April 19, 2010

Department hosts national leader

      One of the biggest names in American fire history paid a visit to a group of local firefighters earlier today.  Retired Phoenix Fire Chief Alan Brunacini spoke about the importance of effective incident management as well as fundamental customer service principles to an engaged crowd at the Greenwood Moose Lodge in Greenwood.  Accompanying Chief Brunacini were his two sons, John and Nick, who both also retired from long careers with the Phoenix Fire Department.  All three spoke on various topics and then entertained questions from the audience over a time frame of about three hours.

         Alan Brunacini joined the Phoenix Fire Department in 1958.  He served in every department position.  He was promoted to Fire Chief in 1978 and retired in 2006.  He is a graduate of the Fire Protection Technology program at Oklahoma State University.  He has a degree in Political Science and MPA from Arizona State University.  He is the past Chairman of the Board of the National Fire Protection Association and the NFPA Fire Service Occupational Safety Committee (standard 1500).  He is the current Chairman of the NFPA Career Fire Service Organization and Deployment Committee (standard 1710). He is the author of Fire Command, Command Safety, Timeless Tactical Truths, Essentials of Fire Department Customer Service and The Anatomy and Physiology of Leadership.  He is currently working on several other fire service books.

          Nick Brunacini retired from the Phoenix Fire Department as a South Shift Commander in 2009. He joined the department in 1980.  Nick worked his way through the ranks of the department working seven years as a firefighter on several Engine Companies then promoting to Captain and working nine years on a Ladder Company.  Nick served as a Battalion Chief for five years. He was then promoted to the rank of Shift Commander in 2001 and spent five years developing and instructing the Blue Card curriculum package taught at the Phoenix Fire Department's Command Training Center from 2002 to 2006.  Nick is the author of B-Shifter – A Firefighters Memoirs, and is also the co-author of Command Safety, Fire Command and the Anatomy and Physiology of Leadership.

        John Brunacini is a retired Fire Captain from the Phoenix Fire Dept (Oct. 2006). He served twenty-six years in the positions of Firefighter, Engineer and his last fourteen years as a Captain. As a Captain he developed and managed the Phoenix Fire Network, he worked in the field as the Company Officer on Ladder 11 B-shift for nine years, and he managed the Command Training Center his last three years on the job where he developed the curriculum media packages used for Blue Card Command and Battalion training.  Prior to retirement he was working for the Glendale (AZ) Fire Department as an instructor at the Glendale Fire Department Regional Training Center. He is now instructing and developing curriculum packages for the Blue Card Command Certification process.

          The Brunacini's are in town this week for the annual Fire Department Instructor's Conference in downtown Indianapolis.  For more information on the Blue Card Command Certification system, please click HERE or visit the department's Command Training Center page by clicking HERE.
 

           
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