Staff

Michael Joanis, PE is the Chief Operating Officer at the NFSA. He obtained his Bachelor of Science degree in Fire Protection Engineering from the University of Maryland, College Park. He has been a registered professional engineer in several states since 1996. He is a member of the NFPA and the Society of Fire Protection Engineers. He is currently a member of six NFPA technical committees including Sprinkler System Discharge Criteria and Fire Pumps. Michael is a licensed sprinkler contractor and serves as the NFSA staff liaison for the Contractors Council and Membership Committee.

Vickie Pritchett became involved in the fire service in 1997. Vickie served on the Board of Directors for the Pleasant View Volunteer Fire Department from 1998-2013, and was awarded lifetime membership into PVVFD in December of 2013. Vickie served as the Community Development Liaison for the Town of Pleasant View and Executive Director of the Joint Economic & Community Development Board of Cheatham County at the time she began her service to the local volunteer fire department. During this time she was instrumental in bringing fire service officials, builders and developers, and elected officials together. This coordination resulted in a zero square foot fire sprinkler ordinance for the town in 2001, and county-wide in 2006. Vickie’s dedication to the improvement of quality of life, passion for the community, and her ability to bring people together makes her the “spark plug” and advocate of fire sprinkler requirements at the local, state, and federal level. She has presented across the state of Tennessee and the nation. She has worked in Washington D.C. to promote fire protection issues and to highlight the differences that can be made by fire sprinklers and the legislation that requires them. Vickie is a graduate of Middle Tennessee State University and received her MBA from Vanderbilt’s Owen School of Management. She is a VCOS Symposium committee member, Board Member of the Home Fire Sprinkler Coalition, Board member of the IAFC Fire & Life Safety Section, Board Member of Common Voices, and is a member of both NFPA and ICC. Vickie currently serves as Vice President of Advocacy & Outreach of the National Fire Sprinkler Association.

Jeffrey M. Hugo, CBO, is the Vice President of Codes, Standards, Public Fire Protection, Learning and Development for the National Fire Sprinkler Association (NFSA). His departments represent the mission of the NFSA, “To protect lives and property from fire through the wide-spread acceptance of the fire sprinkler concept” with the development and update of model codes, installation and maintenance standards, training, and education. Jeff has been with the NFSA since 2005 and serves on several NFPA (National Fire Protection Association) technical and ICC (International Code Council) committees. Jeff contributes to research, informal interpretations of codes, exam development, training, and regularly contributes building code related articles to publications such as NFSM (National Fire Sprinkler Magazine), Fire Protection Contractor and other industry newsletters. Jeff resides in Michigan; he is a Michigan registered Building Official, Building Inspector, and Plan Reviewer since 1995.

Dennis Wood started his fire service career in 1990 as a volunteer in his home town of Laurel, Maryland. Shortly after graduating with his bachelor’s degree in emergency health services, he was offered a position in Career Recruit School 27 for the Prince George’s County Fire/EMS Department in 1995. He supervised the Special Hazards division of Fire Prevention and Investigation who was responsible to respond to and investigate every residential fire sprinkler activation that occurred in the County. After completing his master’s degree in emergency health service administration in 2008, he served in several challenging roles, including Emergency Medical Services, Capital Improvements (Construction, Budgeting and Planning), and Human Resources (Hiring and Promotions). His position upon retiring in 2018 was serving as the Deputy Chief of the Emergency Services Command. This role served nearly 2,000 career employees and volunteer responders that addressed their community’s needs on just short of 150,000 incidents a year. Starting at the National Fire Sprinkler Association shortly (two days) after retiring from the PGFD, he brings his experiences and education to serve the fire sprinkler industry in the interest of his fire service family. Any fire that is controlled quickly, prior to fire service arrival, is safer for occupants and responders, both acutely and chronically. He is passionate about trying to bring order, process, and consistency to the challenges before him. He has used clinical quality assurance and process improvement models and techniques such as Six Sigma throughout his career to better understand and control performance and execution. Dennis currently serves as the Director of Operations for the National Fire Sprinkler Association from Headquarters in Linthicum Heights, MD.

Roland is a NICET Level III Fire Protection Engineering Technician. He serves on numerous technical committees for both NFPA (including NFPA 13 Correlating and Installation Criteria, NFPA 13R/13D Residential Committee, NFPA 24 Private fire service mains and NFPA 22, Water tanks for fire protection) and AWWA Committees and is the former chair of the AWWA Fire Protection Committee. Roland has been involved in the layout and installation of thousands of fire sprinkler systems ranging from single-family homes to large commercial projects and is experienced in the varied steps needed to successfully bring a fire sprinkler system from the design phase to completion.

Jeanna M. Garrido serves as the Manager of Government Relations for the National Fire Sprinkler Association (NFSA). Her prior leadership roles include the Executive Director of the Harry S. Truman Little White House, Senior Director of Membership and Philanthropy of the University of Florida Alumni Association and Florida Keys Director to United States Congressman Carlos Gimenez. Jeanna graduated from the University of Florida and her experience includes various capacities as a political consultant for non-profit organizations and state-level government. She worked as the recruiter of the College of the Florida Keys as it advanced to a four-year, state accredited college and assisted with the development of the new Basilica High School of Saint Mary’s Star of the Sea. Jeanna played a key role in the fire sprinkler retrofit of Florida’s only presidential museum. She was recognized by the National Fallen Firefighters Foundation for her work in developing the 17th Annual Truman Legacy Symposium. This educational conference was added to Congressional Record for its progress in continuing the 1947 President’s Conference on Fire Prevention. She currently serves as the treasurer of the Key West Harry S. Truman Foundation, is a Rotarian and member of the Navy League of Key West. Jeanna is passionate in sharing the mission of NFSA to protect lives and property through the widespread acceptance of the fire sprinkler concept and aims to inspire key constituents to make our world safer.

Terin Hopkins Terin is currently the Public Fire Protection Specialist in Codes, Standards, Public Fire Protection and Training Department, for the National Fire Sprinkler Association (NFSA), headquartered in Baltimore, Maryland. Terin has 34 years in public safety, beginning his public safety career in 1981 as a Volunteer Firefighter/EMT and then serving 25 years with the Prince George’s County Maryland Fire/EMS Department, retiring in 2009. He then went to work for the Howard County Department of Fire Rescue Service, Office of the Fire Marshal. In 2018 he was hired as the Mid-Atlantic Field Service Coordinator with NFSA. Terin is currently the Public Fire Protection Specialist at NFSA and represents NFSA on several technical committees including, NFPA 1 Fire Code, NFPA 14 Standard for the Installation of Standpipes and Hose Systems, UL 47 Standpipe Equipment Technical Committee and the eight fire service training standards covered by NFPA 13E Recommended Practice for Fire Department Operations in Properties Protected by Sprinkler and Standpipe Systems.

Casey Ruggiero joined NFSA Staff in 2025.

Ron Ritchey began his career with the National Fire Sprinkler Association in 2016 after retiring from the Lafayette Fire Department (Indiana) with 23 years of service, sixteen of those years as Assistant Chief of the Fire Prevention Bureau. He currently provides membership services for five states in the Great Lakes Region and develops and provides NFSA training seminars for code officials, code consultants, building owners, and design professionals throughout the country. Mr. Ritchey holds numerous state and national certifications, and his formal education includes earning an Associate’s Degree in Public Safety and a Bachelor’s Degree in Business Management. Ron currently serves on several technical committees including the International Code Council’s Fire Code Interpretation Committee (ICC-FCIC); the following National Fire Protection Association Committees- NFPA 1 Fire Code-Special Equipment, Processes, and Hazardous Materials (FCC-HAZ); NFPA 101 Life Safety Code, Residential Occupancies (SAF-RES); and NFPA 5000 Building Code, Building Code, Residential (BLD-RES). Ron is a member of the National Fire Protection Association, the International Code Council, numerous Fire Chief and Fire Inspector associations, and is a Certified Fire Protection Specialist (CFPS).

Brandon Vito leads NFSA initiatives in the North Central region, bringing a multifaceted background in government service and corporate industry to his advocacy for fire sprinklers across Iowa, Minnesota, and Wisconsin. A former firefighter and code official, Brandon is a dedicated life-safety champion. Outside of work, he is a musician and outdoor enthusiast who loves boating, ice fishing, and live music. He lives in Minnesota with his family, where he and his wife share a lifelong commitment to the fire safety industry.

Born and raised in Bay City, Michigan, Molly is a recent college graduate of Thomas More College in Merrimack, New Hampshire, with a degree in Liberal Arts with a concentration in Literature and Humane Letters. She grew up attending numerous NFSA events all across the country with her dad, Jeff Hugo. During her time in college, she interned for the NFSA, scanning and organizing archived documents relating to the Fire Protection and Sprinkler Industry. She is looking forward to learning more about the sprinkler industry and its various members through the role as Northeast Regional Coordinator.

Eighteen years in the fire service. Currently a fire officer on a volunteer company. Former US Coast Guard and Federal law enforcement.

Thursday, October 22, 2020 4:15 AM: Paul J. Zbikowski Fire Chief-ret. Cell: 978-424-8793 _____________________________________________ 10/19/2020 Hello Representative Balser! Today I write as a recently retired Fire Chief, Past FCAM President and Legislative Committee Chair, Father, Grandfather and Father and Father-in-law of Firefighters. I have been part of the push for Residential Sprinklers in Massachusetts since 2009. I was the first Coalition Chair, a position I was asked to return to over a year ago. My goal in my 40 year Fire Service Career has been to protect the public, my family and friends. Fire prevention has always been my primary focus as I was one of the first 8 National Pro Board Certified Fire Inspectors in the Commonwealth. The adoption of this Bill will give the communities within our Commonwealth the opportunity to adopt codes and ordinances that will not only protect our citizens but also those who run into burning buildings to save and protect life and property. Our police Officers along with our Firefighters are typically first on scene. They run in without regard for their own lives to save others. New building construction elements and furnishings aid in a much faster fire spread and structural collapse. Residential Sprinklers will not only give the residents more time to evacuate, they will extinguish or keep a fire in check until the fire department arrives. Flashover, backdraft and collapse will be averted and the risk to my family and friends in public safety will be greatly reduced. You have been such a champion for public safety for many years and we in the Fire Service sincerely appreciate all of your efforts. I know Chief Lafond contacted you about reaching out to the Ways and Means committee recently. I was wondering if you received any feedback? Thank you for your time and may you have a safe week. Sincerely, Paul Paul J. Zbikowski Fire Chief-ret. Cell: 978-424-8793 --------------------------------

Steve Howard 3210 Mary Ann Dr. Waukesha WI 53188 howard36howard@icloud.com (262)613-0546

Retired Coast Guard officer and 30+ year veteran of the fire/police/emergency management professions. Served 10 years as the Fire Chief in Saint Paul, MN. Hired by NFSA in 2019 as the Regional Manager for Minnesota, Iowa, and Wisconsin. Married to Sue since 1984. 3 adult children and 3 grandchildren. I love our little log cabin on the Wisconsin shore of Lake Superior, building and sailing boats, outdoor activities and handyman projects. I retrofitted my home with fire sprinklers and encourage others to do the same. I love helping families understand the dangers of fire and how best to protect themselves, their homes, and their businesses from fire.

Retired Fire Chief JP Penet is an Air Force veteran, and 28-year career fire service member, with a decade spent serving as Fire Marshal and private sector experience as Loss Control Consultant. He consistently advocates for community fire safety through public education and the universal installation of fire sprinklers.

Frank Ellis has been with NFSA since 2017. Prior to this, he spent over 11 years serving as a Lieutenant with the Emergency Services Department of Rutgers University. He has been a volunteer firefighter since 1991. The first 27 years was with the Deptford Fire Department, serving as Battalion Chief for seven of those years, and spent 4 years as a volunteer firefighter with the Winslow Township Fire Department. He is an active member of the Society of Fire Protection Engineers (SFPE), serving locally on the Board of Directors of the Delaware Valley-Philadelphia chapter as Fire Service Liaison and nationally as co-chair of the Fire Service Subcommittee.