B. J. Thompson Named Head of Fire Academy

B. J. Thompson Named Head of Fire Academy

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B. J. Thompson, city manager of Santa Ana, Calif., who has a long fire service experience, is the new superintendent of the National Fire Academy.

Thompson’s appointment was announced Nov. 9 by Administrator Gordon E. Vickery of the United States Fire Administration.

The NFA superintendent, who is 49 years old, was chief of the Santa Ana Fire Department when city officials persuaded him to become city manager last February. As chief since August 1976, Thompson headed a 260-member fire department that served a population of 200,000. As city manager, he supervised 1600 employees and administered a $75 million budget.

Has education experience

A registered fire protection engineer, Thompson has a master’s degree from California State University and a doctor of philosophy degree from Union Graduate School. He was at one time an assistant professor at California State, where he developed the upper division curriculum for a bachelor’s degree in fire protection administration. Earlier, he was a fire service coordinator at Rio Hondo Community College in Whittier, Calif., and a consultant to the Strategic Air Command on fire science program development.

In announcing the appointment, Vickery referred to Thompson’s credentials as “impressive” and declared, “Thompson is an excellent choice. We conducted a national recruiting campaign which resulted in obtaining over 75 applications. While a number of applicants had good qualifications, Thompson was outstanding.”

‘Highly regarded’

Commenting that Thompson “is highly regarded on the West Coast,” Vickery said that the new NFA superintendent “has a desire to direct fire chiefs in programs and I believe we are fortunate to have obtained a man of his caliber.”

Thompson began his fire service career as a hoseman in the Redondo Beach, Calif., Fire Department. He later became a fire fighter in Santa Fe Springs and advanced through the ranks to become chief of that department. As chief of Santa Fe Springs, he served as area chief for six cities with 35 fire companies and six paramedic units.

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