The National Volunteer Fire Council is pleased to announce the hiring of Shawn P. Stokes as the director of the new Fire Corps program. Shawn will lead the partnership between the National Volunteer Fire Council, the International Association of Fire Chiefs’ Volunteer Combination Officers Section, the International Association of Fire Fighters, and the White House’s USA Freedom Corps Office.

The program’s ultimate goal is to support and supplement volunteer, combination and career fire departments through the use of citizen advocates for non-operational related activities. The program will educate fire departments on how to implement a program which utilizes citizens to assist departments in administrative functions, public education and variety of other activities which will relieve the burden of the front-line responders.

“We are excited to be kicking off Fire Corps with a meeting of the Fire Corps National Advisory Committee on December 9th along with the imminent launch of our Web site,” said Stokes. The Web site (www.firecorps.org), a major element of the program where fire departments can register their programs and citizens can find interested fire departments, will be on line by the first of December.

Shawn is a second-generation member of the fire service, holds two degrees in aviation business and operations, and is a medic and the President of the Dunn Loring Volunteer Fire and Rescue Department in Fairfax County, Va. To contact Shawn or to obtain more information on Fire Corps, call 202-887-4809 or e-mail the Fire Corps office at info@firecorps.org.