Steven M. DeLisi
Steven M. De Lisi is the Deputy Chief of the Virginia Air Guard Fire Rescue located at the Richmond International Airport. The department provides fire protection and aircraft rescue for the 192nd Fighter Wing. De Lisi is a Hazardous Materials Specialist and chairman of the Virginia Fire Chief'ss Association'ss Hazardous Materials Committee.
He is also an adjunct instructor for the Virginia Department of Fire Programs and in that capacity coordinates delivery of a statewide environmental crimes investigation training program. He has an associate's degree in police science, a bachelor's degree in public administration, and a master's degree in public safety leadership. He recently received the Chief Fire Officer Designation from the Commission on Fire Accreditation International.
De Lisi has written several articles for Fire Engineering magazine and is a frequent speaker at PennWell's Fire Department Instructor Conferences. He is a member of the International Association of Fire Chiefs, the Virginia Association of Hazardous Material Response Specialists, and a former member of the National Fire Protection Association's committee on Hazardous Materials Protective Clothing.
De Lisi began his fire service career in 1972 as a volunteer firefighter on Long Island, New York in his hometown of Plainview. Many days and nights were spent at what was then known as the "Firemen's School of Instruction" located in Nassau County, learning fire service values that included teamwork, discipline, and dedication to one's mission. These values still ring true today.
In 1982, De Lisi joined the Newport News Fire Department located in the Hampton Roads region of Virginia and first served as a firefighter assigned to the department’s hazardous materials team. Organized HAZMAT response by fire departments in Virginia was then just beginning and each day proved more challenging than the last as firefighters learned the art of using "Level A" suits and conducting research on chemicals without the benefit of computers. In 1987, De Lisi was promoted to the rank of training officer and in 1990 to the rank of lieutenant.
As a company officer, he was assigned to fire station 2, which then housed one of the busiest engines in the city for structure fire and EMS response. De Lisi relocated to metro Richmond in 1992 and began employment with the Commonwealth of Virginia, serving as a regional training manager for the Virginia Department of Fire Programs. In that capacity, he was responsible to coordinate the efforts of several hundred adjunct instructors delivering state-sponsored firefighter training to fire departments located from metro Richmond to the eastern shore of Virginia. He joined the ranks of the Virginia Department of Emergency Management (VDEM) in 1997, returning fulltime to HAZMAT response duty as a hazardous materials officer.
His responsibilities included on-scene coordination of state assets to support local response to hazardous material emergencies, coordination of the metro Richmond HAZMAT Team Workgroup, and serving as a member of several local emergency planning committees. While employed with VDEM, De Lisi served as a volunteer firefighter for Chesterfield Fire and EMS and today continues as one of their adjunct instructors. Just prior to employment with the Virginia Air Guard Fire Rescue in 2002, De Lisi had helped to establish the Central Virginia Environmental Crimes Taskforce and coordinate development of a document entitled Resource Guide for the Investigation of Environmental Crimes.
