Metro Chiefs 2025 recap: Hot topics, partnerships and the changing political landscape

The recent Metropolitan Fire Chiefs Association (aka Metro Chiefs) conference in Horry County, South Carolina, attracted the largest attendance of metropolitan fire chiefs in the history of the conference. Together, 160 fire service leaders from around the world shared, listened and learned about common issues affecting the industry and our members.

In addition to International Association of Fire Chiefs CEO Rob Brown and President Chief Josh Waldo, National Fire Protection Association President Jim Pauley joined the chiefs and executives representing 11 countries from across five continents — a truly international event.

About the Metro Chiefs

Metro Chiefs, one of 10 sections of the IAFC, is also a section of the NFPA. Additionally, Metro Chiefs is the only section whose membership is exclusive to chiefs from recognized metro-sized fire departments. Retired metro chiefs, like me, can retain membership in the section as a “senior member.” The value of bringing together senior chiefs and current chiefs, from departments as large as FDNY to as small as 250 personnel, is immeasurable. Many metro chiefs share my observation that this section conference has been the most impactful for our professional growth as fire chiefs.

Conference hot topics

The 2025 Metro Chiefs conference sessions included information on many of the hot-button issues affecting the fire service today: firefighter health and wellness, lithium-ion batteries, wildfires and urban conflagrations, staffing/recruitment and retention, and the federal government reorganization. While there was plenty of discussion on all these topics, two issues dominated the presentations: wildfire/wildland-urban interface (WUI) fires and lithium battery fires.

• Wildfire and WUI events: The immediate past U.S. Fire Administrator, Dr. Lori Moore-Merrell, moderated a panel discussion on wildfire conditions with several Los Angeles-area fire chiefs. Los Angeles County Chief Anthony Marrone, Interim City of Los Angeles Chief Ronnie Villanueva, Orange County Fire Authority Chief Brian Fennessy and San Bernadino County Chief Dan Munsey provided first-hand analysis of the firestorm that overtook the region beginning Jan. 7, 2025.

  Detailing the Pacific Palisades and Eaton conflagrations along with 12 other fires, the chiefs spoke to the hurricane-force wind conditions, massive evacuations, and the herculean firefight aided not only by firefighters from across the United States but also resources from Canada, Mexico and Australia.

  More than 5,000 homes burned in the densely populated Pacific Palisades community, which is inside the city of Los Angeles, while over 6,000 homes burned in the Los Angeles County community of Altadena. Including those homes, those two fires destroyed over 15,000 structures, including businesses, churches, sheds, barns and other occupancies.

• Lithium battery fires: Jim Pauley, FDNY Chief of Department John Esposito, Dr. Steve Kerber, NFPA Senior Research Manager Victoria Hutchinson and Energy Security Agency representative Dalan Zartman led several discussions on lithium battery fires.

  Chief Esposito discussed the continuing problem with lithium battery fires in New York City, which mirror problems other cities have seen or will likely see. The proliferation of non-certified battery and lithium device production, combined with the continued use of damaged goods, was highlighted in the presentation.

  Pauley discussed a new lithium battery standard that is in the early stages of development. When NFPA 800 — the Battery Safety Code — completes the development cycle, it will be the first standard applied specifically to batteries.

  Hutchinson spoke to the ongoing research in the battery safety arena, asking Zartman to detail an emerging tool for tackling lithium battery fires — a pressure device that has shown promise in the battery penetration discussion. To date, battery access with direct penetration devices has not become mainstream in the United States. The pressure device Zartman presented on develops a water stream capable of cutting through 4 inches of steel, more than enough to penetrate the average lithium battery compartment. On the downside, the device currently costs approximately $50,000 and may be lethal if not properly controlled. Research is ongoing.

• Firefighter health and wellness: It has been refreshing to see firefighter health and wellness being addressed both in research and in practice. Grady Valencis, Deputy Director of the IAFF Health and Safety Operational Services Department, provided an update on the group’s Wellness and Fitness Initiative.

  Each year we see more and more industry partners serving the health and wellness space. I had the opportunity to speak with two of those partners about preventative care and rehabilitation.
  

  • Newly appointed LIFESCAN Wellness CEO Todd LeDuc addressed the trifecta of factors killing firefighters, and what LIFESCAN is doing to help the fight.
  • Ready Rebound Senior Vice President Mathew Stull detailed how the company’s effort to transform injury recovery for firefighters is showing promise. Stull shared a success story about working with a department that noticed a sudden uptick in knee injuries. They were ultimately able to track the issue back to a new boot style, which was changed out, resolving the issue. Additionally, Ready Rebound connects firefighters to a network of doctors and providers who specialize in sports medicine. Their experience has shown that treating firefighters’ injuries through sports medicine practices helps return firefighters to duty significantly sooner than traditional primary care choices.

  I am happy to see more and more resources becoming available to our fire departments. These two companies have shown significant progress within metro departments and have replicated these efforts nationwide, across departments of all sizes.

PPE for female firefighters

Dr. Moore-Merrell moderated a panel of female fire chiefs – Metro Chiefs Vice President and Anne Arundel County (Maryland) Fire Chief Trisha Wolford, San Antonio Fire Chief Valerie Frausto, Omaha (Nebraska) Fire Chief Kathy Bossman, Prince George’s County (Maryland) Fire Chief Tiffany Green and Mesa (Arizona) Fire Chief Mary Cameli — addressing many of the challenges female firefighters face obtaining proper-fitting PPE. Each shared their personal challenges with the gear they received when they joined the fire service. They also spoke to the progress that has been made to better outfit female firefighters, contributing to safer PPE ensembles. While most manufacturers now offer some gear designed for women, some have progressed further than others, like Lion with its “Fit for Her” campaign, which was referenced during the panel discussion.

Down to business

In addition to the educational sessions section, Metro Chief members took part in two afternoons of regular business, which included the election of officers, honors and awards, updates from our international partners, and selection of the 2028 host location — Tampa, Florida. Here are some highlights from the business sessions:

• International connections: Memorandums of understanding (MOUs) were signed with international partners at the event:
  
  • Metro President Ernest Malone signed MOUs with Australasian Fire and Emergency Service Authorities Council Commissioner Gavin Freeman and South African Emergency Services Institute (SAESI) Chief Dino Padayachee
  • Incoming Metro President John Butler signed an MOU with the Africa Fire Mission founder Chief David A. Moore, Jr.

  Each MOU seeks to facilitate the exchange of experience and information in leadership, training, and education, risk inventories, disaster relief, and related services. Metro Chiefs has existing MOUs with many of international partners.

  On that note, there were multiple presentations from several international partners in attendance. A particularly interesting presentation from the Singapore Civil Defense Force, detailed how they are addressing operational challenges through training. Using a detailed augmented reality system of training, firefighters and chiefs are immersed into many complex situations that offer visual and thermal cues that are not easily replicated in traditional training. (Watch for more on this in a future article on this topic.)

• Legislation support: Ken LaSala, director of government relations and policy for the IAFC, updated attendees on the many legislative efforts underway in Washington. The perennial discussion of Fire Act Grant reauthorization was addressed, and LaSala spoke to the change in administrations with respect to process and legislative affairs.

  Additionally, after LaSala’s presentation, the Metro Chiefs voted to endorse the Nancy Gardner Sewell Medicare Multi-Cancer Early Detection Screening Coverage Act (H.R. 842) and (S. 339). This bill, which will help firefighters beginning in 2028, allows for Medicare coverage and payment for multi-cancer early detection screening tests that are approved by the Food and Drug Administration and that are used to screen for cancer across many cancer types, if the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services determines such coverage is appropriate. Coverage is limited to those under a certain age (age 68 in 2028, increased by one year every year thereafter) and to one test every 11 months.

• Metro Chiefs honors and awards: Metro Chiefs also honored several individuals for their contributions to the fire service.
  

  • 

    Photo/Marc Bashoor

    Chief John Donnelly of the District of Columbia Fire and EMS was named Fire Chief of the Year.
  • Chief Otto Drozd III (ret.) of the El Paso Fire Department, Orange County (Florida) Fire Rescue Department and Seminole County Fire Department, and current executive secretary of the Metro Chiefs received the Russell E. Sanders Lifetime Achievement Award.
  • Chief Brian Fennessy of the Orange County (California) Fire Authority received the Metro President’s Award.
  • Chief David Downey (ret.) of Miami Dade Fire Rescue, Chief Alec Oughton of Aurora Fire Rescue and Chief Chuck Ryan of the Tucson Fire Department received Metro Commendations.

  A new award this year, “Early Career Fire Service Research Award Scholar” was awarded to Dr. Brittany Hollerbach. Dr. Hollerbach serves as associate scientist and deputy director of the Center for Fire, Rescue, and EMS Health Research, National Development & Research Institutes (NDRI). Her research focuses largely on the health and safety of firefighters, and she has published 15 journal articles analyzing topics such as firefighter cancer, obesity, bullying, violence, and hazing in the fire service workplace.

  The award was developed in collaboration with the Metro Chiefs, the International Fire Service Journal of Leadership and Management, Fire Protection Publications, and the International Fire Service Training Association. Metro Chiefs has a long history of embracing our research partners to chart of safer and better-informed path forward.

• New officers and board members: Outgoing Metro Chiefs immediate past president, Chief Loy Senter, administered the oath of office to the new officers and board members.
  
  • President: Chief John Butler, Fairfax County (Virginia) Fire Rescue Department
  • Vice President: Chief Trisha Wolford, Anne Arundel County (Maryland) Fire Department
  • Secretary: Chief Steve Dongworth, Calgary (Alberta, Canada) Fire Department
  • Treasurer: Chief Chuck Ryan, Tucson (Arizona) Fire Department
  • Board Member: Chief Aaron Lipski, Milwaukee (Wisconsin) Fire Department
  • Senior Board Member: Chief Keith Bryant (ret.), Oklahoma City (Oklahoma) Fire Department
  • Alternate Board Member: Chief Alec Oughton, Aurora (Colorado) Fire Rescue Department
  • Immediate Past President: Chief Ernest Malone, Indianapolis (Indiana) Fire Department

Photo/Marc Bashoor

Changing political landscape

The metro chiefs have always welcomed and looked forward to presentations from federal officials detailing issues affecting the fire service. Federal representation was notably absent at the 2025 conference. I appreciated that Rebecca Harned, an advisor from the USFA, provided an update on NERIS, but there were no other federal-level representatives.

During one segment of the event, President Waldo shared his thoughts on the many political issues facing the fire service — issues that FireRescue1 has reported on in recent months — from the closure of the National Fire Academy to efforts to reorganize federal firefighting forces. Perhaps most impactful was Waldo’s comments about these ongoing changes in Washington and beyond, essentially noting that change was occurring whether individuals like it or not. In navigating these new pathways: “We may need to become comfortable being uncomfortable.”