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About FLSS

FLSS Mission & Vision

The mission of the Fire and Life Safety Section is to reduce injury, life loss and property loss by advancing the field of fire prevention and life safety with leadership and vision for fire safety professionals.

The vision of the Fire and Life Safety Section is to create an environment in which:

• Deaths from structure fires are reduced to zero and property damage from structure fires is limited to the area of origin
• Firefighter deaths due to fire ground operations are reduced to zero
• The organizational culture of fire departments places a greater priority on fire prevention and life safety
• The public is clearly aware of the fire problem and their role in fire prevention

Section History

During FRI 2002, several members of the Fire Code Task Force undertook an effort to create a new IAFC section to focus on fire and life safety issues. The effort was successful and the section was formalized in early 2003 under the name Fire & Life Safety Section. The first Section Chair was Chief Jackie Gibbs of the Marietta (GA) Fire Department with Chief Wayne Senter of Kitsap County (WA) Fire Department as the first Vice Chair.

In September 2004, the section membership stood at 600 members and the Section Board petitioned the IAFC Board to gain a seat on the IAFC Board of Directors. The first International Director was Chief Jackie Gibbs. Currently, section membership stands at over 1500 members.

Section Governance

Board of Directors for the section's is made up of:

Four officers, six at-large members, and three specialty representative members.

At-large members shall have a term of three years with two at-large members to be elected each year. No more than two at-large members shall be elected from any single division of the IAFC.

Specialty representatives shall consist of one member from the education community, one  member from the engineering community, and one member from the public safety community, and shall be appointed for a one-year term by a majority vote of the Board after the election at the annual business meeting. These members, who may be Affiliate members, shall have a vote on matters before the Board of Directors.

The chair, vice chair, international director and secretary/treasurer shall serve as the Board's Executive Committee.

The Board of Directors may appoint two ex-officio advisors, who offer specific expertise which would be helpful to assist the board with their work. Ex-officio advisors have a voice but no vote on matters before the board and shall be appointed for a one-year term by a majority vote of the board after the annual business meeting. There will be no section funding provided for ex-officio advisors unless extenuating circumstances permit it at the discretion of the Executive Committee.

The immediate past serving chair shall hold an ex-officio position as the immediate past chair. The immediate past chair shall have no vote on matters before the board. The immediate past chair shall serve in the position until the member is no longer the immediate past chair.

Download the Section Bylaws (pdf)