State Urban Search & Rescue Alliance
Board of Directors
Executive Board
Kevin Lyne
President
Kevin Lyne has been in the fire service since 1985. He retired from the Naperville, IL Fire Department in 2015 at the rank of Division Chief. From Naperville, Kevin was hired by MABAS-Illinois as the Operations Branch Chief for Illinois Task Force 1 (IL-TF 1). He is a founding member of IL-TF 1 and was a Task Force Leader before assuming the program manager role. He was promoted to Deputy Operations Section Chief in 2019 and currently serves as the Operations Section Chief for MABAS-Illinois. Among his duties in this role, is oversight of Illinois technical rescue, haz-mat, water and US&R resources. In addition, he serves as the primary ESF #4 and ESF #9 liaison to the state EOC. Kevin serves on the International Association of Fire Chief’s (IAFC) US&R Committee and the Emergency Management Accreditation Program (EMAP) Commission. He has worked with the FEMA National Integration Center (NIC) on updates to various US&R resource types. Kevin had been active with SUSAR before his election to the Board in 2018. He now serves as Secretary.
Brian Barnes
1st Vice President
Brian currently serves as the Deputy Operations Chief for North Carolina Emergency Management. In this role, he is responsible for the coordination and management of fifty-eight professional employees across six independent but collaborative branches: Emergency Services, Human Services, Communications, and the three regional offices in the western, central, and eastern regions of the State. Brian has previously served as the Emergency Services Branch Manager and State Search and Rescue Coordinator. During his time with NC Emergency Management, Brian has responded to 13 federally declared disasters and 19 state declared disasters in North Carolina and has responded to multiple other states and territories through the Emergency Management Assistance Compact for search and rescue, incident management, and disaster medical missions. He has also served for over 15 years in the fire service in various staff and leadership roles. Brian is a Certified Executive Emergency Manager in the State of North Carolina and holds various US&R, Swiftwater, and other technical rescue certifications. Brian is also the past Chairman of the State Search and Rescue Coordinators Council. Brian holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Government from Campbell University and a Master’s Degree in Safety, Security, and Emergency Management from Eastern Kentucky University. Brian was elected to the SUSAR board in 2018.
Chad Beam
2nd Vice President
Chad began his career in Fire/EMS in 2005. Since then, he has served in various management roles in both Fire & EMS. Currently, Chad serves as one of two Section Chiefs for the SC Office of State Fire Marshal in the Emergency Response Task Force program area. There, they manage South Carolina Task Force 1 (SC-TF1), the SC Helicopter Aquatic Rescue Team (SC-HART), and SC Firefighter Mobilization.Chad began his career in US&R in 2013, beginning as a US&R medic. He also serves on the Palmetto Incident Support Team (IST) as a deputy ops chief and backfills in planning as a plans chief as well. Chad obtained his bachelors in Emergency Management from Anderson University and a Masters of Public Administration with a concentration in Emergency Management from Clemson University. Chad currently serves on the EMS committee for the SC Firefighters Association and the NIMS Technology Sub Group for FEMA. Chad serves on the UAS working group and the Medical working group as well for SUSAR. Chad is married to his wife Brooke and has two daughters, Carleigh (4) & Ellie Reames (19 months). Chad was elected to the board in 2019.
Howard Popple
Secretary
Howard Popple has been in the fire service 2003. He got his start as a volunteer firefighter with Spanish Fort Fire Department. He is currently at the rank of Captain with Mobile Fire Rescue Department in Mobile, AL. He has been with MFRD since 2008. He joined AL-TF1 in 2009. Howard currently serves as Program Coordinator with AL-TF1. He has deployed as task force member to multiple natural disasters including Hurricane Laura and the North Alabama Tornados. Howard has taught Technical Rescue, Hazardous Materials A&O and Technicians, and other Fire Courses through Alabama Fire College and Gulf Coast Emergency Response Academy. Howard was elected to the SUSAR Board of Directors in May 2022 at the SUSAR-MSOC Conference in Columbia, SC.
Randy Hill
Treasurer
After a 32-year career, Randy Hill retired from the Leawood, Kansas Fire Department in 2012 at the rank of Deputy Fire Chief. During the last 10 years of his fire service career, Randy was heavily involved in building the technical rescue capability for the Leawood FD, as well as the State of Kansas. After retiring, Randy started a non-profit company called Midwest Search & Rescue, where he served as President. In December 2015 he was hired by the Kansas Office of the State Fire Marshal to serve as the state’s first Search & Rescue Coordinator and currently serves in that position. Randy was elected to the Board of Directors in November 2016 and currently serves as the organization’s Treasurer. Randy remains active with the SUSAR organization as well as serving on the International Fire Chiefs (IAFC) US&R committee. Randy also coordinates canine issues for the SUSAR organization and serves as the webmaster for the SUSAR website.
Robert Duemmel
Executive Director
Bob Duemmel is the Executive Director of the State Urban Search and Rescue Alliance (SUSAR). He was elected to the SUSAR Board in 2016 and to the Vice President position in 2017 and appointed as the Executive Director in 2024. Bob was the keynote speaker at the 2012 SUSAR Conference held in Savannah, Georgia. He has been in the fire service since 1976 when he joined the US Air Force as a Crash Rescue Specialist. Bob spent 30 years with the Rochester NY Fire Department retiring as Captain having served as the department’s Special Operations Officer. During his time in that position, he was instrumental in the development of their Collapse, Trench, and Water Rescue programs. Bob has an Associate Degree in Fire Science from Corning Community College. As the Technical Rescue Editor for Firehouse Magazine, he was able to utilize this position to foster the growth of the Technical Rescue family nationally. Bob previously served on New York Task Force 2 as the Planning Team Manager and as Task Force Leader for the Monroe County (NY) Special Operations Unit. Additionally, he was a member of the Western New York Incident Management Team in the Plans Section. He is a nationally certified instructor with a primary focus on Technical Rescue programs and has also participated in multiple curriculum development projects. Having received the “Emergency Programme Manager Master Class for Evaluators” from the Academy for Crisis Management, the Netherlands; Bob has worked as an evaluator for multiple exercises for the United Kingdom’s USAR system as well as for other INSARAG teams.
Directors
Ken Miller currently serves Clay Fire in South Bend, Indiana as a Battalion Chief. Ken has been in the fire service for 34 years serving half as a volunteer and other as a career firefighter. Ken is the Logistics Manager for the Indiana MABAS Division 201/IND2 US&R team. He has been with the team since 2006 and has served as a Rescue Specialist and now as Logistics Manager. He also serves on the Indiana Department Homeland Security Incident Management Team as a Type 3 Logistic Section Chief. As Logistic Section Chief, Ken has deployed numerous times throughout the country for large-scale events. Ken served with Indiana Task Force 1 for 3 years as a Logistics Specialist. Ken is currently a SUSAR certified Logistics Instructor. Ken holds numerous technician-level rescue certifications and is an instructor in each with the State of Indiana. Ken was elected to the board in 2019.
Michael Cannon began his career in 1975 in Colchester, Vermont as a volunteer EMT with a local Fire Department. He became a founding member of Colchester Technical Rescue, which continues to be recognized for work in water and ice emergencies as well as hazardous terrain rescues. The Technical Rescue Team has been consistently managed by Mike and now serves a large geographic area of the State. Mike maintains a Level II Technical Rescue Instructor certification for the Vermont State Fire Academy and has been instrumental in organizing and training water rescue teams in Vermont. Mike joined the Colchester Police Department in 1981, as a law enforcement officer. He was later assigned to the Marine Unit, which patrols 37 miles of international waterway on Lake Champlain. Mike held the position of Marine Supervisor, for law enforcement, for the last 25 years. Mike currently serves as the full-time Program Manager for the Vermont Department of Public Safety’s Urban Search and Rescue Task Force One. As Task Force Leader and Program Manager, responsibilities include readiness of the Type III State Team. This includes all administrative duties for roughly 90 State Employees assigned to the Task Force. Mike also operates as the State of Vermont Emergency Management ESF9 Urban Search and Rescue Coordinator where he is responsible for the coordination of all State and local USAR and water rescue teams. He sits on various State Homeland Security Special Operations committees and is the liaison to all local teams. Mike has deployed VT-TF1, through Emergency Management and Assistance Compact request, to Hurricane Harvey, Florence and Dorian. He lives in Essex, Vermont with his wife Deb and their two children Trystan and Nielsa. Mike was elected to the board in 2019.
Scott is the US&R and Haz Mat Program Coordinator for the State Fire Marshal at the Florida State Fire College. He entered the fire service in 1993 and has been working at the Florida State Fire College since 2000. Scott now coordinates Florida’s eight US&R Task Forces, thirty Regional Hazardous Materials Teams, and fifty Technical Rescue Teams, and seven Mutual Aid Radio Cache (MARC) Units. Scott deployed to the State EOC where he operated as US&R Specialist for Hurricanes Hermine and Matthew and as US&R Coordinator for Hurricanes Irma, Michael, and Dorian. Additionally, he is a Captain with Marion County Fire Rescue where he is the C-Shift District 5 Command Officer, the C-Shift Special Operations Officer, and a Task Force Leader with Florida US&R Task Force 8. Scott has a Bachelor’s Degree from the University of Florida, a Master’s Degree in Public Administration from Barry University, and is currently enrolled in the Executive Fire Officer Program at the National Fire Academy. Scott was elected to the board in 2019.
Walter Lewis has been a firefighter since 1990, currently at the rank of District Chief for the Orlando Fire Department. He began his time as a volunteer, then later as a paid firefighter in a bedroom community fire department. In 1996, he joined the Orlando Fire Department and has served on some of the busiest units and within special operations. He is a continual student of the fire service, has contributed to works such as the State of Florida Live Fire Training Instructor curriculum, is a charter member of the Orlando Fire Conference and also a member of the FOOLS. He is also a Task Force Leader for Florida US&R Task Force 4 based out of Central Florida, having deployed several times including Surfside, Florida. Walter was elected to the SUSAR Board of Directors in May 2022 at the SUSAR-MSOC Conference in Columbia, SC.
Doug Hargreaves grew up in New England following his father’s footsteps in the fire service. Doug entered the fire service in Kentucky himself in 1994. In 1998 Doug received a Bachelor’s Degree in Fire Arson, Explosion and Investigation from Eastern Kentucky University. He spent 20 years with the Lexington Fire Department (KY) retiring in 2023 as Lieutenant having served as the department’s Special Operations Executive Officer. During his career with the Lexington Fire Department, he was assigned to the Special Operations team his entire career. One of his assignments as a firefighter was on the heavy rescue company. He also served on the Ohio Task Force 1 as a Hazardous Materials Specialist. He’s also a state fire instructor who teaches technical rescue throughout the state. Doug currently works for the Division of Kentucky Emergency Management as the State Urban Search and Rescue Coordinator. He also is the co-writer of US&R legislation in 2023 that makes it mandatory for the Commonwealth of Kentucky to have a state-funded US&R team. Doug is married to his wife Rachel and has one daughter, Hannah. Doug was elected to the board in 2023.
Greg Davis was elected to the SUSAR Board of Directors in November 2024 at the National Urban Search & Rescue Conference in Orlando, Florida. Come back soon for photo and full bio of Director Davis.
JR Griffin was elected to the SUSAR Board of Directors in November 2024 at the National Urban Search & Rescue Conference in Orlando, Florida. Come back soon for photo and full bio of Director Griffin.