These awards are presented to local Indianapolis-area personnel who have, over an extended period of time, demonstrated outstanding service to the Fire Department Instructors Conference. This year’s recipients are Patrick Harper and James Adams.
Patrick Harper is a 12-year veteran of the fire service who joined the Indianapolis (IN) Fire Department in 2003 after having previously served on both volunteer and career departments. He serves as the planning section chief for the Fire Department Instructors Conference (FDIC) and is the planning team manager for Indiana Task Force 1, one of the 28 DHS/FEMA Urban Search and Rescue Teams.
For the past several years, the FDIC Hands-on Training has been managed using a NIMS-compliant incident management structure. Harper has served as planning manager, fulfilling all appropriate duties. His efforts have been essential to the seamless delivery of state-of-the-art training techniques to literally thousands of FDIC attendees.
James Adams began his fire service career in 197l. He is a division chief in the Avon (IN) Fire Department and chief of training and investigations. He retired from Plainfield, IN, where he served as a captain in the Fire Training and Investigation Division; he also was the emergency management director for Hendricks County, IN. He is a graduate of the National Fire Academy and the FBI National Academy Crime Scene/Evidence and Diagramming programs and has numerous NFPA and other fire certifications.
For the past several years, Adams has been the local leader for the Fire Investigation HOT evolution. On his own time and often using his own equipment, he spent more than 100 hours each year securing and preparing the sites for the class. Without his support and dedication, the class would never have been as detailed or as realistic as it was.
Award Presentation: Indianapolis Fire Department Recognition Banquet, January 22, 2010, Indiana Roof Ballroom
