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The Firehouse Yak

The Firehouse Yak: Eric Vallerie – Risk vs. Reality: Safety Starts with the Smart Firefighter

Peter Matthews talks with Fire Department Safety Officers Association CEO Eric Vallerie about today’s fire department operations and why educated firefighters understand safety efforts.
Aug. 3, 2026
3 min read
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The Firehouse Yak: Eric Vallerie – Risk vs. Reality: Safety Starts with the Smart Firefighter
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Peter Matthews talks with Eric Vallerie, CEO of the Fire Department Safety Officers Association (FDSOA), about increasing the organization’s efforts in the awareness of firefighter safety and health. 

For years, FDSOA has offered incident safety officers (ISO) and health and safety officers (HSO) education and today they focus on bridging the gap between research, science and new operational efforts and the members on the streets. Listeners will learn how they can take part in FDSOA’s outreach efforts and why Vallerie says smart and educated firefighters can see the importance of safety and health programs. 

Vallerie highlights the challenges and success ISOs and HSOs are seeing in the fire service and how their roles continue to evolve beyond emergency incident scenes. He also talks about FDSOA’s annual conference in January and the various award programs they offer.

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About the Author

Peter Matthews
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Peter Matthews

Editor-in-Chief

Peter Matthews is the editor-in-chief of Firehouse. He has worked at Firehouse since 1999, serving in various roles on both Firehouse Magazine and Firehouse.com staffs. He completed an internship with the Rochester, NY, Fire Department and served with fire departments in Rush, NY, and Laurel, MD, and was a lieutenant with the Glenwood Fire Company in Glenwood Landing, NY. Matthews served as photographer for the St. Paul, MN, Fire Department and currently is a photographer for the Fort Worth, TX, Fire Department.        

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