FSRI Research Engineer Recognized with Instructor of the Year Aw

UL’s Fire Safety Research Institute (FSRI) congratulates Keith Stakes, Research Engineer, on receiving the George D. Post Instructor of the Year Award through the International Society of Fire Service Instruction (ISFSI)/ Fire Engineering . The award was presented at the Fire Department Instructors Conference (FDIC) in Indianapolis, Indiana on Thursday, April 27, 2023.

The George D. Post Instructor of the Year Award  honor is awarded annually to individuals who achieve extraordinary accomplishments in fire service training. Recipients of this award have advanced firefighter operational effectiveness and safety and have brought creativity and innovation to fire training programs. 

In his role at FSRI, Keith helped lead the first ever project studying a direct comparison between interior and exterior suppression methods and the fundamentals behind hose stream mechanics: air entrainment and water distribution. He gained first-hand experience serving as the nozzle firefighter for all burns conducted as a part of the study. Assisting in the analysis of the data acquired, he worked with a panel of fire service experts to come up with relevant conclusions for the fire service culminating in the creation of three technical reports and three online training programs specific to fireground suppression. Keith has completed several projects including Exploratory Analysis of Ventilation on Strip Mall Fires and Search and Rescue Tactics in Single-Story, Single-Family Homes. 

Most recently, he partnered with members of the fire service to design and build the innovative Hose Stream Prop to demonstrate the impact of varying suppression tactics on the fireground. Keith's research in air entrainment and water distribution led him to develop the Hose Stream Prop. He drove the project, from designing the prop to building it. Along with the creation of the prop, Keith also led the development of written lesson plans and instructional videos to explain suppression principles in residential structures. All these materials including construction drawings and material lists were released as a free, downloadable hands-on training toolkit for the fire service through FSRI.org.  Keiths’ extraordinary individual contributions with the creation of this innovative training prop played a major role in his qualifications to receive this award.

In addition to leading multiple research projects in his role at FSRI, Keith has more than over 16 years of fire service experience as a firefighter with the Bethesda-Chevy Chase Rescue Squad in Maryland where he currently holds the rank of Fire/Rescue Battalion Chief. Keith also continues to serve on the NFPA Technical Committee for Fire Service Training and the Editorial Advisory Board for FireRescue1 and Fire Chief. Keith has both a Bachelor of Science degree as well as a Master of Engineering degree in Fire Protection Engineering from the University of Maryland.