J. Curtis Varone has been in the fire service for more than 38 years, with experience as a career, volunteer, and paid on-call firefighter. He also has twenty-six years experience as a practicing attorney representing firefighters and fire departments. Curt retired from the Providence Fire Department, Providence, RI, as Deputy Assistant Chief in 2008, served as the Director of the Public Fire Protection Division at the NFPA, and now serves as the Director of the Fire Service Division of Legal & Liability Risk Management Institute. He is also a faculty member of Providence College's Fire Science program.