For the first time since it was founded 86 years ago, the U.K.-based Institution of Fire Engineers has an American at the helm. Chief Bill Peterson of the Plano (Texas) Fire Department was sworn in as president in July at the IFE's annual general meeting in Dublin, Ireland.

IFE was established in 1918 by eight British fire chief officers “to promote, encourage, and improve the science and practice of Fire Engineering, Fire Prevention and Fire Extinction.” Today, IFE has 43 branches, networking 11,000 fire service leaders in 24 countries. Each branch supports continuous professional development through seminars, conferences, academic standards and newsletters.

Peterson, Plano's fire chief since 1982, was president of the U.S. Branch of the IFE from 1998 to 2001 and was cofounder of the annual U.K./U.S. Fire Service Symposium established in 1994. He was Fire Chief's 2000 Career Chief of the Year and holds a master's degree in public administration.

Tell us about the U.S. Branch of the IFE. How did it get started and how would you describe its membership today?

In the '90s, Ron Coleman (then California state fire marshal) brought together about 20 of us in the American fire service and encouraged us to get our applications in. We were established as a branch at the International Association of Fire Chiefs conference in Nashville in 1996.

Today, membership in the U.S. branch is 150 and climbing. It includes the broad variety of people who work in fire protection. About half are in the fire service, but we also have academia, private fire protection, private fire organizations and fire protection engineers. That broad-based membership is becoming more typical of IFE membership around the world.

What about the IFE's other international branches?

The international membership within the IFE is growing considerably. … The growth of the Internet has been a significant factor because it enables all of us to instantly communicate with each other regardless of geographical location. I've sat here in my office just in the last month and exchanged e-mails with fire officials in Malaysia, New Zealand and Australia on a real-time basis.

Can you give some examples of the benefits of that networking?

Terrorism is the most prominent example. We're all struggling with how to prepare for terrorism, and many of us have no experience in our individual countries. But the IFE has members in Northern Ireland and contacts in Israel. What they've learned over the years can be transferred to those of us who don't have any first-hand experience but still need to be prepared for terrorism when it happens.

What are your goals for the IFE during your tenure as president?

My first goal is to update its strategic plan. We've just come out of reorganization, and we now have a smaller board of directors. Having achieved the goals we set over the last three to five years, it's time to rewrite that strategic plan on both a short-term and a long-term basis for ongoing guidance of the institution.

Second, I would like to enhance the institution's financial integrity. … We're looking at developing a marketing plan, not only at the international level — for the board of directors — but a plan that we could basically hand off to each of the individual branches around the world to help them increase their branch's financial resources and stability.

My third major goal is to grow international membership, particularly in non-English — speaking countries. Where English is not the primary language, we can identify at least a core of folks who do speak English and can derive benefits from joining the IFE network. A good example of that is in Poland, which joined the European Union just at the end of April or May. The Polish fire service, which is nationalized, is looking for ways to mainstream not only into the EU but also into the international fire service community. So they've really welcomed the work we've done with them in the last few months to come into the IFE.

What is required for membership?

A full membership in the IFE requires at minimum a four-year undergraduate degree in a fire engineering discipline. That may be public administration, law, chemistry — any of a wide variety of different disciplines that play a role in fire protection. We encourage membership at the student level, which can be anyone working toward an undergraduate or a graduate degree in a fire science program. But virtually anyone is qualified for membership at the associate level, even if they don't have a formal education. I would encourage anyone with an interest in fire protection to apply. Learn more about us and download the application at www.ife-usa.org.