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Fire Rescue Administrator Herman W. Brice

Chief Brice began his career with the City of Miami Fire Department in 1953. He started as an entry-level firefighter and worked his way through the ranks becoming Chief of the Department for six years. He retired from the City of Miami with 30 years of service.

In 1984, he moved to Palm Beach County and became the first Fire Rescue Administrator for Palm Beach County Fire Rescue. Chief Brice was responsible for blending ten separate fire districts into one consolidated fire rescue department. Under his leadership the department has expanded its operations, more than doubling the size of personnel and stations. Palm Beach County Fire Rescue has grown to become the third largest fire department in the state of Florida and has received numerous awards and national acclaim for its innovative educational programs, highly skilled fire and EMS personnel and effective labor/management relations.

Chief Brice has been a visionary in the fire service for many years. He was one of the first chiefs to civilianize the Fire Prevention Bureau. He has long been a proponent of fire safety and injury prevention education as major influences in the reduction of loss of life. He has served as past Chairperson for Palm Beach County Intergovernmental Cooperation Council's Fire Rescue Sub-Committee, which implemented a regionalized method for delivery of hazardous materials mitigation services. The Sub-Committee has made great strides in this county for other cooperative ventures such as a grant to install traffic pre-emption devices, "piggy-backing" on bid specs for the purchase of apparatus and joint training programs.

Chief Brice is a past president of the Florida Fire Chief Association and member of the Palm Beach County Fire Chiefs' Association. Chief Brice is the first and only fire chief in Florida to receive the Florida Fire Chief Association "Chief of the Year Award" twice. Once, in 1982 while he was with City of Miami and again in 1998.

Chief Brice was past president of the Metro Section of the International Association of Fire Chiefs. He has served on various state and national committees, such as the National Institute of Building Sciences, the Underwriters Laboratory Fire Council, the National Bureau of Standards and the Florida Firefighter Standards Council. He has served as Chair of the National Fire Protection Association Board of Directors as well as serving on their Executive Committee, Compensation Committee, Membership Committee and Special Committee on Toxicity.

Chief Brice has served as a mentor for many chief officers in the fire service. His untiring efforts to the fire service span his entire career. Chief Brice is looking forward to the future challenges of providing first-class quality emergency services to the residents and visitors of Palm Beach County.

In 2005, Chief Brice was awarded the Dorothy H. Wilken Outstanding Leadership Award.This award recognizes true leaders inspiring excellence in their organizations, leaders who have created an environment where employees thrive and truly enjoy working and whose acts and deeds challenge other organizations to follow suit.