Episode 167: Episode 5-24– Chief Bruce Varner & Chief Dennis Rubin – WINGSPREAD VII

In 1966, top leaders and instructors in the American Fire Service gathered for the Wingspread I conference. Their focus was not to look at what the fire had done in the past, but to look forward to the changes and challenges that faced them in the future. At that first meeting, it was decided to hold the conference once every 10 years. And until now, this conference was indeed held every decade, the most recent being in 2016. However, at that conference, the idea was raised of changing the span from 10 years to 5 years.

The founder of the Johnson Foundation had the initial conference center designed by world-renowned architect, Frank Lloyd Wright. In 1990, the facility was added to the National Historic Register. And this summer, the Wingspread VII conference will take place there, once again.

Attending will be nearly 30 of the best leaders in the fire service, public health, EMS, and others, who will come together for several days. Again, they will not be looking back (except for the pandemic) but looking to the coming 5 years. What new challenges will they bring? What new equipment will we need? How might we deal with this issue or that one?

My guests are Chief Bruce Varner and Chief Dennis Rubin, who are working together (along with many others) to setup and assure another successful meeting of some of the best minds in these fields. Both men are icons in the fire service for their previous work on this conference and they share this formal announcement of it on this episode.

You can watch the video on our YouTube® channel, “5-Alarm Task Force Corp” or listen to the audio version on your favorite podcast platform or our website, www.5-alarmtaskforcecorp.org.

And please remember – we need your support to we can continue to assist our Brothers and Sisters and/or their families, in dire need. Just visit out website and click on the photo of the “Q!”

Photo Courtesy the NFPA