Deputy U.S. Fire Administrator Charlie Dickinson has been named FIRE CHIEF magazine's 2007 Legacies award recipient. This is the first award since 2000 when the Legacies series honored 20 leaders who shaped the fire service in the previous century.

Dickinson began his 44-year fire service career as a firefighter in 1962 with the Hayward (Calif.) Fire Department. He eventually served as the city's emergency services coordinator. He later moved across the country to serve as fire chief of the Pittsburgh Bureau of Fire.

Dickinson was appointed to his current position in April 2002. He manages all day-to-day operations of the National Emergency Training Center, oversees the retooling and national roll out of EENET into PREPnet, maintains oversight of the USFA Action Plan implementation, leads the National Federal Fire Working Group, and represents the USFA on the Wildland Fire Leadership Council.

Following Hurricane Katrina, the New Orleans Fire Department requested USFA assistance in planning recovery and reconstitution. Dickinson directed this effort, which resulted in a cooperative agreement with the International Association of Fire Chiefs to provide a small group of nationally recognized experts who offered technical recommendations and planning assistance.

Dickinson has been a frequent instructor of the command and control curriculum at the National Fire Academy and he coordinates all NFA training development.

Dickinson has served on numerous committees and projects for the IAFC and the National Fire Protection Association. He also co-hosts the National Fallen Firefighters Foundation's annual golf tournament.