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Adam K. Thiel

Fire News in Focus

Adam K. Thiel is the fire commissioner and director of the Office of Emergency Management in the city of Philadelphia. Thiel previously served as a fire chief in the National Capital Region and as a state fire director for the Commonwealth of Virginia. Thiel’s operational experience includes serving with distinction in four states as a chief officer, incident commander, company officer, hazardous materials team leader, paramedic, technical rescuer, structural/wildland firefighter and rescue diver. He also directly participated in response and recovery efforts for several major disasters, including the 9/11 terrorist attacks, Tropical Storm Gaston and Hurricane Isabel.

LATEST ARTICLES
Viceo clip is a great reminder about how quickly fire and smoke conditions can change
Citizens, and not fire departments, choose what level of fire and emergency services protection they receive through their local public policy processes
We all sometimes consider annual refresher training on infrequently used subjects as boring or redundant
Clips like this one don’t shine a positive light on the fire and emergency services
MCI response reminded me again about the continual importance of educating citizens about our departments’ capabilities and limitations
I’m afraid that while we say we will “never forget,” it’s already started to happen
There is great value in talking about those incidents with successful outcomes
Fire departments can definitely make a difference by spreading prevention-related messages
If you have a railroad in your jurisdiction, when was the last time you received training on railcar emergencies or exercised a scenario like this?