Brian Focht CFPS, CFEI, is a 40-vetern of the fire service and Past Chief of the Willow Grove (Fire Company and a Career Lieutenant with the Horsham Fire Company serving as shift supervisor and Training Officer. He is a Pro Board level 3 fire instructor and teaches at several academies. He is a PA Department of Health Paramedic and Instructor. He has authored articles on Natural Gas and Electrical Emergencies and Designed a Training Video and Program for Emergency Services on dealing with Autism. He co-authored a book on Tactical Response to Natural Gas Emergencies by PennWell.  He was the 2014 OCAILA Community Achievement Award, 2016 Recipient of the Garry Breese IAFC Safety Performance Award, 2017 Liberty Museum Valor Award for Community Betterment and 2019 PA Department of Health Instructor of the Year.   A NFPA Certified Fire Protection Specialist and many other professional credentials and meritorious citations.  

Wendy is the Founder and Chief Executive Officer of the Texas LODD Task Force, which is part of the National Fallen Firefighters Foundation's LAST program. She is a certified grief educator and a master chaplain with the Federation of Fire Chaplains. She has assisted with the development of a peer support curriculum for Texas A&M University-TEEX and also serves as an adjunct instructor for them. Wendy served as a committee chair for the State of Texas Disaster Behavioral Health’s working group for first responders’ mental health care following mass fatality incidents and is a member of the Texas First Responder Mental Health Consortium. She is the presiding officer of the Governor’s Advisory Panel for the Star of Texas Awards for injured and fallen first responders. She serves as a chaplain, PIO, and first responder for the Forest Bend Fire Department.

NVFC’s dedicated Customer Success Manager is Krissy Czarski. She graduated from Towson University in Maryland with a degree in Community Health Science. She is skilled in Public Speaking, and Mental Health. Krissy has an extensive background in account management with over 10 years of experience. Since joining BHS in 2015, Krissy has fostered client relationships and provided the consultation and thought leadership needed to move complex workplace and student mental health and wellness programs forward.  

Lt. Michael McLeieer has been in the fire service for over 25 years, is certified Firefighter II, Fire Officer III, Fire Instructor III, public fire and life safety educator, youth firesetter intervention specialist, and has served on fire departments in both Michigan and Massachusetts. He has served as the training and scheduling training coordinator for the Massachusetts Firefighting Academy and was in charge of the statewide youth fire intervention program.  He is a National Fire Academy contract instructor and also serves as a past president of the Massachusetts Institute of Fire Department Instructors, the Michigan State Firemen’s Association, founder of the nonprofit organization E.S.C.A.P.E. Inc (Education Showing Children and Adults Procedures for Evacuations), and launched the statewide public education and alarm installation campaign Keeping Michigan S.A.F.E.™ (Smoke Alarms for Everyone).

Jason Nailon serves the City of San Marcos as the Division Chief Fire Marshal. He brings 28 years of experience in the California Fire Service and is a credentialed Fire Marshal through the Center for Public Safety Excellence. He is also a recent graduate of the Executive Fire Officer Program at the National Fire Academy.

Chief Cash has been in the fire service since 1995 starting as a junior volunteer firefighter and currently serving as Assistant Chief of Training and Safety with the Cherryville Fire Department in Cherryville, NC.  He began as a career firefighter with the City of Shelby, NC in 2005, where he currently holds the rank of Battalion Chief of Operations over C-Platoon since 2015.

Chief Cash holds a Master’s of Business Administration from Columbia Southern University, a Bachelor’s of Science in Political Science concentrating in Town, City, and County Management degree from Appalachian State University, and an Associate’s degree in Fire Protection Technology from Cleveland Community College.

He is a graduate of the North Carolina Association of Fire Chief’s Executive Development Program in October 2015.  He received the NCSFA Firefighter of the Year in 2015, NCAFC Volunteer Officer of the Year in 2019, and he was awarded his Chief Fire Officer Designation by the Center for Public Safety Excellence in 2019.  He currently serves on the Executive Board of the North Carolina State Firefighters’ Association.

Chief Cash currently serves on the Cleveland County United Way as a Board Member and on the Fund Distribution Panel, as well as serving as Co-Chair for the City of Shelby’s United Way Campaign.  He is a volunteer with the Cherryville Little League program serving as a Board Member and Umpire Coordinator in the past.  He is a member of First Baptist Church in Cherryville.

Chief Cash currently resides in Ranlo, NC with his lovely bride Erin.  They enjoy traveling around the country and the Caribbean together.

Joe Maruca was appointed chief of the West Barnstable (MA) Fire Department in 2005.  Prior to 2005 he served as a volunteer firefighter/EMT, lieutenant and captain for the West Barnstable Fire Department for 10 years, and had 18 years of prior service as a volunteer firefighter with the Sandwich Fire Department and Longmeadow Fire Department.  Chief Maruca is an attorney.  He has his BA in Business Administration from Boston University’s Questrom School of Management and a BS in Fire Department Administration from SUNY Empire State College.  He is a member of the NVFC Board of Directors, serves as chair of the FCAM Call/Volunteer Chief Committee, and is chair of the NFPA 1917 Technical Committee on Ambulances.

Pam Rogers brings over 15 years of experience in EMS and fire service, and more than 25 years as an instructor and educator. She has trained staff and volunteers across generations and settings—from remote wilderness areas in the West and rural health clinics in Lesotho, South Africa, to multimillion-dollar corporations and small-town fire departments in Idaho. Pam currently serves as the EMS & Fire Volunteer Coordinator for the City of Moscow Volunteer Fire Department, supporting a team of 100 volunteer firefighters and EMTs who respond to more than 3,000 incidents annually in rural Idaho.

Katie Bulla is the Office Manager at Burtonsville Volunteer Fire Department in Maryland, where she handles everything from membership records to process improvements that keep the department running behind the scenes. Before that, she overhauled BVFD’s recruitment efforts, helping bring in new volunteers and make the onboarding process more efficient. With a background in creative design and community engagement, Katie is all about building systems that actually work and supporting the people who keep them going. She’s especially interested in the day-to-day realities of volunteer fire departments—and how to make them better for the folks doing the work.

Mike is a 45-year veteran of the fire service and a 27-year veteran of the New York City Fire Department (FDNY), retiring as Captain of Ladder 123.  As a firefighter in Ladder Company 43, Dugan received the James Gordon Bennett medal in 1992 and the Harry M. Archer Medal in 1993, the FDNY’s highest award for bravery. He developed training programs that were taught to all FDNY members. Mike is a contributing editor at Fire Engineering Magazine. He is a teacher at the Fire Department Instructor Conference (FDIC) and  is a  Fire Engineering and FDIC  Executive Board member. He is a featured lecturer around the country, teaching Truck Company Operations, Building Construction 's impact on firefighter safety, Leadership and  issues involving today's fire service. He was awarded the "Tommy Brennan Life Time Achievement Award" in 2021. 

Clark Lamping is a 26-year veteran and a 15 year Captain and with the Clark County (NV) Fire Department. In his career, he has spent 17 years working on Las Vegas Blvd.  He currently holds a Master’s degree in Crisis and Emergency Management and a Bachelors degree in psychology- both from the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, (UNLV). He is a rescue squad officer with Nevada Task Force 1 with multiple deployments.  He has instructed at FDIC, MAFFC, Firehouse, and HROC. 

Tom Merrill is a 42-year fire department veteran and serves with the Snyder Fire Department, which is located in Amherst, New York (first ring suburb of the City of Buffalo). He served 26 years as a department officer including 15 years in the chief officer ranks. He was chief of department from 2007-2012 and currently serves as a Fire Commissioner for the Snyder Fire District. Tom has conducted various fire service presentations and keynote addresses throughout the country and also hosts a regular podcast sponsored by Fire Engineering titled “The Professional Volunteer Fire Department.” His book “The Professional Volunteer Fire Department” was published by Fire Engineering Books and Videos and was released in September 2023. Tom is employed full time as the Senior Fire Dispatcher in charge of the Town of Amherst Central Fire Alarm Office.