Darley, NFFF's Fifth Annual Fire Service Thought Leadership Essay Competition

The fifth annual Fire Service Thought Leadership Essay Competition has been announced by Darley and the National Fallen Firefighters Foundation (NFFF). In its fifth year, the competition has grown to be one of the fire service's top venues for creative thinking, attracting more than 90 entries each year from chief officers, company officers and firefighters across the United States.

How might artificial intelligence be utilized to enhance firefighter health, wellbeing and safety over the next two years? This year's prompt poses an issue that the fire service can no longer afford to ignore.

Firehouses are already using artificial intelligence (AI). AI solutions are starting to gain traction in a number of domains, including incident reporting, staffing models, wildfire prediction, roadway risk forecasts and fire-based EMS operations. Inspired by the NFL's "Digital Athlete" platform developed with AWS, which employs data, AI simulations, and predictive models to identify injury risks and create more intelligent training for players, this year's competition asks fire and rescue professionals to consider the potential implications of such a capability for those who work in burning buildings.

"The people best positioned to shape how AI gets used in the fire service are the ones on shift," said Paul Darley, CEO & Chairman at Darley. "Sometimes the best ideas in the fire service don't always make it past the apparatus bay. We built this competition because writing is an act of leadership, and we want you to use this platform to spotlight your ideas and create discussion amongst industry peers.”

AI-enabled training could be examined in essays like:

• Staff rides in augmented and virtual reality
• Predictive analytics for all-hazard and wildland situations
• Tools for making decisions in complicated EMS, hazardous and technical rescue operations
• Tracking fatigue and workload in high-volume emergency medical teams
• Analysis of exposure and injury trends

Submissions are encouraged to connect ideas to real operational needs, draw from line-of-duty lessons, and align with the 12 NFFF Fire and Life Safety Initiatives.

“Artificial intelligence is not a replacement for firefighter judgment; it is a force multiplier for firefighter survivability,” said National Fallen Firefighters Foundation Director of Fire Programs Danny Kistner. “By combining AI with immersive staff rides, predictive modeling, and resilience-building programs, we can help departments see risk sooner, train with greater realism, and support their people long before and long after the call. This directly aligns with the NFFF mission—to honor our fallen by doing everything possible to reduce preventable deaths and injuries. We invite you to join this competition and submit your ideas for how AI can further this mission in the fire service.”

A Tier 3 AI usage criteria is followed by the competitors. All sentences in the final submission must be written by the author in their own words, even if writers may utilize generative AI tools to organize thoughts, brainstorm, and polish plans. AI-detection technologies may be used to filter essays, and any usage of AI must be declared.

Since its inception, the competition has addressed issues such as diversity and recruitment, the fire service's resistance to reform, and the mental health issues that firefighters face long after an incident is ended. Cash rewards are awarded to winners, who are also featured in major fire service publications like Fire Engineering, Firehouse, CRACKYL and FireRescue1, as well as at events like the Texas A&M Leadership Conference and FRI.

The competition was conceived by Garry Briese and is sponsored by Darley in collaboration with the National Fallen Firefighters Foundation.

Submissions are now open. Visit here to learn more and submit.