TESTIMONIALS

Good evening chief .  I just wanted to take a minute to say thank you for a great presentation today in Massapequa. It was great to learn from you some great tactics and knowledge. I truly enjoyed it.  Thank you again for a great class. Hope to see you in the future.  Have a great night. Be well, be safe.

Robert Warnken

Massapequa Ladder 2 

=========================================

It was a pleasure meeting you yesterday at the Mass fire Academy..  Your topic and comments really hit home with me as I have been trying to articulate these feelings for a while.  I have been the department’s training captain for 10 months and have streamlined the new hire process with an educational mini academy prior to going to the full-time academy and the feedback has been fantastic from our recruits who feel prepared and are embracing the culture.  We have hired 26 firefighters this year (our roster is 110) and our department is now really young with a bunch of new officers.  I have the foundation of a new officer training program built and I was feverishly taking notes yesterday as your slideshow hit many key points.  Thank you for your time and attention. — Fire Chief’s Assoc of Masachusetts

Respectfully,

Capt. Rich Shellene

Haverhill Fire Department

Haverhill MA  01835

=====================================================================================

Good Evening,

My name is Charles Evans. Three members of our Volunteer Fire Department attended both of your Friday Seminars.  Thank you for your time.  We were pleasantly surprised how much we were able to relate to your classes, coming from a small Fire Department.  I serve as the Training Officer for our Department.  I also plan on ordering your books.  The classes we took, and the Expo inspired us.  — South Atlantic Fire Rescue Expo

========================================================================

Had a great time learning and networking at the NJ Fire and EMS Seminar. Always things to learn from Chief Avillo. Great job as always. Thank you for a great day.

Bob Morris, Fire Coordinator, Ocean County, NJ

=======================================================================================

Good afternoon, Chief,

I was in attendance of your presentation today and I must say that the way you broke down the scene size up made it easily understandable for any anyone in the fire service regardless of experience. Thank you.

Robert Fizer

============================================================================

Chief,

Great class today!

Thank you!

Joe Schehr

Chief of Training

City Of Warren Fire Department

===============================================================================

Chief,

First off, amazing presentation today. I truly enjoyed it and hope to one day be a great presenter as you were. I took a lot away from you presentation.

Looking forward to seeing you in the Command Class tomorrow.

Thank you again for sharing your knowledge with us today.

Thank you
John Skelly III
Firefighter/Paramedic IC
Washington Township Fire Department

======================================

Good Morning, it’s 0340 in the morning and I just got done listening to National Fire Radio. It was great to listen  to your presentation on Leadership. I greatly appreciate you giving credit to Ron Jeffers and Damien Danis for their photos. I know Ron probably 50 years and Damien 10 years. I would love to read your parallel Football and the
Fire Service.
I wish the present generation would avail themselves of opportunities to learn about the Fire Service. Sadly they think they know everything. I wish when I started in Service I had the same opportunities. I believe I had you and Chief Nasta speak to our Fire Department ( North Caldwell) about Townhomes. I am glad we had Rob Pisani on our FD for few years and he imparted his knowledge to us.
Stay safe and I look forward to reading your other articles.

John Anthony

==========================================================

Hey Chief I just sat through your high rise class. I was sitting in the front row, and I just have to say your reputation among the fire service is already outstanding but you lived up to it. One of the better classes I’ve taken. I really got a lot out of it. If there’s any other classes you think I should take feel free to throw them out to me. Again awesome class.

Colin Quinn. NJ Firefighter

==============================================

Dear Anthony Avillo,

I trust this email finds you well.

I recently attended your classroom presentation on “Strategies and Tactics: High-Rise Operation Concerns of Building Ventilation,” and I found the content both insightful and valuable. Your expertise in the field truly made the session engaging and informative.

Best regards,

Kuomar Fitzgerald 

Training Instructor 

East Orange Fire Department 

==========================================

Sir-

I thought your class was great, one of the best ones I had at FDIC.

Thank you!

Respectfully,

Stef Anderson

Battalion Chief

Clallam County Fire District #3

=====================================================================

Chief Avillo,

I wanted to thank you for taking time out of your busy schedule to present at FDIC. 

The amount of notes and information I gained is greatly appreciated and invaluable. 

Thank you again for sharing your time and knowledge with us.

Kari Davis

===================================

Good morning Chief,

Thank you for a great class at FDIC this year! I thoroughly enjoyed your class and learned a lot. Thank you for sharing your knowledge and experiences with us. I have several of yours and Chief Flood’s quotes printed out and posted in my locker at the firehouse. I was wondering if you would be willing to share your presentation from FDIC. I had never heard of the “click” method for ground ladders and would like to pass it on to other members at my department. 

Thank you again,

Dave

David M. Blados

Lieutenant /Paramedic

Fairport Harbor Fire Dept.

220 Third Street

Fairport Harbor, Ohio 44077

==============================================================

Dear Chief,

  I just wanted to thank you for the informative and awesome training at FDIC on Monday.  I also purchased your book and I am looking forward to gaining more of your insight.

Thanks,

Paul Baptie

Captain, Wickliffe Fire Department

29885 Euclid Ave.

==========================================

Hello Chief Avillo

My name is Federico Fuentes volunteer firefighter in Chile. I attent yesterday to your masterclass Strategic decisión Making. 

I wanted to say thank you for the course, for all the lessons and help. — FDIC 2024 attendee

===================================

Chief Avillo was a spectacular instructor with a crazy amount of knowledge. The presentation was great, with pictures he actually took or knew about and could talk about. He kept stories relevant, brief, and interesting. He was engaging and funny while still maintaining a serious demeanor about the job. Possibly the best lecture I have ever sat in for the fire department. — Key City Conference attendee

============================================================================

Good afternoon Chief,

Just wanted to say  I’ve read your Full Contact Leadership and was excited and very happy with your presentation on Wednesday at the Health and Safety Conference.  Appreciate everything you’ve done and continue to do for the fire service!

Thank You!

Chris St Joseph

Captain\Paramedic

City of Watertown Fire Department

===============================================

 Good afternoon Chief

I attended your seminar at the Suffolk Community College in Brentwood this past Friday. My name is John fortunato from the West Islip Fire Department. I just wanted to tell you that I appreciate the info that you shared and I will be sharing the ladder placement technique you shared. I was also on a call the next day we had a duct detector activation and we needed to find the location of the units. We used google maps . Looking forward to attending another one of your seminars.

Thank you
John Fortunato

======================================

Deputy,

I was in attendance for your presentation over the weekend at the NE FOOLS Fire Summit. I wanted to let you know that so much of what you said really clicked in my brain and I know I will be a better officer because of it. More importantly I can’t wait to share it the other officer on my shift. I would like to take you up on your offer of sharing your powerpoint with me so I can share the information with him. Thank you again and I can’t wait to read some of your books.

Doug Hanks

Captain

Devens Fire Department

========================================

The information provided in FULL-CONTACT LEADERSHIP transcends leadership training from building leaders in the Fire Field to building leaders in any  chosen field of endeavor. The themes presented are universal and powerful in raising the game of those who lead other  Some men are born to lead others because of their innate abilities but Full-Contact Leadership provides the skills and lessons to build more effective leaders, leaders who will inspire their associates , leaders who can communicate and teach enhanced technical skills and most importantly through their stewardship return their charges safely home to their families as there is no higher calling

Joseph Vitale

CT Business Manager

====================================================================

Good evening Chief,

I wanted to thank you for your presentation at the Fire Chiefs Conference in Ruidoso this weekend. You brought to light many tactics that will contribute to an effective, efficient and most importantly, a safer scene. 

Thank you again and have a great day,

Rich Austin

Station Chief

McKinley West Station 44

McKinley County Fire & Rescue, New Mexico

======================================

Chief Avillo,

Thank you so much for presenting at the MN Chiefs Conference last weekend.  I really enjoyed your presentation and the way you present!  Straight to the point, no BS and a format that a boots on the ground chief understands and can relate to.  I appreciate how you “work the crowd” by walking the room.  I know it made it easy to stay engaged – a real walkie talkie. 

I am asking for a copy of your slide show.  I was trying to take some notes but didn’t get all that I wanted.

I copied clear no photos or videos as you don’t like to spend spare time in court.

Thank you again and look forward to hearing you present again – hopefully sooner than 12 years!

Best,

Rick Denneson

Deputy Chief

Maple Plain Fire Department

=================================

Hi Anthony.

Thank you so much for taking the time to share your experience with us.  We’re struggling to replace a toxic culture of laziness and self-service by cutting out customer, the City, the Department, and our teams before ourselves.  Your discussion was on point for us and If your willing to share your slides, a few of us would like to incorporate many of the principles you present into our officer training.

Thanks so much.  

Jeff Wallin, CFO, EFO

Fire Chief, City of Moorhead

====================================

Chief Avillo,

Thank you for your presentation on Saturday morning at the Minnesota Fire Chief’s Conference.  It was the best part of my conference.

Could you please share your slides from the presentation?  Please know you will not need to contact your cousin who makes olive oil.  I will only be using it within my organization.

Justin M. Sherwood, CFO, MIFireE

Fire Chief

Bemidji Fire Department

Bemidji, MN 56601

=======================================

Chief,

I had the opportunity to attend your presentation at last weeks Minnesota Fire Chiefs conference and it enjoyed it thoroughly. Would you be able to share your slides? There are several points you covered that we wanted to bring back to our officer’s group.

Thanks,

Peter Hanlin, Assistant Fire Chief 

Red Wing Fire Department

420 Plum Street | Red Wing MN 55066  

====================================================

Hi Chief,

I enjoyed your talk in Syracuse today and definitely heard some stuff I want to share with my coworkers. Would you mind sending the PowerPoint and your SOP?

 I also was intrigued by the “command kit” you mentioned. We just started carrying a big command-board suitcase thing, and adding some job aids for essential positions to it might be useful. If you have copies of the documents you showed on those clipboards, I would love to have a look at them to see if they can be adapted for our use.

I work for Syracuse Fire Dept, and we have had an increase in residential highrise fires lately. We have been trying to modernize our highrise SOPs, but the habit of treating all buildings like a 2.5 wood frame house is hard to break. I think some of the ways you described things might help us think about how we organize our highrise firegrounds.

Thanks for coming to town to speak at the conference. That round hotel is in my district. We go there a lot.

Sara Errington

Syracuse NY Fire Department

===================================

Chief, 

I was in your high rise class this morning in Syracuse. As always, it was a great presentation. Thanks for coming up.

Andrew Naklick

Fire Captain/MTO

Watertown Fire Department

Watertown NY 13601

==================================================

Good morning!

I attended your Full Contact Leadership class last weekend at the MSFCA in Duluth. I thought it was great. I also manage people in my day job and thought a lot of the principles would apply there to.

Thanks!

Steve Dietel

Production Build Manager

======================================

Chief Avillo,

I attended the classes you taught at the MSFCA last week. Thanks for teaching “When the buildings change the rules of the game” on short notice. It was a great presentation. I also attended the Full Contact Leadership class you taught on Saturday morning.  Would you be able to send me the PowerPoints from these two classes? I want to share them with the rest of my leadership team.

Thank You,

Matt Nelson | Fire Chief City of Apple Valley 7100 147^th Street West | Apple Valley, MN 55124

========================================

Good Evening Chief, 

This is Collin here (I talked to you before your presentation at the Joey D. seminar).

I just wanted to let you know that your presentation was phenomenal!! It very much solidified the information I have read in your books, and put other items into better perspective. 

Of all the speeches that day, which were very compelling, your’s was second to none (in my humble opinion). Your ability to convey messages was sublime, along with adding safety awareness. I took the most notes from your presentation. It was extremely helpful and beneficial in furthering my thought processes.

I hope that I can keep in contact with you, although I know that you are quite busy. I also hope I can take more classes from you in the future. 

Thank you again for making an impact on my career as a firefighter! If you have anything to pass on, I will surely be a glad recipient.

Collin Hofschulte – Duluth, MN Fire Dept

============================================

Chief Avillo,

I hope you are well. First of all, I want to thank you for coming to MAFFC and spreading your knowledge and traditions of the Fire Service. I attended your Fire Officer Excellence class yesterday afternoon and really got a ton out of it. I am a recently promoted Driver Engineer with 8 years on but have hopes of becoming an officer and possibly a chief someday. The topics you covered really made a lot of sense to me and I would like to spread that knowledge to others in my department.

Stay safe and thank you for your time,

Robert Leon Parr | Driver Engineer | ITG Instructor
Gwinnett Fire & Emergency Services | Employee Support and Training 

========================

Chief, just wanted to say “Thank you” for last night. While it’s been a very long time since I physically sat in one of your classes, it felt as though a decade had passed in a blink of an eye. Your passion, energy, and delivery are as profound as I remember from MCFA. I’ve already received many compliments on your lecture and questions about you coming back. In short, you were amazing (as always) and it was a personal treat to see you again. Thanks for everything.. Joe Fontana  Long Hill CT FD

==============================================================

Full Contact Leadership

Probably the most comprehensive book I’ve ever read about leadership outside of the military. I’ve had the privilege with taking classes on some of the material that the authors wrote about in this book. I’ve also taken other classes Avillo has lectured on. Reading Flood and Avillo’s book, and then taking his classes and seeing how it all ties in to the book was an amazing experience. Flood and Avillo are what every fire officer should aspire to be and the true definition of what leadership should look like. This is a great read for those looking to learn about leadership or those looking to become fire lieutenants, captains, and chiefs.

======================================================================

Fireground Strategies

This is THE tactics book in my opinion. I love it. I am actually reading it a second time just for fun and review. I bought it for my tactics 1 and 2 class and I loved it. By far the best fire book I have read.

Excellent book. This was reading material for my upcoming captains test. Loved the book, although here in South Florida, many of the building types explained are not found. Regardless, was fun to read and walked away feeling much more familiar with firefighting strategy. A+

Well written book with a lot of information on newer buildings and strategies to consider in them.

Soup to Nuts, Best fire text available!