Spring Fire celebrates several hard-earned international and state professional designations

THE WOODLANDS, TX -- Spring Fire Chief Scott Seifert is proud to announce several department officers have recently earned prestigious international and state professional designations from the Commission on Professional Credentialing® (CPC®) and the Texas Fire Chiefs Association (TFCA).

“Spring Fire now has more CPC® Chief Fire Officers (CFO) than any Greater Houston area fire department,” said Seifert in celebrating Spring Fire Deputy Chiefs Jeffery L. King and Landon A. Churchill joining Assistant Chief Robert Logan in achieving CFO designations. There are currently 15 CPC® CFOs in Harris County.

King, who previously earned the CPC® Chief Training Officer (CTO) designation, is one of 15 CPC® CTOs in the state of Texas. Spring Fire Public Information Officer (PIO) Tracee Evans is the only CPC® PIO designee in the Greater Houston area, one of three in Texas and 50 in the world. CPC® awards these voluntary designations only after an individual successfully meets all the organization’s stringent criteria.

TFCA conferred their Certified Fire Executive (CFE) designation on Churchill and Captain David Paige upon their completion of the Texas Fire Chiefs Academy. Churchill and Paige join Seifert, Logan, Deputy Chief Scott Schoonover, District Chief Jimmy Stewart and Captain Larry Wilkinson in a prestigious group of Spring Fire officers to finish this comprehensive two-year chief fire officer training program. Wilkinson also completed the rigorous TFCA Battalion Chief Academy this year.

“It’s incredible to be surrounded by so much passion for public service,” said Spring Fire Chief Scott Seifert. “These designations signify the value we all place on serving Spring to the best of our abilities. We come to work every day with ‘the desire to service, the courage to act, and the ability to perform’ just as it says in our lobby.”

“Every day our Spring Fire Department raises an already high bar for emergency response, communications and risk reduction,” said Harris County Emergency Services District No. 7 Board President Melanie Gander. “Their commitment and skills make our community safer and the board of commissioners proud.”

The CPC® designation programs use a comprehensive peer review model to evaluate candidates in order to recognize individuals who demonstrate excellence in seven measured components including experience, education, professional development, professional contributions, association membership, community involvement and technical competence.

“Our team’s commitment to the highest professional standards has no end,” said King, who leads the Health, Safety and Professional Development division. “Our department’s collaborative strategic plan shows how Spring Fire will keep improving to perform at the fire service’s highest level,” added Churchill, who leads the Strategic Services division. “It is an exciting time to be pursuing national recognition from the Commission on Fire Accreditation (CFAI), TFCA Best Practices recognition and ISO Class 1, the highest Public Protection Classification (PPC) level an exemplary fire suppression program can achieve. Spring Fire earned ISO Class 2 in 2020.

CPC® professional designations are valid for three years. Maintaining these designations requires recipients show continued growth in the areas of professional development, professional contributions, active association membership and community involvement as well as adhere to a strict code of professional conduct.

“Providing the best service to our community is our mission and I’m so blessed to lead nearly 200 talented public servants who share a bold commitment to continuous improvement,” said Seifert. “After starting as a volunteer firefighter in 1990, it is an incredible honor for me to be surrounded by so many amazing leaders. These are the right leaders for these extraordinary times.”

“President George H.W. Bush once said, ‘Public service is a noble calling, and we need men and women of character to believe in their communities,’” added Logan. “As many of us raise our families here in Spring, prioritizing professional development and continuous improvement keeps promises made to ourselves, our families and this community we call home.”

To pay it forward for the fire service: Churchill serves as Peer Reviewer for CPC® CFO and FO designation candidates and as a Peer Assessor for agencies seeking accreditation, King serves as a Peer Reviewer for CPC® CFO and CTO candidates. Evans recently trained as a CPC® PIO Peer Reviewer.

The Commission on Professional Credentialing, an entity of the Center for Public Safety Excellence®, Inc., (CPSE®) administers the Designation Program. The CPC consists of individuals from academia, federal and local government, and the fire and emergency medical services profession. To learn more about CPC, visit www.cpse.org/credentialing.

The Texas Fire Chiefs Association administers the Texas Fire Chiefs Academy to provide a “comprehensive training opportunity for current fire chiefs and those who aspire to be fire chiefs. The two-year program includes extensive training and educational assignments. To Learn more about the academy, visit https://www.txfirechiefs.org/texas-fire-chiefs-academy.

Created by voters in 1997 as the successor to Rural Fire Prevention District No. 1, Harris County Emergency Services District No. 7 is the direct service provider of fire suppression, rescue, fire/injury prevention and basic life support emergency medical services to 176,000 residents across 62 square miles of northern Harris County.