Battalion Chief John Tippett Joins the Fireman's Fund Heritage
Advisory Committee
 Battalion Chief John Tippett of Mount Airy, Maryland, has joined the Fireman's Fund Heritage Advisory Committee, where he will serve as an advisor to the company on our programs to support firefighters. He is one of two firefighters recommended for appointment to the committee by the International Association of Fire Chiefs (IAFC). The other IAFC representative is Fire Chief Larry Few of the Fulton County, Georgia Fire Department, who will be profiled in another issue of our Fire Service newsletter.
With the addition of Chief Tippett and Chief Few, the Fireman's Fund Heritage Advisory Committee will have nine members, all of whom are highly experienced and respected fire service professionals from across the nation.
"I am delighted to be part of the advisory committee," says Chief Tippett. "The Fireman's Fund Heritage program is making a difference in the fire service — with more than $17 million being awarded to 900+ fire departments since 2004."
Chief Tippett is a 32-year veteran Fire Service member with the Montgomery County Fire and Rescue Service, Maryland (Washington, DC Metro Area.) He has also been supporting the IAFC as a project manager for the past five years, as part of a cooperative job-sharing agreement between his Service and the IAFC.
One of Chief Tippett's most interesting projects with the IAFC involved a three-year program to help improve fire safety on Native American tribal lands.
"Fire is the leading cause of accidental death on tribal lands," says Chief Tippett. "Fire-related deaths on Native American lands are unfortunately three times the rate of regular fire-related deaths in the country."
"We worked with the tribal fire department chiefs to promote fire safety, recruit and train tribal firefighters, improve cooperativeness among all the tribal fire chiefs, and develop a national fire reporting system specifically for tribal lands," says Chief Tippett. "It was a very rewarding project to work on."
Chief Tippett currently works on the National Fire Fighter Near-Miss Reporting System, which improves firefighter safety by recording incidents of "near-misses" where firefighters have avoided a serious accident on the job. The "near miss" data is shared nationally with firefighters so that they can use it to improve firefighter safety processes and procedures. Fireman's Fund provided $644,000 in matching funds to launch this program in 2005.
A Level II Fire Service Instructor, Chief Tippett assisted in developing the Montgomery County Officer Candidate School and Command Development Center. He also served for seven years as one of the department's deputy safety officers. He was recognized by the International Society of Fire Service Instructors as Instructor of the Year in 2006.
Chief Tippett has an Associate's Degree in Fire Science from Montgomery College and is currently working on a Bachelor's Degree in Fire Services Management from University College at the University of Maryland. He has lectured and written on a wide variety of topics, ranging from fire service tactics, fire prevention on Native American lands and firefighter safety initiatives.
In his off-hours, Chief Tippett enjoys pursuing his interest in the American Civil War and occasionally attends Civil War battle re-enactments and makes visits to Civil War battlefields. He has five children — four sons and a daughter. The oldest son is serving in Iraq with the U.S. Army; two other sons are trying to break into acting in New York. Chief Tippett's youngest son is a Business Major at Salisbury University, and his daughter will graduate from Penn State this spring with a bachelor's degree in elementary education.
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