Dr. Sara Jahnke
Director of the Center for Fire, Rescue & EMS Health Research at NDRI USA, Inc.
Frank Leeb
Managing Director
First Responder Center for Excellence
David Wiklanski
David Wiklanski is a Captain for the City of New Brunswick, NJ Fire Department. He has been an advocate for the National Fallen Firefighters Foundation for over a decade. In addition to being an advocate, David has worked as a Behavioral Health Specialist, teaching the Taking Care of Our Own program, and working with the […]
Judy Kirk
Ms. Judy Kirk joins the Fire Programs Team and will be lending her expertise in events management and special projects. Judy brings more than three decades of experience in grants management, non-profits development and fundraising, and events planning. Her career arc has taken her through a wide range of organizations, including the International Association of […]
Scott Burnette
Chief Scott Burnette from Hendersonville, North Carolina (Retired) joins the Line-of-Duty Death Outreach and Research Program as deputy to Chief Ian Bennett (Retired). Chief Burnette started his fire service career as a volunteer firefighter for the Mills River (NC) Fire Department in 1988. He became a career firefighter with the City of Asheville (NC) Fire […]
John Kane
John Kane serves as the National Fallen Firefighters Foundation’s Advocate Program Coordinator. John spent 21 years with the Syracuse (NY) Fire Department, retiring in 2022 as the Deputy Chief of the Special Operations Division. The SFD is an ISO Class 1 fire department and was awarded the NFFF Seal of Excellence in 2021. After retirement, John […]
Daniel Kistner
Director of Fire Service Programs
Ian Bennett
Ian Bennett is the National Local Assistance State Team (LAST) Coordinator for the National Fallen Firefighters Foundation. In addition, he coordinates the Taking Care of Our Own program and the Unformed Peer Support Programs. Bennett has been associated with the National Fallen Firefighters Foundation since 2001 serving as a member of the planning section of […]
Dey Watkins
Development Assistant
Thank You for Your Feedback
Thank you for the feedback on our new site. We will carefully assess and prioritize the received requests, making adjustments accordingly based on their severity. We appreciate your patience as we address these requests. Although we dedicated considerable effort to ensuring the functionality of all aspects of the site, we acknowledge that our diligent visitors […]
Provide Website Feedback
The National Fallen Firefighters Foundation is thrilled to announce the re-launch of an all-new, www.firehero.org, dedicated to honoring the America’s fallen firefighters, supporting their families, and working to reduce firefighter death and injury. We invite you to explore our revamped site and provide us with your valuable feedback. Your input will help us improve and ensure that we deliver an exceptional user experience, so please take a few moments to browse through the site and share your thoughts via our feedback form. Together, we can make this site a powerful resource for the fire service and their families!
Liz D. Paintiff
Turtle Plastics
