Directors

Board of Directors

Thomas F. Hennessy

President

Thomas F. Hennessy is originally from the town of Bellmore, on Long Island, NY. Tom, whose relatives served as members of NYPD & FDNY, followed a family tradition by joining the fire department in 1979. He currently serves as Chief of the Southern Manatee Fire Rescue District in Manatee County, Florida.

He is a Florida certified firefighter, fire officer, fire inspector, fire investigator, EMT and fire science instructor. He holds advanced certifications in hazardous materials, fire and explosion investigations and industrial safety training. He is a Hands-On Training Instructor for FDIC in Indianapolis and FDIC West in Sacramento.

Tom was a Zone Coordinator for the Manatee County Hazardous Materials Team and was a founding member of the team. He served as Haz-Mat Specialist and an Incident Commander for numerous major hazardous materials incidents during his tenure. For several years he also worked as a senior loss analyst for Interscience Inc. of Tampa, Florida, which specializes in loss analysis services. He conducted fire and explosion investigations for residential, commercial, vehicle and marine fires and worked closely with expert forensic scientists, engineers and technical professionals.

Leigh T. Hollins

Vice - President

Leigh T. Hollins is originally from Trenton, NJ. Leigh followed a fire service family tradition dating back to 1914 by joining the fire department in 1976. He is currently a Battalion Chief with Cedar Hammock Fire Rescue in Manatee County, Florida. As past Training Director at Cedar Hammock, Leigh coordinated and oversaw the development of the regional Emergency Services Training Facility. He has also served as a Firefighter, Lieutenant and Captain.

Leigh has an A.S. degree in Fire Science and is a Florida certified Firefighter, EMT, Fire Officer, Fire Inspector and Fire Science Instructor. He has also completed the Florida State Fire College Technical Rescue program and has attended thousands of hours of management and emergency response related classes.

Leigh has served on the Fire Science Advisory Boards for the Manatee Technical Institute and Manatee Community College. In addition to serving as a Contributing Editor/Editorial Advisor for Fire Engineering magazine and on the Fire Department Instructors Conference (FDIC) Educational Committee, he is a frequent presenter at conferences and is a lead instructor for FDIC’s Hands-On-Training (HOT) program. He is a frequently published author on emergency response related topics and is the producer and host of Pennwell's School Bus Extrication training video. He is also a founding member of the Suncoast FOOLS (Fraternal Order Of Leatherheads Society), a brotherhood for firefighters.

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