John Kane spent 21 years with the Syracuse (NY) Fire Department, retiring in 2022 as the Deputy Chief of the Special Operations Division. The SFD is an ISO Class 1 fire department and was awarded the NFFF Seal of Excellence in 2021. After retirement, John took over a local fire science community college program, where he and his team were able to earn IFSAC accreditation and FESHE alignment. John serves on two NFPA technical committees: 1010 and 1020. He’s been an Advocate with the NFFF for almost six years, and has delivered the National Fallen Firefighters Foundation’s flagship programs, Courage to Be Safe®, Leadership, Accountability, Culture, Knowledge, and Leadership so Everyone Goes Home all over upstate New York. John lives in Syracuse with his wife Sarah and their three sons.