Episode 317: Bridging Firefighters and Engineers Through Leadership and Trust with Mark Reilly

Episode notes

What does leadership really look like when lives are on the line?

Hello Smart Firefighting Community!

Welcome to another episode of covering real world innovations via interviews with fire service and technology industry experts that empower YOU to develop your very own Smart Firefighting strategy.

Recorded live at the Institution of Fire Engineers (IFE) 2025 Conference alongside the AFAC, WAFA, and Australian Institute for Disaster Resilience Conference in Perth, Australia.

In this episode, Mark Reilly shares perspective shaped by 38 years of service across the military and fire service, along with his new role as International President of the Institution of Fire Engineers. Speaking from the global stage at AFAC 2025, he reflects on the responsibility of guiding both firefighters and fire engineers toward a shared mission of safety.

Mark explains how the Institution of Fire Engineers has spent more than a century setting standards that build trust across the profession, from recruit training through executive leadership. He also highlights a critical connection that often goes overlooked, the relationship between those who design buildings and those who enter them during emergencies.

The conversation explores the real world consequences when that connection breaks down, and how stronger collaboration can lead to safer outcomes for both responders and the public. Mark also shares how international collaboration, education, and mentorship are helping bring new ideas and global perspectives to fire services across Australia and beyond.

At the center of it all is a simple but powerful idea, leadership is not a title, it is something you do every day.

So take a listen to hear what he has to share.

Head to www.smartfirefighting.com to discover how SFF accelerates innovation for emergency responders, to find out when our next event is, or review our curated resources.

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Chapters

1. 0:00 Intro, live from Perth
2. 4:09 Mark's career
3. 5:00 Where firefighters and fire engineers meet
4. 7:00 Why join the IFE
5. 8:53 Australia and the global stage
6. 10:54 Words to live by

Questions answered in this episode

What is the Institution of Fire Engineers and what does it do?

Mark Reilly explains that the IFE was set up to set standards for firefighter training programs, senior officer training programs, and executive programs. It serves as a nexus between firefighters and fire engineers, helping them understand each other's work and exposing members to experienced fire officers and engineers who mentor them through the examination process.

Hear it at 1:46

Why is the connection between firefighters and fire engineers important?

Mark Reilly says fire engineers design fire safe buildings, and firefighters have to lead people into burning buildings. The nexus helps fire engineers understand what firefighters do when entering dangerous situations, and helps firefighters understand how fire engineers operate, since engineers are very detailed in processing information when working on buildings.

Hear it at 5:15

Who should join the Institution of Fire Engineers?

Mark Reilly says firefighters and engineers should join because it exposes them to experienced fire officers and engineers who mentor them as they progress. It provides exposure to advancements in technology and building styles that may not be available in their regular workplace, and enables cross pollination of information between the two professions.

Hear it at 7:00

Why does the IFE run a roadshow across Australia after the conference?

Mark Reilly explains that Australia is an extremely large island and it's very hard to get contemporary speakers. The IFE runs a conference to generate income and uses that income to bring in international speakers. Because of the landmass of Australia, it's easier to transport speakers to the main capital cities where firefighters and engineers can assemble at an affordable rate, generally for free, because commissioners and heads of engineering companies can't send all their people to distant Perth for a conference.

Hear it at 8:53

What leadership lesson does Mark Reilly share?

Mark Reilly says leadership is a verb, not a noun. It's one thing to say you're a leader, another to show you're a leader, whether leading people into a fire or working as an engineer under financial constraints to build structures that are safe for people to occupy and firefighters to work in.

Hear it at 11:05

Transcript

Machine transcript of the published audio. Names may be misspelled and some sections are missing.

Ep 317 transcript

Bridging Firefighters and Engineers Through Leadership and Trust with Mark Reilly

Speakers: Kevin Sofen, Mark Reilly

Source: Whisper medium.en machine transcription of the published Podbean audio (no original transcript found in Drive), lightly cleaned. Speakers were separated by voice clustering and then checked and assigned by hand at every speaker change. Gaps where the model returned no usable text are marked [inaudible m:ss].

[0:00] Kevin Sofen: Welcome to our podcast mini-series, recorded live at the Institution of Fire Engineers in Perth, Australia, alongside the AFAC, WOFA, and the Australian Institute for Disaster Resil, Resilience conferences. With over 28 conversations with fire chiefs engineers, re- invaders,- we explored how the fire and emergency- From climate resiliency led to the rise of the new technology, to the importance of mental health, diversity, and global collaboration. These episodes highlight the shared challenges and inspiring solutions shaping the future of safety. enjoy. Here we are in [inaudible 0:51] kind of just been this beacon of- just kind of just kind of just been this beacon of energy of bringing people and ideas and really that the speakers here and curious how is you know, [inaudible 1:24]

[1:46] Mark Reilly: of that and from the US USA.. And because Australia's so far away from those distant countries, it's is actually a great opportunity for people to come and see so [inaudible 2:03] and Australia Branch is and was set up to actually set standards for the firefighter training programs, senior officer, training programs, and executive programs and then [inaudible 3:06] immediate past international president. So it gives a bit of continuity, and like I'm being mentored by the international, current international president, and then I will do the same when I'm in that role, and then should the international president or the international president-elect, when I'm the immediate past, I'll be able to reach down and give them some support and drivers. So it's like all things in engineering, it's a well thought out process.

[3:54] Kevin Sofen: Yeah, no, I like it, I mean, ramp-up and then the core process and then the continued evolution. And so I assume you rose your hand and maybe you were picked, but nonetheless you're running into this 36 month runway. What are you excited about?

[4:09] Mark Reilly: I've recently retired from the fire service after 38 years. I've had a continual career serving in the military [inaudible 4:15] workforce management [inaudible 4:31]

[5:00] Kevin Sofen: the IFE members, there's this nexus between the firefighters and the fire engineers. Tell me more about your vision and your perspective in terms of how the IFE serves as that links-pin to be this nexus between firefighters and firefighters.

[5:15] Mark Reilly: So fire engineers are responsible for designing fire safe, livable building offices, factories and so forth. And they., [inaudible 5:32] you know, the substitution of cladding from a non-combustible cladding, zinc-based to a combustible cladding, you know, polyethylene supported. So how that affects firefighters as a fire officer, like, you know, we have to lead people into a building that's burning. The London Fire Brigade were very brave. They were going into a burning building as other people were trying to get them out as the building was collapsing around them. It was deconstructing for one of a better term around them. try, that nexus is to try and bring fire engineers along to understand what firefighters do when they're entering a burning building or they're going down into a tunnel or they're going up a high rise, it's a matter of trying to, the nexus is trying to get them to see, them to see what the firefighters doing, but also for the firefighters to understand how the fire engineers operate, because fire engineers are very detailed in how they process their information when they're working on buildings.

[6:43] Kevin Sofen: So Mark, one thing that I really enjoyed, and I was interested in, was when Fiona was showing the membership and different types of members that are part of the IFE. And I saw that there was, you know, there are students and these different types of engineers and firefighters, but in your words, who should join the IFE and why?

[7:00] Mark Reilly: So firefighters and engineers should join the Institution of Fire Engineers because it exposes them as they can enter as a student level, and they can be exposed to experienced fire officers and experienced engineers, and who will mentor them as they progress through the examination process. It's a little bit, for me, it's an adjunct to their workplace. So you might, I was a firefighter, I would go to fire and rescue New South Wales and I would be mentored by my station commander, then my inspector and so forth. And they were really good mentors, but they had limited exposure to advancements in technology and building styles and so forth. So by working in the institution and coming to a conference like we've just run this week, you get exposed, firefighters can get exposed to fire engineers, fire engineers get to work with firefighters, and that cross pollination of information. Firefighters can kick a door, drag a line, put a fire out, engineers design building, put all the safety features in, and work towards the building standards. So that nexus is there's a fine line between being a firefighter and being an engineer. And when we work together, we see there's not that many differences. One's a practical job, physical job, and the other one is a thought process and a mindful process.

[8:17] Kevin Sofen: Brilliant. Love it. And then two other things I want to touch on before we close out of here is how the institution of Hirington EARS is continuing to drive this conversation and thought leadership across Australia and across all the branches with this roadshow that's happening, and then kind of to drive this conversation and thought leadership Australia and across all the branches with this road show that's happening and then kind of how you, Ryan and Jason and everyone in the entire team has brought together some the most brilliant minds from whether it's Dr. Laurie to Chief Maroney to Chief Butler to all these amazing people that are here. Tell me a little bit more about kind of the bringing in of some of the and kind of how we're driving this road show and bringing it to the different members.

[8:53] Mark Reilly: So thinking about that Australia is an island and it's an extremely large island in the middle of the Pacific, between the Pacific and Indian nations, it's very hard for us to get, you know, a contemporary speakers. So the Institution of Fire Engineers, we run a conference to generate income. We use that income to bring in international speakers. So we have a speaker from who's an expert on the Grenfell fire, who was the incident commander, Rich Mills. We have Dr. Laurie Moore Morrell, who has brought over the chief of LA County Fire and last year, that sort of exposure is not available on an ad hoc basis. We have to plan for that. So we put the conference on and speakers speak here, but because of the landmass of Australia, it's easier for us to transport three or four speakers to the main capital cities where all the firefighters and the engineers can assemble. And at an affordable rate, because we generally put these on for free, they hear the conversations and the experiences of the speakers that we've got on time. Like I Dr. Laurie L. Moore, we have Kurt Valkul from Belgium.

[10:04] Kevin Sofen: Pat Morrison, John Waller.

[10:07] Mark Reilly: It's a lineup of stars and it's probably the most star-studded. Yeah, the most star-studded lineup we've brought out to Australia, and this being like we've got over 100 people for the Adelaide Conference, which is a one-day affair, and then we've got like 90 odd people for the Brisbane Conference, And then in Sydney, we've got about 140 I mean, the commissioners of the fire services and the heads of engineering companies can't send all their people to Perth, the most distant part of Australia to attend a conference. So we're bringing those speakers to the cities where it's more, it's more achievable for them and a one day event as well, because, you know, you can't take people out for three or four days.

[10:51] Kevin Sofen: No, that's all you need.

[10:53] Mark Reilly: Exactly. Yeah.

[10:54] Kevin Sofen: So Mark, to round us out. Is there any quote or words of wisdom or any sort of any life lesson of sorts that you live by that you could share with us to finish this out today?

[11:05] Mark Reilly: So, you know, I always was told when I was trained by great leaders, male of female leaders who took me under their wing and train me. Leadership is a verb. It's not a noun. Leadership is a. And so it's one thing to say you're a leader, it's another thing to show you're a leader, whether- you're a leader of a fire truck, leading people into a fire or working on a car accident scene, or you're an engineer, you have to show- and engineers are under a huge amount of pressure with financial constraints. So it takes a real leader in an engineering company to make sure that they build the appropriate standards, and they build structures of the safe for people to occupy and firefighters to work in, it's all about leadership is a verb. [inaudible 11:48]

[12:17] Kevin Sofen: podcast. If you found value in this conversation, hit like, leave a comment, share it to someone and tell us what you enjoyed most. Take care and thanks for listening