Class Name: Building Construction: Taking it to the Streets
Description: The signature national Reading the Building program once again is back to the Ancient City Fire Expo for the fourth year, taking the classroom to the streets with insights on building construction for today’s fire service to increase awareness and understandings and promote new skill sets in the fundamentals of building construction, size-up and operational assessment directly impacting firefighting and command operations at structure fires. A discussion of emerging trends in Building Construction Systems, incorporating the Building FACTS model for First-Arriving;
Construction, Tactics and Safety with street insights on Occupancy Risks, Collapse & Compromise Characteristics, Methods & Materials, Design, Fire Dynamics and OPS will be presented in this dynamic street level program. This unique program will consist of a walking tour on select Streets of St. Augustine Reading Buildings and Developing Size-up skills looking at a variety of building types, occupancies, vintage and era of structures, discussing operations, risks and building hazards with curb-side conversations led by Chief Chris Naum (NY) and Capt. Brandon Seymour, St. Augustine (FL) FD. This program always sells out and has become one of the most talked about and favorite offering at the Ancient City Fire Expo. This program is for all ranks and experience levels.
Cadre: Chief Christopher J. Naum, SFPE
Chief of Training, Command Institute| Center for Fireground Leadership
Technical Consultant, NIOSH Firefighter Fatality Investigation Program
Fireground Command & Operations Consultant
A 48-year fire service veteran and a highly regarded national and international instructor, author, lecturer and fire officer, he is a distinguished authority on building sciences and architectural construction issues affecting the fireground operations, command and tactics and has traveled extensively throughout the United States and internationally delivering training programs on building performance, construction and firefighting, fireground leadership, command management and operational safety. He has been lecturing and instructing throughout the United States and internationally for over thirty-seven years. His previously service included Fire Command, Fire Protection & Safety at a US nuclear power plant, over twenty years in field operations & suppression as a commanding company officer in New York and Training, Fire Academy and College academic curricula administration and management.
He is the Chief of Training for the Command Institute and served as a Vice President with the International Society of Fire Service Instructors and a past member of the Board of Directors, IAFC Safety, Health & Survival Section. He was a 27 year Contributing Editor with Firehouse Magazine and Firehouse.com where he authored the Buildings on Fire column and Buildingsonfire series, he served as an adjunct Instructor with the National Fire Academy and was a National Fallen Firefighter Foundation, Everyone Goes Home Firefighter Safety Advocate. A former architect and fire protection engineer he was the 1987 ISFSI George D. Post National Fire Instructor of the Year and is a Technical Consultant, Advisor and Subject Matter Expert to the NIOSH Firefighter Fatality Investigation and Prevention Program and Firefighter LODD Reports.
A highly regarded national and international instructor, author, lecturer and fire officer, Chief Naum is a distinguished authority on building sciences and architectural construction issues affecting the fireground operations, command and tactics and has traveled extensively throughout the United States and internationally delivering training programs on building performance, construction and firefighting, fireground leadership, command management and operational safety. He has been lecturing and instructing throughout the United States and internationally for over thirty-seven years. He served as an adjunct Instructor with the National Fire Academy, MD, serves on the Faculty of the, IAFC Officer Development Program ODP-Company Officer Leadership Series (COLS), Kean University (NJ) New Jersey Division of Fire Safety Training Programs and Massachusetts Fire Academy’s Dept. of Fire Services Sr. Fire Officer Forum as a frequent visiting lecturer. He has lecturing nationally and internationally at all major national fire service conferences and numerous regional and state and Canadian Providences training programs, the National Fire Academy/USFA, Fire Department Instructor’s Conference-FDIC since 1986 including serving as a General Session Keynote Speaker, Firehouse Expo since 1988 and Firehouse World and IAFC Fire Rescue International. He has lectured in over 42 states and internationally in Canada, Europe, Asia and the Middle East.
He is a well-respected Fire Protection, Management and Operations Consultant, researching and developing emerging and cutting edge strategic and tactical operational methodologies, concepts and practices based on fire research to improved fireground operations and firefighter safety and is active in numerous national & international fire service agenda programs, committees and initiatives that is helping to define the fire and emergency services in training and operations in the years ahead. Naum is Executive Producer of the Buildingsonfire Series and Productions that include the highly acclaimed website, Buildingsonfire.com dedicated to building construction, command risk management and firefighter safety and is also the executive producer of two highly regarded eMedia web sites include FiregroundLeadership.com and TheFireOfficer.com and manages numerous interactive eMedia programs on Facebook, Twitter and FirefighterNation.com. He hosts the monthly radio program, Buildingsonfire’s Taking it to the Streets and presents an extensive portfolio of on-line webinars, lectures and podcasts annually. He is launching a new online series; The Anatomy of Building Construction, The Fireground Architect and theNightTour in mid-2023.
He has developed, authored and is publishing a groundbreaking fireground management model-Adaptive Fireground Management (AFM) and an integrated training curricula model–Five Star Command integrating building construction, risk management and firefighter safety with the latest insights on fire behavior, fire dynamics and tactical modeling and has published new insights on a Tactical Risk Management Model for firefighting operations and is launching a new methodology on Reading the Building Profiling called the Buildings on Fire FACTS process series.
Chief Naum is well-known across the North American fire service as a leading authority on building construction and evolving risks as well as strategies and tactics in the built environment and today’s demanding fireground. He has been a contributing author, presenter, and podcast host on numerous fire service websites, publications, and conferences in the United States and Internationally. He is highly recognized for his innovative training lecture series, integrating Building Construction Sciences and Fireground Operations taking the classroom onto urban city streets to fully examine and study the built environment with Building Reads and their direct relationship in fireground command, risks, tactics and safety. He been a NIOSH Firefighter Fatality Investigation and Prevention Program technical expert contributing in-depth insights on building performance, structural compromise and collapse and operational recommendations to numerous line- of-duty death reports over the last fourteen years. His supporting report graphics and illustrations have added tremendous value to the report findings and recommendations supporting his comprehensive insights and analysis.
He is a Board member of the National Fire Academy Alumni Association-NFAAA and has been a contributing author, presenter, and podcast host on numerous fire service websites, publications, and conferences in the United States and Internationally.
Class Length: 8 hours
Student Needs: Comfortable closed toed shoes, Sun hat
Location: St. Augustine Fire Department Main Station
101 Malaga Street
St. Augustine, FL 32084
ancientcityfireexpo.com 