Brian Brush got his start in the fire service in 1996 as a high school volunteer in Forestville, California. While attending Oklahoma State University School of Fire Protection Engineering, he worked as a training technician at Oklahoma State Fire Service Training and returned to California to work as a wildland firefighter as a seasonal in summers of 1998–2000 with Cal Fire. He began a career at West Metro Fire Rescue in Lakewood, Colorado, as a firefighter paramedic in 2002. In his 13 years at West Metro, he was promoted to company officer, worked in special operations companies, and served as a rescue specialist with FEMA US&R CO-TF. He returned to Oklahoma to be closer to family in 2015. He is currently the training chief at Midwest City Fire Department. Brian holds a master’s degree in Fire and Emergency Management from Oklahoma State University, is a designated chief training officer through the Center for Public Safety Excellence, and is a graduate of the National Fire Academy Executive Fire Officer Program. An author for Fire Engineering since 2009, an instructor at FDIC since 2011, and FDIC keynote speaker in 2023, Brian is a Fire Engineering editorial advisor and serves on the FDIC advisory board.
Anthony (Andoni) Kastros began his fire service career in 1987 and retired as a battalion chief with Sacramento Metro Fire District after 32 years of active service. He is the founder of TrainFirefighters.com. and is the author of the Fire Engineering book and video series Mastering the Fire Service Assessment Center, 2nd edition. The text is used widely throughout the United States for officer development. Anthony also authored the 3-part series Mastering Fireground Command—Calm the Chaos. This Fire Engineering Books series focuses on fireground strategy, tactics, and ICS using actual incidents, video, and simulations. In addition, Kastros authored the video Mastering Unified Command—From Hometown to Homeland. The video is focused on bridging the gap between fire and law for a true unified response and command platform to face the new normal that is prevalent in America today. The video features many experts from around the United States, including former Secretary of Defense and CIA Director Leon Panetta. Kastros is an FDIC-International instructor, was the keynote speaker at FDIC 2013, and is the recipient of the 2019 George D. Post Instructor of the Year Award from the International Society of Fire Service Instructors and Fire Engineering. Anthony hosts The Command Show, a monthly blog radio available from Fire Engineering. As a USAR Team Manager with Sacramento Task Force 7, he deployed to Ground Zero on 9/11. Anthony spent 4 years with a Type 1 Incident Management Team. He and his team at Train-Firefighters.com teach command, tactics, leadership, mergers, strategic planning, and labor/management relations throughout the United States. His faith and family are the most important things in his life.
