 2007. During his career, Chief Smith participated in the preparation and review process for the CFAI accreditation of Henrico Fire multiple times. Henrico County was the ninth overall department in the world to receive accreditation initially and has reaccredited twice since that time.
Chief Smith has an Associate's Degree in Fire Science and a BA through the University of Richmond. He is an active member of the International Association of Fire Chiefs serving on the Human Relations Committee, Metropolitan Fire Chiefs Association, National Fire Protection Association, Central Virginia Fire and Arson Association, and Virginia Fire Chiefs Association chairing the Human Relations Committee.
Ronald W. Holt, Commissioner
Representative: County Managers
County Administrator
Sedgwick County
525 N. Main, #343
Bel Aire, KS 67203
rholt@sedgwick.gov
As assistant county manager for Sedgwick County, Kan., Ronald Holt oversees the Divisions of Public Safety; and Community Development, and Culture, Entertainment & Recreation. His many duties include serving as the project leader for the new Sedgwick County Arena in Downtown Wichita. He also has responsibility for funding relationships with a number of community museums and attractions supported by Sedgwick County.
Before joining Sedgwick County in 2002, Holt spent more than 30 years at Westar Energy, formerly KGE, assuming various leadership positions in customer service, human resources management, community affairs, and field operations. In January 2000, he was named chairman and president of what was then KGE, an electric utility subsidiary of Western Resources, Inc.
Mr. Holt has received numerous honors and awards and serves on several boards throughout the community, including Boys and Girls Clubs of South Central Kansas (chairman); Midway Kansas Chapter, American Red Cross; Via Christi Regional Medical Center; Southwestern College; Kansas Big Brothers Big Sisters Community Advisory Board; Commerce Bank Wichita; and Greater Wichita Convention and Visitors Bureau.
Mr. Holt is a graduate of Friends University and Wichita State University.
Ralph Dorio, Commissioner
Representative: Insurance Industry
Insurance Services Office
545 Washington Boulevard
LOC 18-11
Jersey City, NJ 07310-1686
rdorio@iso.com
Ralph Dorio, a licensed building, fire, mechanical, and construction administration official in New Jersey, joined Insurance Services Office in 1999 as a technical coordinator for the Building Codes Effectiveness Grading Schedule (BCEGS).
Dorio is chairman of the board of Fire Commissioners for Washington Township Fire District Number 1. He serves on the technical committee for the ICC performance code, the committee for hurricane-resistant construction, several NFPA technical committees, and the certification committee. He also participated in the 9/11 Commission as an active member of the group reviewing emergency preparedness for the private sector.
Dorio is a certified code enforcement instructor, holds an ICC CBO certification, and has 15 years' experience in construction and more than 10 years' experience in plan reviews and construction inspection. He has also served as a volunteer fire fighter since 1984, including three years as chief officer.
Dorio has a master's degree in business administration and a bachelor's degree.
Steven Sawyer, Commissioner
Representative: Consensus Standards
National Fire Protection Association
1 Batterymarch Park
Quincy, MA 02169
ssawyer@nfpa.org
Steven Sawyer has been active in the fire service for more than 36 years, where he obtained the rank of Deputy Fire Chief. He is still an active member in his town’s fire department. He also serves as the town’s Deputy Director of the Emergency Management.
For eight years, he was Deputy Fire Marshal at Yale University and was responsible for the fire prevention, fire inspection, maintenance and testing, public education, fire engineering and fire investigation programs at the university. He was an industrial firefighter with the Electric Boat Division of General Dynamics for five years.
He is currently a Senior Fire Service Specialist/Executive Secretary IFMA in the Public Fire Protection Division of the National Fire Protection Association. He is currently liaison to the International Fire Marshals Association, Regional Fire Code Development Committees, Technical Committees on Organization and Deployment Career, Volunteer, and Fire Prevention Activities, and Fire Service Training. He was a Senior Fire Protection Specialist in the Building and Life Safety Department before going to the Public Fire Protection Division.
William Bruce Burrell, Commissioner
Representative: International
Fire Chief
Calgary Fire Department
4124 11th Street SE
Calgary, AB T2G 3H2
firechiefcalgary@calgary.ca
In August of 2005, Chief Burrell was hired by the City of Calgary as Fire Chief and Director of Emergency Management. During his tenure, Calgary has grown to over one million in population and covers one of the largest municipal land masses in North America. As Chief he is responsible for all facets of emergency service delivery, fiscal accountability and personnel management. The Calgary Fire Department has grown by close to three hundred members during the last five years.
Chief Burrell's Leadership Team has been involved in a transformational change process along with conducting business planning, budget and program reviews and a rewrite of policies and procedures. CFD continues to evolve as a modern fire department and continuously strive for improvement of services. Chief Burrell also instructs for Dalhousie Universities Fire Service Administration and Fire Service Leadership Programs.
Chief Burrell is currently a member of the Technical Committee, Canadian Standards Council; IAFC Program Planning Committee; President of CAFC; Chairman of the Burns Memorial Fire Fund and Chair of Calgary Public Safety Communications.
Kevin Rader, Commissioner
Representative: Labor
Assistant to the General President
International Association of Fire Fighters
1750 New York Avenue, NW
Washington, DC 20006-5395
krader@iaff.org
In 2006 Kevin Rader was appointed as the Director of Education for the IAFF. In this capacity he oversees the development of both online and instructor curricular modules that are delivered to IAFF membership. Also, as the Director of Education, Kevin organizes the annual IAFF educational conference: Advanced Leadership Training Seminar (ALTS), and the biennial Ernest A. "Buddy" Mass Human Relations Conference. He organizes and participates in the annual Instructor Development Conference; and serves as the IAFF staff liaison for the Elected Human Relations Committee.
Prior to becoming the Director of Education at the IAFF, Kevin was an IAFF Service Representative for the 8th District and a Partnership Education Program (PEP) instructor. For 30 years Kevin was a fire fighter with the Lima Fire Department, IAFF Local 334, where he was a platoon chief/paramedic. Kevin retired from active fire service in June 2003.
He was affiliated with the Ohio Association of Professional Fire Fighters (OAPFF) for 17 years. At the OAPFF Kevin held several leadership positions including nine years as District Vice President; Director of Education Research; and the Chairman of the Human Relations Committee. At the local level he served as the President, Vice President and Treasurer of Local 334. He also chaired and sat on various local committees including bargaining, labor-management, health and safety, constitution and by-laws, and political action.
Throughout his union career, Kevin has organized more than 25 IAFF locals and assisted in negotiating more than 175 labor agreements.