This Q&A is part of a series highlighting RAN fire protection professionals who bring fire service experience into their work.

Mike Klemenz, PE, FSFPE, is a Principal and Senior Fire Protection Engineer at RAN. During his time in active service, he served at every rank from firefighter to Deputy Chief and was a member of multiple fire departments across Oswego, Onondaga, and Erie Counties in New York, as well as Prince George’s County, Maryland.

Mike during his fire service career, experience that continues to shape his approach to fire protection engineering.

Mike’s fire service experience spanned more than 30 years:

I rode firetrucks from the mid 1980’s until I retired from active service in 2016. In that time, I went from a fledgling rookie, up through the ranks to deputy chief and back down again. I was quite active in all aspects of firefighting, EMS and hazardous materials operations. Fire departments included Oswego and Onondaga Counties in NY, Prince George’s County, MD, and a brief run in Erie County, NY. After retiring, I moved on to an adjunct professor position at Onondaga Community College where I taught the Fire Dynamics and Chemistry of Hazardous Materials courses for the Fire Protection Technology program. While not currently active in the fire service, I can still be observed chasing fire trucks or distant smoke plumes.

We asked Mike to reflect on his fire service experience and how it continues to inform his work today:

What originally drew you to the fire service?

On a warm summer morning in 1984, the local fire department was hosing down the parking lot next to our house after the annual church carnival. I was fascinated with the fire engine, a 1961 FDNY prototype American LaFrance on a Ford chassis. I approached the pump operator and started asking a million questions. He suggested if I wanted to know all the answers, I should join the Fire Department. The very next day, that is precisely what I did! It was a chance encounter that literally changed the course of my life.

What do you find most rewarding about bringing your fire service experience into engineering?

When designing building fire safety systems, I design them from an emergency responder point of view. The design approach should be ”Fisher-Price not NASA.” We want these fire safety systems to be intuitive and not require too much thinking on the part of the fire service. When we design buildings, we not only create an environment for building users, but a workplace for emergency responders, too.

What’s a valuable lesson you’ve learned from the fire service that you apply in your engineering work?

Despite society’s so-called “advanced technology” building fires are ultimately extinguished by human beings carrying lots of heavy gear and equipment great distances under poor visibility and hazardous conditions.  It is a physically demanding and dirty job.  As a fire protection engineer, I want the building fire safety systems to do the hard work and not the fire service.

How do you use your knowledge of how fires behave to design more effective and safer systems?

It has been said that ‘fires do not read building codes.’  There are still plenty of examples of code-compliant buildings burning down to the mineral rights despite the presence of fire safety systems.  A knowledge of fire behavior can identify opportunities to enhance safety system design beyond mere code compliance improving the odds of a more successful outcome.

Have you ever identified gaps between design intent and real use?

Have you ever identified gaps between design intent and real use? Yes, unfortunately. One common example is the inappropriate location of the fire department connection (FDC).  The system designer must know that the FDC must be accessible to large, heavy and expensive fire department vehicles.  No fire chief is going to bury his fire engine frame-deep in snow or mud because the FDC was installed on the side of the building facing a pasture.

How has your fire service experience helped you connect code requirements to real fire department operations?

Fire codes and standards to not contain any fire department operational instructions to guide the system designer.  My intimate familiarity with fire service operations leads to fire safety system designs that are more intuitive and simpler for the fire service to utilize. In most cases, the building owner benefits from more effective systems that are easier to install and less expensive to inspect, test and maintain over the life of the building.