Brannigan recipient of IAFC President`s Award
Francis (Frank) L. Brannigan, SFPE, Fire Engineering columnist and editorial advisory board member, was presented with the International Association of Fire Chiefs (IAFC) President`s Award at the IAFC`s Fire-Rescue International in Louisville, Kentucky, in September. The award, presented by IAFC President Richard Marinucci, was given in recognition of “the many firefighters` lives saved” as a result of Brannigan`s decades of teaching about the hazards burning buildings pose for firefighters.
Brannigan manifested an interest in fire protection early in life. He was an active New York City buff in his youth. He commanded a Navy firefighting operation in World War II and enjoyed a successful career in U.S. Government fire protection. In 1966, he turned his attention to teaching the hazards of buildings and developed his “mantra”: Know your buildings–the building is the firefighter`s enemy. His text Building Construction for the Fire Service, published by the National Fire Protection Association in 1972, is now in its third edition. His first article, on prefire planning, was published in Fire Engineering in 1948. He continues to instruct firefighters in the “death traps” inherent in building construction in The Ol` Professor and Preplanning Building Hazards columns published in Fire Engineering on an alternating monthly basis and through extensive lecturing. Branningan was awarded the first Fire Engineering Lifetime Achievement Award at the 1997 FDIC (Fire Department Instructors Conference) in Indianapolis and the ISFSI (International Society of Fire Service Instructors) Board of Directors award in 1986.
