Fire Equipment Manufacturers’ Association has selected M. Dwayne Garriss, Georgia State Fire Marshal, for its 2016 Fire Safety Advocate Award.

The annual award is given to a fire safety professional who has demonstrated a commitment to enhancing the safety of the public through innovative efforts, including legislative, educational, enforcement, or other effective means.

“Dwayne Garriss has dedicated much of his career to fire safety, particularly to educating and training fire inspectors, fire marshals, and other code officials,” said Bill Vegso, president of Fire Equipment Manufacturers’ Association. “Dwayne’s lasting commitment and ongoing efforts to promote fire safety through engineering, education, and enforcement make him eminently qualified to receive this prestigious award.”

The incoming president of the International Code Council (ICC), Garriss has served as the chairman of the Georgia Fire Safety Symposium for 21 years, providing leadership and guidance to the delivery of thousands of hours of training and education to fire safety professionals. In addition, he works as a professor at numerous colleges and universities, and serves as an instructor at the Georgia Fire Academy and several other educational endeavors.

During his nearly 28-year firefighting career and five-and-a-half years as Georgia State Fire Marshal, Garriss has also been a member of Georgia’s Joint Fire Service Legislative Committee, the National Association of State Fire Marshals’ Model Codes Committee, ICC’s Joint Fire Service Review Committee and ICC’s Board of Directors, and served two years as president of the Georgia Fire Inspectors’ Association.

“Few have dedicated themselves to this extent of furthering the fire prevention profession as Dwayne Garriss,” added Vegso. “His contributions to the industry make him the ideal recipient of the Fire Equipment Manufacturers’ Association’s 2016 Fire Safety Advocate Award.”

Dwayne Garriss will be formally presented with the Fire Safety Advocate Award during the Fire Equipment Manufacturers’ Association’s Annual Meeting on October 12-14, 2016 in Charleston, South Carolina.

More: www.femalifesafety.org/membership.html.

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Photographer Steve Redick recently took in a job in a far south Chicago, Illinios, suburb.

From Redick, “Had the chance to take in a job in an area I seldom ever get to—Evergreen Park, a far southern suburb of Chicago. The fire was in a local landmark restaurant. Admittedly I got a late start but arrived as they were again going defensive. I was able to document some widely varying conditions as well as some fire apparatus I have never seen before. SS3, the Snorkel, actually once belonged to the North Shore suburb of Wilmette, Illinois. In my opinion, the turning point of the fire was when they used the basket close to the ground and put the master stream into the front door where some heavy smoke conditions were present. I also observed an unusual operation using engines in line and a three-way divider. I was able to play with video and fill in flash and available light settings with my new camera too. All in all a very interesting, but locally tragic, morning. All the images, and video can be seen at: https://ksc711.smugmug.com/Suburban-Fires-and-Rigs/Evergreen-park-2nd-Alarm-3701/.”