Title
Presentation of Executive Fire Officer Certificate to Joseph Shawn Hillhouse, Assistant Fire Chief (NB)
This item recommends recognition of Gainesville Fire Rescue Assistant Chief Joseph Shawn Hillhouse for his successful completion of the U.S. Fire Administration’s Executive Fire Officer Program.
Explanation
The Federal Emergency Management Agency's (FEMA) U.S. Fire Administration's (USFA) National Fire Academy (NFA) announced April 3, 2021, that Joseph Shawn Hillhouse successfully completed the Executive Fire Officer Program (EFOP).
This multi-year program consists of four courses, each requiring a written Applied Research Project (ARP) to demonstrate application of course theory and concepts to real life situations within the student's own organization. Each project was evaluated through a formal process and progression through the program was contingent on achieving each of these milestones. Executive Development is the foundational course: Its major goals are to improve the executive fire officer's ability to build high-performance teams, exercise adaptive leadership skills, manage change, value diversity as a fire service resource, and use critical thinking skills to develop applied research projects. The second course, Executive Analysis of Community Risk Reduction, is a mixture of philosophy and application of the value of community risk reduction and the process of applying risk reduction to the community. It involves developing partnerships with the community to implement programs, initiatives, and services that prevent or mitigate the risk of human made or natural disasters. In the third year, participants complete the Executive Analysis of Fire Service Operations in Emergency Management course. This course is designed to help students to better prepare their communities for large-scale, multi-agency, all-hazard incidents. The final course, Executive Leadership, examines all aspects of executive-level leadership and ties together the educational experiences of the three previous years.
Chief Hillhouse completed ARPs on topics including Special Event Threat Assessment, Building Hazard Cataloging, and Recommendations for Emergency Rations for Austere Operations. These ARPs also become part of a resource library for other fire professionals.
Chief Hillhouse joins EFO graduates from Gainesville Fire Rescue that include: current Fire Chief Joe Dixon; Retired Chiefs Richard Williams, William Northcutt, and Gene Prince; Retired District Chiefs Don King and Allen Siorek; and Retired Lt. Kim Berryman-Dages.
Congratulations to Chief Hillhouse for achieving this significant professional milestone.
Fiscal Note
There is no fiscal impact.
Recommendation
The Mayor and the Fire Chief present the EFO certificate to Assistant Chief Joseph Shawn Hillhouse.