Fairfax County Fire Chief John Butler Announces Assistant Chief Promotion

Fire Chief John Butler is pleased to announce that Deputy Chief Dan Shaw has been promoted to Assistant Chief with the Fairfax County Fire and Rescue Department. Assistant Chief Shaw will head the Office of the Fire Chief, which includes Data Analytics Management, Fiscal Services, Health and Wellness, Information Technology, Planning, and Public Information and Life Safety Education.

Assistant Chief Shaw began his career in the fire service as a volunteer in Howard County, Maryland in 1992. In 1995, he joined the Fairfax County Fire and Rescue Department as a member of Recruit Class 90. He was assigned to Fire Station 30, Merrifield, upon graduation from recruit school. In May 1999, Assistant Chief Shaw was promoted to Apparatus Technician and assigned to Fire Station 35, Pohick, and Fire Station 10, Baileys Crossroads. He was promoted to Master Technician in February 2005. Four months later, in June 2005, he was promoted to Lieutenant and assigned once again to Fire Station 30. He also served as Aide to Deputy Chief of Operations. Assistant Chief Shaw was promoted to Captain I in September 2007 and assigned to Fire Station 9, Mount Vernon, and Fire Station 10. In December 2010, he was promoted to Captain II and assigned to Fire Station 8, Annandale, and Fire Station 28, Seven Corners. He was promoted to Battalion Chief in June 2014 and assigned to Battalion 4. In June 2017, Assistant Chief Shaw was promoted to Deputy Chief and assigned to A-Shift Operations Deputy, Support Services, and C-Shift Operations Deputy. He most recently served as Division Two Deputy Fire Chief of Operations on C-shift.

Additionally, Assistant Chief Shaw has a Bachelor’s Degree in Business Administration from University of Maryland. He holds an associate degree in Fire Service Supervision from Community College of Baltimore County and is currently pursuing an Executive Leadership Certificate at the Harvard Business School Online. He is also a graduate of the West Point Leadership Program. Assistant Chief Shaw currently serves on the NFPA 1400 Technical Committee for Fire Service Training along with being a member of the Technical Panel for Underwriters Laboratory (UL) Firefighter Safety Research Institute and the Fire Engineering Advisory Board. He received the Chief Fire Officer Designation with the Center for Public Safety Excellence in 2022.

Beyond his service to Fairfax County, Assistant Chief Shaw is active in the fire service community. He is an editorial contributor for Fire Engineering Magazine. He also co-wrote Fire Engineering’s book “25 to Survive: Reducing Residential Injury and LODD” in 2013. Assistant Chief Shaw has taught various programs at esteemed fire service conferences such as Fire Department Instructors Conference (FDIC) East, FDIC International, and Firehouse Expo. Earlier this year, he had the honor of being the keynote speaker at the 2022 FDIC International Conference.

Fairfax County Fire and Rescue Department Announces Launch of Lifesaving PulsePoint App

Fire Chief John Butler is pleased to announce the official launch of the PulsePoint mobile app in Fairfax County. PulsePoint is a 9-1-1 connected mobile app that alerts CPR-trained residents to someone in a nearby, public location experiencing Sudden Cardiac Arrest (SCA).

SCA is a leading cause of preventable death. For every minute that passes before help arrives, SCA survival decreases by 7%-10%. The PulsePoint app alerts resident bystanders nearby, trained in cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR), who can help victims before Fairfax County Fire and Rescue Department firefighters and paramedics arrive. It also directs these potential resident rescuers to the exact location of the closest Automated External Defibrillator (AED).

The PulsePoint mobile app can be found in the Apple App Store and on Google Play.

Command Officer’s Complete Professional Development Training

By: Captain Marc Davidson
FCFRD Training Division – Professional Development Section

This week, the staff of the Professional Development Section of the Training Division completed the Command Officer In-Service Training for 2020. The training involved tactical simulations in which our Deputy and Battalion Chiefs (field and staff) took command of a structure fire.

In order to enhance the simulation, they “responded” to the event after being dispatched. This involved driving a Battalion or Deputy Chief command vehicle to the building “front” to position and establish their command post. Once the Deputy Chiefs from Operations and the various Divisions completed the simulation, they participated in evaluating the respective Battalion Chiefs under their command.

Professional Development Section Battalion Chief Rocco Alvaro, Battalion Chief Ramiro Galvez and Incident Simulation Coordinator Lieutenant Mark Killion developed and coordinated the training. Captain Kelly Johnston facilitated the role players who created as real as possible an event for the command officer scenarios.

Fire Chief John Butler Selected as a Recipient of the 2020 International Association of Fire Chiefs President’s Awards of Recognition

Fairfax County Fire and Rescue Department (FCFRD) Fire Chief John Butler has been selected as a recipient of the 2020 International Association of Fire Chiefs(IAFC) President’s Awards of Recognition.

This award is presented by the IAFC president to honor individuals from the fire service who have contributed in a significant way during the president’s term. Chief Butler is being recognized for his commitment to the IAFC, especially focusing on his role as a leader in the fire service promoting diversity and inclusion. Chief Butler is a founding member of the IAFC Diversity Executive Leadership Program (iDELP), which supports individuals from under-represented identity groups and those interested in creating a diverse workforce to advance into the ranks of leadership in the IAFC and fire and emergency service leadership at a national level.  More recently, Chief Butler has assisted past IAFC President Gary Ludwig develop the IAFC Fire Chief’s Equity and Inclusion Council, similar to a program Chief Butler started in the FCFRD. Additionally, Chief Butler was instrumental in serving as an IAFC representative to have open discussions at the national level on race relations.

Chief Ludwig stated “Chief Butler is always gracious to help out, no matter what the topic.  He is a leader in the fire service and has helped navigate the open dialogue we have had at the IAFC regarding race relations and our efforts to continually move the fire service forward.”

###