Sean DeCrane, battalion chief and director of training for the Cleveland (Ohio) Department of Public Safety's Division of Fire, has been named the recipient of the 2013 Excellence in Fire & Life Safety Award.
The award, sponsored by the International Code Council (ICC) and the Fire & Life Safety Section (FLSS) of the International Association of Fire Chiefs (IAFC), honors those who have dedicated themselves to saving lives and property through the development of codes, fire-prevention practices and leadership techniques. The award will be presented at a ceremony held on August 15 during Fire-Rescue International in Chicago.
Among Chief DeCrane's accomplishments are his long-term dedication to working collaboratively with the public-safety community, local officials and industry to develop code that represents safety to both responders and the communities they protect. For seven years, he has dedicated his time and energy to represent both the Cleveland Division of Fire and the International Association of Fire Fighters (IAFF) in the ICC's code-development process.
Additionally, he participates in the Building Officials and Fire Service Membership Councils and is serving as the chair of the ICC's International Fire Code Committee, which is developing the 2015 edition of the International Fire Code.
Chief DeCrane is an active and passionate champion for code education within the fire and emergency service. He has significantly contributed to the creation of educational modules and tools to educate firefighters on how the code impacts firefighter safety, the important role firefighters play in the code adoption process and how to effectively engage in the process.
As an extension of this work, he established the Protecting Our Work Environment blog, which publishes updates based on the ICC and National Fire Protection Association (NFPA) code processes. Chief DeCrane is a frequent presenter at leading fire service educational conferences and co-presents a seven-hour workshop, Firefighter Safety and the Building Codes: A Necessary Partnership, in local forums.
DeCrane is a member of the NFPA 1 Technical Committee, the Steering Committee for Vision 20/20, a national effort comprised of major fire and safety organizations that help define and implement strategies for fire safety practices, and is a frequent contributor to EPARADE. He was the 2010 recipient of the Code Council’s Fire Service Award.
Photo, from left: Chief Sean Decrane City of Cleveland, Dept. of Public Safety and ICC President Ronald E. Piester