Dr. Lori Moore-Merrell highlighted the accomplishments of the U.S. Fire Administration over the last year as her term as U.S. Fire Administrator came to a close. Appointed in October 2021 after 25 years with the International Association of Fire Fighters (IAFF), Dr. Moore-Merrell led U.S. Fire Administration in achieving numerous advancements and successes. Some of these achievements included:
- Partnering with the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Science and Technology Directorate to launch phase 1 of NERIS (the National Emergency Response Information System), an evolutionary new data platform.
- Hosting the Inaugural World Fire Congress, bringing together 56 countries and international bodies to create a global network devoted to addressing new fire risks.
- Delivering the first report on firefighter mental health during the 2024 U.S. Fire Administrator’s Summit.
- Deploying artificial intelligence-enabled fire sensors to mitigate fire risks in Hawai’i after conducting four post-wildfire visits to Lahaina, and engaging with the local government, fire department and community.
- Formalizing a relationship with the Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation through a memorandum of understanding, which included a work plan to address the threat of wildfires in the wildland urban interface (WUI).
- Created the WUI Property Awareness Explorer and WUI Community Awareness Explorer dashboards (to help U.S. residents know where they live in proximity to WUI and fire-prone areas).
- Collaborated with the Department of Defense, DHS, Federal Aviation Administration, Occupational Health and Safety Administration, and external fire service stakeholders like IAFF on obtaining firefighting gear and foam free from per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS), carcinogenic chemicals.
The mission of the U.S. Fire Administration – an entity within DHS’s Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) – is to support and strengthen fire and emergency medical services (EMS) and stakeholders to prepare for, prevent, mitigate and respond to all hazards to make communities and residents safer. The agency accomplishes this through fire data collection, public fire education, fire research, and fire service training.
In highlighting the U.S. Fire Administration’s feats, Dr. Moore-Merrell made sure to recognize the team effort from her staff as well as the participation from leadership across many agencies. Click here to read the full post on LinkedIn.