Linda M. Biernacki
Chair
Region 4: Regional Director
Fire Tech Systems, Inc.
Serving as Chair of the Board and Region 4 Director, Linda M. Biernacki is the founder/president of Fire Tech Systems, Inc., Shreveport, Louisiana. Fire Tech Systems is an AFSA Quality Contractor, ISNetworld Certified, licensed in six states (Arkansas, Alabama, Louisiana, Mississippi, Oklahoma, and Texas). With over 33 years of experience, Biernacki provides industry experience, knowledge, and background. She is past chair of the NICET board of governors (June 2022-June 2023), past board member and current member of the National Society of Professional Engineers (NSPE) board of directors, past president and current board member of the Louisiana Fire Sprinkler Association (LFSA), represents AFSA on the NFPA 232 Committee for Protection of Records and is past AFSA40 Convention Committee and Membership & Chapter Development Chair. Biernacki is certified in NICET Level III Fire Protection Engineering Technology Water-Based Systems Layout and is certified by the Women’s Business Council Gulf Coast.
Paul DeLorie
First Vice Chair
Region 7: Regional Director
Hampshire Fire Protection Co., Inc.
Region 7 Director and First Vice Chair of the Board Paul DeLorie is senior vice president of Hampshire Fire Protection Co., based in Londonderry, New Hampshire. Hampshire Fire Protection is one of New England’s largest merit shop fire sprinkler companies. DeLorie is a graduate of the University of New Hampshire. He has over 38 years of experience in sprinkler design, estimating, sales, project management, and senior management.
Jay Strickland
Second Vice Chair
At-Large Director
Strickland Fire Protection
Jay Strickland serves as the Second Vice Chair and an At-Large Director. He is the president of Strickland Fire Protection. After 39 years, he partnered with Pye Barker and Rapid-Fire Group in 2021. Strickland Fire Protection is in Forestville, Maryland, and was established in 1983. Strickland has been involved in the fire protection industry for nearly 40 years. He is NICET Level II, Fire Protection, Water-Based System Layout. He is a past chair of the AFSA Chesapeake Bay Chapter. He also serves on the Board of Anne Arundel Community College Foundation, a 501(c) 3 corporation. The organization’s mission is to secure and steward private funds to enhance the educational endeavors of the college. This includes creating a new pathway to earn a college degree that many skilled craftsmen and women may have never considered as an option. A new Associate of Applied Science (AAS) degree program at AACC will enable students who have completed apprenticeship programs to earn credits for their hard work. This will include pre-apprenticeship and apprenticeship programs. The degree will be part of the school programming to ensure that students have the resources they need to pursue lifelong careers and that local businesses have a pipeline of employees ready for roles from entry level through upper management.
Rod DiBona
Treasurer
Region 3: Regional Director
Rapid Fire Protection
Region 3 Director and Treasurer Rod DiBona is the C.O.O of the sprinkler division of Pye Barker Fire and Safety, with branches throughout the United States. He lives in Rapid City, South Dakota. DiBona entered the fire protection industry in 1990 and started in the AFSA apprenticeship program in 1991. In October of 1993, he was asked by Marty Hammon to join him, his son, and his son-in-law in creating Rapid Fire Protection. In 1995, DiBona was a Top 7 finalist in the AFSA annual National Apprentice Competition. In July of 2021, Rapid Fire joined the Pye Barker Fire and Safety family. DiBona is a NICET Level III Certified Engineering Technician in Water-Based Systems Layout.
Jeff Phifer
Secretary
Region 5: Regional Director
Crawford Sprinkler Company of South Carolina
Region 5 Director and Secretary Jeff Phifer is president and CEO of Crawford Sprinkler Co. of South Carolina, based in Lugoff, South Carolina, one of the oldest family-owned and continuously operated fire sprinkler contractors in the nation. Phifer has been working at Crawford for 40-plus years, working as a fitter, service technician, and in administration. In 1999, he became the third generation to be president and chairman of the board at Crawford. Phifer is the chair of the Public Education and Awareness Committee.
Jack A. Medovich, P.E.
Immediate Past Chair
At Large Director
Summit Companies
At-Large Director and Immediate Past Chair Jack A. Medovich, P.E., is with Summit Companies out of Mendota Heights, Minnesota. A 1983 graduate of the University of Maryland School of Fire Protection Engineering, Medovich served three years as fire marshal of Fairfax County, Virginia, before joining the fire sprinkler industry 37 years ago. He has been active in AFSA since 1991, is a past chair of the Chesapeake Bay Chapter, and served the Virginia Chapter as chair and as a board of directors member for many years. He represents AFSA on the Correlating Committee on Automatic Sprinkler Systems, encompassing NFPA 13, 13R, 13D, 24, and 291. He has previously served as a member of the following NFPA committees: NFPA 14, 20, 25, 101, 750, and 5000.
Lyle Hall
Region 1: Regional Director
Western Fire Protection
Region 1 Director Lyle Hall, president and co-owner of Western Fire Protection in Poway, California, has been in the fire sprinkler industry for 45 years, with the last 29 years at Western Fire. Before that, he was a helicopter-based wildland firefighter for the U.S. Forest Service. He has a degree in fire science with continuing education at the University of California San Diego. Hall started in the fire sprinkler industry as an apprentice pipefitter and worked his way into design, project management, sales, and eventually, management. His past accomplishments include past director on the San Diego Fire Protection Association board, past chair of the San Diego Chapter of the AFSA, past chair of the California American Fire Sprinkler Association—Unilateral Apprenticeship Committee, and past chair of the California Fire Training Alliance. Hall serves on the California American Fire Sprinkler Association—Unilateral Apprenticeship Committee and was the Chair of AFSA’s Apprenticeship & Education Subcommittee to develop the ITM program. He currently serves on various AFSA committees and is on the board of directors for AFSA’s San Diego Chapter.
R. Donald Kaufman
Region 2: Regional Director
Kaufman Fire Protection
Region 2 Director Don Kaufman is the president of Kaufman Fire Protection, Albuquerque, New Mexico. With over 48 years in the sprinkler business, Kaufman was instrumental in starting AFSA’s New Mexico Chapter and is a past president of the chapter. On the national level, Kaufman served as the 2009-2011 Chair of the Board and has chaired several committees. He also served as chair of the New Mexico State Board for Professional Engineers and Surveyors, three terms as chair of the New Mexico State Apprentice Council, and served on the New Mexico Construction Industries Commission. He is an active member of Associated Builders & Contractors (ABC), past president of ABC’s New Mexico Chapter, member of the American Society of Professional Estimators, and past charter president of Albuquerque Rotary Del Sol.
Michael F. Meehan
Region 6: Regional Director
VSC Fire & Security, Inc.
Region 6 Director Michael F. Meehan is chairman of VSC Fire & Security, headquartered in Richmond, Virginia. A 1981 graduate from George Mason University in Fairfax, Virginia, Meehan began his fire sprinkler career working summers as a pipefitter apprentice. He is a NICET Level IV Certified Engineering Technician in Water-Based Systems Layout and has over 44 years of experience in sprinkler design engineering, estimating, project management, and senior management. Meehan is a past AFSA Chair of the Board and represents installing contractors and AFSA on the NFPA 13 committee.
Brooks Bayne
At-Large Director
AFP Systems, Inc.
Since 1997, AFSA At-Large Director Brooks Bayne has brought his family’s values of integrity, community, caring, and doing what’s right to AFP Systems, Inc. and the fire protection industry. He started working for his uncle and AFP Systems founder Jim Bayne in the fabrication shop after graduating from McQueen High School. After earning his journeyman license through the AFSA apprenticeship program, Bayne worked as a foreman before becoming superintendent in 2007.
In 2017, Bayne stepped into the roles of co-owner and vice president of operations after working 20 years alongside his uncle. AFP Systems, providing service throughout the Pacific Northwest for over 35 years, is a proud member of the ABC Pacific Northwest Chapter and Associated Builders & Contractors Inland Pacific Chapter, Inc.
Chris Johnson
At-Large Director
Piper Fire Protection
At-Large Director Chris Johnson is president and co-founder of Piper Fire Protection, a Fortis Brand in Clearwater, Florida. He has led Piper since 2002. Johnson is a NICET-certified fire protection Engineering Technician, holding a level III certification in fire sprinkler design. He has served AFSA’s Florida Chapter since 2011 as Education and Legislative Committee chair, vice chair, and immediate past chair of the chapter. Johnson has served on the board of ABC for the Florida Gulf Coast Chapter since 2015, is the chair of that chapter for 2023, and has also served on the ABC Florida State board and the ABC National board. Johnson was elected and sworn into office as Largo City Commissioner in November of 2022. His mission is to utilize his time, treasure, and talents to advocate for the fire sprinkler industry throughout Florida. He holds a Florida Fire Protection Contractor I License and Fire Equipment Dealers’ Licenses Class A and D.
Wayne Weisz
At-Large Director
Cen-Cal Fire Systems, Inc.
At-Large Director Wayne Weisz started his career in the fire sprinkler industry in 1979. He started as an apprentice and quickly worked his way through the ranks as a foreman and then general superintendent with American Fire Systems in Lodi, California. In 1986, Weisz, along with his brother Byron, founded Cen-Cal Fire Systems, Inc., also in Lodi. In 1997, the brothers established D-M Fabrication, which ran as an independent pipe fabrication facility supplying fire sprinkler piping throughout the western United States. That facility was sold later to a national supplier. Cen-Cal Fire became a member of AFSA in 1987. Weisz became a member of the AFSA National Board of Directors in 2005. He is active in California apprenticeship issues and has sat on the State CAFSA board of directors for 20 years. He is also a founding member of and active in the AFSA Sacramento Valley Chapter. Weisz is a past Chair of the AFSA Board of Directors and currently sits on several national committees.