Longtime executive director of the International Association of Fire Chiefs, Garry Briese, announced his resignation Oct. 29 at the IAFC’s Strategic Planning and Leadership Forum in McLean, Va. Briese, who has been executive director of the association since 1985, told the more than 200 IAFC leaders attending the meeting that he will be taking a position in the private sector in February 2007.

Briese will be relocating to Colorado. “I want to be able to continue with my career and also be able to have the family closeness that I have seen too many others postpone until they have neither the time nor the ability to enjoy,” said Briese. “There is never a good time to resign from a position that you love, but I believe that the IAFC has never been in better shape with our staff, our programs, our finances, our members, our board of directors and our elected leadership.”

Regarding Briese’s decision, IAFC President Jim Harmes said, “The appreciation I have for what he has done not only for the IAFC, but the entire fire service as a whole over the past 22 years, is beyond words. The board has discussed the adoption of a CEO transition plan that includes a national search for a new executive director, which will begin in near future.”