A Little About The AVIATION FIRE JOURNAL Team

William Mulcahey - Editor / Executive Publisher

William Mulcahey is a retired 27-year veteran Fire Captain of the Fire Department City of New York (FDNY).  With over 35 years of combat firefighting and rescue experience as a member of the volunteer, military and municipal  fire / EMS services, he has earned numerous state and national training certifications.  A highly decorated FDNY Fire Officer, he was awarded the Henry D. Brookman Medal and Firefighter Thomas Elsasser Memorial department medals for valor.  Bill is an active member of the FDNY Honor Legion, FDNY Emerald Society, and member of the FDNY Uniformed Fire Officers Association Local 854 IAFF (AFL-CIO). 

Serving Honorably in the U.S. Air Force during the Vietnam war as a Fire Protection Specialist (Crash-Fire-Rescue), he has conducted intensive international research on Aircraft Rescue Fire Fighting techniques, tactics and airport fire safety issues for over 30 years and is also a FAA / AAAE certified ARFF Firefighter. He holds a degrees in Fire Science, and is a Professional Registered Nurse (RN) and a trained Paramedic.

Bill served as a past Vice Chairman of the Aircraft Rescue Fire Fighting Working Group (ARFFWG) and served for many years as the Associate Editor of that organization's membership newsletter.  While a member of the ARFFWG, he was awarded three ARFFWG Journalistic Excellence Awards, a Certificate of Appreciation as International Manager, and also received that organizations highest award, the ARFF Working Group Outstanding Service Award.  The primary catalyst for the founding and establishment of the International Aviation Fire Protection Association (IAFPA), he formerly served as that organizations first founding Association Director

Bill is frequently invited worldwide to consult and evaluate municipal and airport fire services and airport emergency exercises, most recently at Miami International and Nassau International Airports. He has organized and conducted many regional, national and international fire training seminars and conferences.  A prolific published author in many international fire fighting, military and airport journals, he is a much sought after international lecturer and instructor on aircraft and municipal fire fighting and has lectured and instructed in India, Singapore, Iceland, The Peoples Republic of China, Canada, the U.K. and many other U.S. and international venues. He is always available as an
objective evaluator for your airport disaster exercise.  He can be contacted using our FEEDBACK FORM.

Bill is the founder, Editor and Publisher of the internationally distributed AVIATION FIRE JOURNAL digital magazine which was first published in January 1999. AVIATION FIRE JOURNAL is a publication of AFJ Multimedia, which also provides airport and municipal firefighting training and consulting services.

Dan Pierce is a 28 year veteran Airport Safety Officer at a major international airport in southern California. Dan has 33 years experience in Aircraft Rescue Fire Fighting (ARFF), getting his start in the U.S. Air Force in 1975. He is a California State certified Fire Officer, Emergency Medical Technician, Fire Arson Investigator, Fire Prevention Officer and California ARFF Fire Training Instructor. 

Dan is concurrently enrolled at the Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University pursuing a Bachelors of Science degree in Airport Management / Management of Technical Operations and California State University Long Beach pursuing another Bachelors of Science degree in Professional Studies. He has also attained a Certified Master Airport Fire Fighter certification from the American Association of Airport Executives (AAAE), one of only 18 who have attained the certification in the United States.  

Dan is a member of the National Fire Protection Association (NFPA) 410-Standard for Aviation Maintenance Committee, ARFF Working Group (ARFFWG), Fire Department Safety Officers Association (FDSOA) and the Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association (AOPA).  He has also formerly served as the America’s Regional Manager of the International Aviation Fire Protection Association (IAFPA) and has been a contributing  editor for AVIATION FIRE JOURNAL for many years. Dan has spoken as an invited speaker at many ARFF related conferences and is a prolific writer and authority on the topic of ARFF.

Dan is also a U.S. Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) certificated Private Pilot SEL (Single Engine Land) with Instrument rating.

Donald Nelsen is an 18 year veteran of the New Jersey (NJ) Fire Services serving seven years as a Fire Fighter with the Carteret Volunteer Fire Department, 3 years as a Fire Officer with the Woodbridge Volunteer Hazardous Materials Unit, 4 years as the Fire Chief at Morristown Municipal Airport (MMU), and presently over the last 5 years as a Fire Instructor for the Morris County Fire Academy, Hunterdon County Emergency Services Training Center, and NJ Division of Fire Safety as a consultant through both Rutger University and Kean University.

Don is certified by the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) as a Senior Level Aircraft Rescue Fire Fighter (ARFF) and has successfully completed numerous American Association of Airport Executives (AAAE) training schools including Advanced ARFF, ARFF Chief, and Airport Emergency Response.  Don maintained active memberships in the National Fire Protection Association’s (NFPA) Aviation Section, International Association of Fire Chief’s (IAFC) Industrial Section, ARFF Working Group, AAAE, International Society of Fire Service Instructors (ISFSI), and formerly served as the first Regional Manager of the Americas for the International Aviation Fire Protection Association (IAFPA).

Don has been called upon to evaluate disaster drills at Newark Liberty International Airport, Atlantic City International Airport, and Teterboro Airport and served on ARFF service contract and ARFF apparatus specifying committees at Trenton Mercer Airport.  In addition to being a contributing editor for AVIATION FIRE JOURNAL, Don has been published in Air Traffic Solutions and Airport Technology International magazines on ARFF subject matter.  Don has presented various ARFF related topics for the AAAE, IAFPA, Morris County NJ Fire Academy, AFJ Multimedia, Hunterdon County NJ Emergency Services Training Center and the New Jersey Division of Fire Safety.

Having earned an Associate in Science degree from St. John’s University in New York and completed his junior year at Rutgers University, Donald is currently matriculating for a Bachelor in Science degree at Thomas Edison State College in Trenton majoring in Emergency Disaster Management.  Don is certified by various agencies as a Fire Fighter, Fire Officer, Fire Chief, New Jersey Fire Instructor, Emergency Medical Technician, Hazardous Materials Specialist, Incident Management Specialist, Emergency Management Specialist, and Open Water Diver.  Donald served 6 years aggregate in the U.S. Marine Corps Reserve as an Infantry Rifleman, in the Army Reserve as an Infantry Weapons Instructor, and the NJ Army National Guard as an Armored Cavalry Scout.

Jeff Riechmann has over thirty years experience in the fire service having served as a firefighter and training specialist in the Kern County Fire Department (California) as well as retiring from the US Air Force Reserve as a deputy fire chief.  In addition, he had operated his own aviation safety consulting business since 1992.

His experiences included being assigned to Space Shuttle rescue teams as well as an USAF airborne firefighter on a crash rescue helicopter.  He has assisted in developing contingency plans to support Space Shuttle landings and coordinated fire department support for SpaceShipOne during its X-Prize winning space flights. He has also received numerous awards for his work with the Space Shuttle.

His certifications include Airport Firefighter and Fire Officer II through the International Fire Service Accreditation Congress and he is "red carded" as a fixed wing parking tender, fixed wing ramp manager and Modular Airborne Fire Fighting System (MAFFS) support specialist through the US Forest Service.  He also has earned an Associates of Arts degree in Fire Technology from Antelope Valley College and a Bachelor of Science Degree in Professional Aeronautics with a minor in aviation Safety from Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University.

Jeff was a member of the validation committee for the fourth edition of the International Fire Service Training Association's Aircraft Rescue Fire Fighting manual.  He has also had articles published in the, International Firefighter, American Fire Journal, and Fire Rescue magazine. 

Well known in the ARFF profession across the world, Les spent thirty-years with the San Jose Fire Department (California, USA) and retired at the rank of Captain.  During his career he worked structural, rescue, hazardous material, and airport fire units.  He also retired from the military reserves, having served in fire protection with the U.S. Coast Guard, Navy, and California Air National Guard.  He was a member of the founding Board of Directors of the ARFF Working Group, as well as committees for the past three IFSTA ARFF Manuals.  He also developed the computer based ARFF training program for the FAA.

David Sassaman - Contributing Editor

David Sassaman has been working in EMS as a volunteer and career EMT and Paramedic since 1980. He is a 1993 graduate of Reading Hospital’s Paramedic program and currently works for Western Berks EMS, in Reading, Pennsylvania as a part-time Paramedic and serves as Training Center Faculty for AHA programs within the Penn State Hershey Medical Center.

David has Instructed Paramedics through the Reading Hospital’s School of Health Sciences and is working towards his national EMS Educator’s credentials with the National Association of EMS Educators.