30 Fires You Must Know

A collection of accounts of 30 historically significant modern fires with lessons learned for the education of currently serving firefighters.

Chief Billy Goldfeder, a firefighter since 1973, is a deputy fire chief of the Loveland-Symmes Fire Department in Ohio. A chief officer since 1982, he has served as a fire chief in Ohio, Virginia, and Florida. Chief Goldfeder also served as a public fire protection engineering representative covering southern New York for ISO as well as a company officer, starting with the Manhasset-Lakeville Fire Department on Long Island, NY. A 1993 graduate of the NFA EFO program, in 2001 Chief Goldfeder was honored with an appointment as honorary battalion chief of FDNY and is a current member of the board of directors of the International Association of Fire Chiefs Safety, Health & Survival section, the National Fallen Firefighters Foundation (NFFF), the Ohio Fire Academy Advisory Board, and is a subject-matter expert for the CDC's NIOSH Fire Fighter Fatality Investigation and Prevention Program. Goldfeder was recognized with the ISFSI Fire Instructor of The Year Award for 2004; the Dana Hannon Fire Service Training Award for 2004; the IAFC Presidential Exemplary Service Award for 2005, 2013, and 2022; the 2007 IFSTA Everett E. Hudiburg Award for Firefighter Training Excellence; the 2007 Nassau County (NY) Frances X. Pendl Fire Service Humanitarian Award; the 2008 Firefighter Cancer Support Network Dallas Jones Memorial Award; and in 2008, the annual Chief Billy Goldfeder Fire Service Organizational Safety Award was created by the IAFC and is cosponsored by VFIS. In 2015, Goldfeder received a lifetime achievement award from Loveland City Council and his department. In 2018, Goldfeder was the recipient of the FDIC International/Fire Engineering Chief Tom Brennan Lifetime Achievement Award; in 2019 he received The Pennington School Alumni Achievement Award; and in 2021 he was the recipient of the Congressional Fire Services Institute (CFSI) Mason Lankford Fire Service Leadership Award.

He has instructed at most North American fire conferences and programs as well as the FDNY Fire Officers Management Institute (FOMI), is an adjunct instructor at the Cincinnati State College Fire Service Program, and has instructed at FDIC for the past 40 years while also serving as a member of the FDIC Advisory Board.

His Fire Engineering Books series includes Pass It On: What We Know . . . What We Want You to Know (2014), a compilation of stories from 100 fire service contributors, Pass It On: The 2nd Alarm (2016), and Pass It On 3: Making Good Progress (2020), again with more than 100 contributors. Royalties from the three books were donated to the Firefighter Cancer Support Network, the Chief Ray Downey Scholarship Fund, and the NFFF.

Chief Goldfeder, along with Gordon Graham, sponsors the website: www.FireFighterCloseCalls.com, a 100% noncommercial site with only one focus: firefighter survival. In 2022, Billy also created www.40plusfire.com, a website focused on educating firefighters and their families about prostate cancer following his own experience with that disease.

He is married to his wife Teri, and while all the above is cool, by far his greatest source of love and pride are his five kids and especially his six grandkids, aka, “The Six Pack.”

Frank Leeb is the managing director of the First Responder Center for Excellence (FRCE). He previously served as a deputy assistant chief in the Fire Department of New York (FDNY), retiring in June 2024 after more than 31 years. During his tenure with the FDNY, he held several senior staff positions, including as the chief of the Fire Academy, chief of training, and chief of safety. Frank has also been an East Farmingdale Fire Department member since 1983 (Long Island, NY). Frank Leeb's career has been defined by his unwavering commitment to fostering growth through training and development, a central tenet of his leadership philosophy. He has lectured nationally and internationally on motivation, preparedness, leadership, strategy, and tactics. He holds a bachelor’s degree in fire service administration from SUNY Empire State and a master’s degree in security studies from the Naval Postgraduate School, Center for Homeland Defense and Security (CHDS). He has served as an advisory panel member for UL Firefighter Safety Research Institute’s (FSRI) “Study of Coordinated Attack in Acquired Structures.” Frank was also the keynote speaker for Firehouse Expo in 2022 and was a presenter at the 2022 and 2023 US Fire Administrator Summit on Fire Prevention and Control. He is also the author of the best-selling book Cornerstones of Leadership: On and Off the Fireground. Frank can be contacted at Firstresponderconsultant@gmail.com