- Deputy Chief NEIL T. LIPSKI retired from the Milwaukee (WI) Fire Department after 26 years of service. Appointed in 1977, he served as firefighter, motor pump operator, lieutenant, captain, and battalion chief before he was assigned as deputy chief of the bureau of construction and maintenance.
- Arlington County (VA) Assistant Chief JAMES SCHWARTZ has been named chief. Schwartz will succeed Edward P. Plaugher, who retired after a 38-year fire service career. Schwartz joined the Arlington Fire Department in 1984 as a firefighter and was the first nonofficer firefighter to serve as an instructor at the Arlington Fire Academy, a post he held for two years. He rose through the ranks to lieutenant, captain, battalion chief, and assistant chief. The Arlington Fire Department was the lead agency for the response to the September 11 attack at the Pentagon, where Schwartz served as incident commander.
- Chief REBECCA DENLINGER of Cobb County (GA) Fire and Emergency Services was elected the 2004 chair of the Metropolitan Fire Chiefs Section. The Metropolitan Fire Chiefs Section is a section of the International Association of Fire Chiefs (IAFC) and the National Fire Protection Association (NFPA).
After serving nearly 20 years with the department, Denlinger was appointed chief of Cobb County Fire and Emergency Services in 1997. She had advanced through the ranks of Cobb County Fire and Emergency Services, holding the positions of firefighter, sergeant (now fire engineer), lieutenant, captain, battalion chief, and colonel. Denlinger’s election marks the first time a woman has been selected chair of the Metropolitan Fire Chiefs Section.
- Fire Department of New York Captain BRIAN HICKEY of Rescue 4, who perished in the line of duty on 9-11 at the World Trade Center, was honored by the U.S. Postal Service, which dedicated the Bethpage Post Office in his memory. Hickey was posthumously promoted to battalion chief, FDNY. He was an active member of the Bethpage (NY) Volunteer Fire Department and served a five-year term as a fire commissioner with the Bethpage Fire District.
- Contra Costa County Firefighters President LOU PAULSON was elected president of the 30,000-member California Professional Firefighters (CPF). Paulson was unanimously elected as CPF president, replacing Dan Terry, who retired after 31 years leading the CPF. Former OES Director Dallas Jones was elected the CPF’s new secretary-treasurer.
