(888) 977-1635

Our Authors

The Fire Services Training Institute (FSTI) provides training to today’s volunteer public safety community including non-profit, industrial and tribal fire agencies.

Member Resources

Briefing Room

Find solutions to the challenges confronting the volunteer fire service with Mike Williams.

Table Talk

Interviews with Chief Ronny J. Coleman based on his book The Chief’s Clipboard 

FSTINet/LAAFMA/CalArsonNet

LAAFMA Discussion List joins with FSTINet Training issues and CalArsonNet arson investigation issues. 

Alertar y Preparar Listos

Register for Santa Barbara County Emergency Alerts.

Our Authors

Michael S. Williams, President & Executive Director

Williams spent over a dozen years in California law enforcement and was a POST certified field training officer. In 2006 he founded the Fire Services Training Institute (FSTI) to find solutions to the challenges confronting the volunteer fire service. He has been an active member of California State Firefighters’ Association (CSFA) since 1994, having served on the volunteer and public relations committees, and as a southern division deputy director. He sits on several local organizations including the Santa Barbara County CERT Executive Committee, Santa Barbara County Fire Safe Council, the Tri-Counties Training Officer’s Association, Santa Barbara Chapter of CAER and is a founding member of the Santa Barbara PIO group Emergency Public Information Communicators (EPIC). Since 2008, Williams has served on the California State Board of Fire Services representing CSFA and the volunteer fire fighters of California. He has received many professional awards including the Los Angeles Police Department’s “Meritorious Unit Citation,” Santa Barbara Citizens’ Council on Crime “Thomas Guerry Award,” “Skill in Conflict Resolution” award and the California State Firefighters’ “Tom Garner Award” for his seven year production of HELOPS in Santa Ynez.

In 2012, FSTI was named as one of the group recipients of the California Volunteers Governors Award for the countywide Santa Barbara County CERT program. FSTI provided the program for the Cities of Buelton and Solvang as well as the Santa Ynez Valley.

Williams is an established writer on public safety issues and co-host of the California Fire Safe Council and FSTI sponsored radio show Community Alert on KZSB – AM 1290 in Santa Barbara.

Ron Coleman

Chief Ronny J. Coleman is the retired State Fire Marshal for the State of California. He has received a Masters of Arts Degree in Vocational Education from Cal State Long Beach, a Bachelors of Science Degree in Political Science from Cal State Fullerton and an Associate of Arts Degree in Fire Science from Rancho Santiago College. Chief Coleman proudly served in the United States Marine Corps.

Paul Stein

Chief Stein retired from the Santa Monica Fire Department after a 31 years. He then served as interim fire chief for the Lakeside Fire Protection District. During his career he served as a line officer, battalion commander, fire marshal, training officer and fire chief. Chief Stein served as Fire Technology Coordinator at Santa Monica College, an instructor for the California Fire Academy System and is a former adjunct faculty member for the National Fire Academy. Chief Stein has been honored as the “California Fire Instructor of the Year” and in 2010 awarded the Fire Services Training Institute’s “Howard W. Rayon Distinguished Service Award.” Chief Stein has written management articles for every major fire service magazine in the country, authored a college fire technology textbook and produced two videos on fire department oral examinations. For the past 30 years, Chief Stein has worked as a trainer and management consultant performing services for over 200 organizations with an expertise in leadership and incident command. He has been involved in management and organizational reviews, strategic planning, team building, officer development with emphasis on ethical leadership, diversity, civility, and emergency incident mitigation. Chief Stein is considered one of the top emergency service keynote speakers in the United States.

Dave Hubert

Dave “HUBIE” Hubert devoted over 31 years to the firefighting profession, serving in many different positions from firefighter, to Fire Defense Coordinator prior to his retirement in 1997 as Fire Captain from Orange County Fire Authority in Southern California. Throughout his career, Dave’s cartoons – named “HUBIEs” – have appeared in fire service magazines, decorating fire station walls, T-shirts as well as illustrations on everything from personalized birthday and retirement tributes to attention-getting humorous cartoons in fire training books including technical art for formal instruction manuals.

Contact Us

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How to Reach Us

PO Box 550, Santa Barbara, CA 93116

(888) 977-1635

Who We Are

FSTI has provided training to the volunteer public safety community since 2006. It has been our mission to provide high quality training to firefighters while at the same time promoting community safety.

Fire Services Training Institute (FSTI) is a non-profit public benefit corporation with both state and federal tax exempt status.