VCOC Conference

Education for Volunteer & Combination Fire Departments

The IFCA Volunteer & Combination Officers Conference brings education tailored to the officers and members serving volunteer and combination fire departments. Join fire service professionals for practical training, discussion, and ideas you can bring back to your department.

January 22–23, 2027   |   Bloomington, Illinois

Registration is available to fire service personnel only.

DoubleTree by Hilton Bloomington

10 Brickyard Drive, Bloomington, IL 61701

A discounted room rate is available for conference attendees. Book by January 1, 2027 to receive the conference rate.

Reserve your room online or call 309-664-6446. When calling, mention the Illinois Fire Chiefs Association.

Building Comprehension for the Fire Service

Presented by Jeff Lattz

Building Comprehension for the Fire Service goes beyond traditional building construction training to help firefighters develop a practical understanding of how buildings are designed, constructed, operated, and affected during emergency incidents.

Originally developed in 2002, the program addresses an often-overlooked area of fire service education: understanding how a building’s characteristics can influence fire behavior, tactical decisions, firefighter safety, and incident outcomes.

The program includes dedicated content for single-family and multi-family dwellings and is continually researched, updated, and expanded to reflect evolving construction methods, materials, building systems, and fire service challenges.

This session presents a blended overview of key concepts from both programs. Attendees will learn to recognize important building features, understand how construction and occupancy characteristics affect emergency operations, and improve their ability to “read” a building before and during an incident.

Rather than simply identifying construction types, the session gives firefighters and officers a stronger working knowledge of the buildings they encounter every day, allowing them to make safer, more informed, and more effective decisions during emergency responses.

Leadership Through Training, Development, and Coaching

Presented by David Briggs

Through intentional training, professional development, and coaching, individuals can build the knowledge, skills, confidence, and mindset needed to lead others effectively.

Strong leadership development goes beyond preparing someone for a title or position. It creates leaders at every level who understand their responsibility to others, earn trust, make sound decisions, and inspire commitment. Leadership is not simply an innate trait—it can be taught, learned, developed, and embraced.

This session will provide examples and practical methods that attendees can apply throughout their leadership journeys, both on and off the job. It will also explore the powerful role training can play in creating a culture that supports line personnel, management, and the organization’s overall mission.

Jeff Lattz

Jeff Lattz has been a member of the Illinois fire service for more than 33 years. He began as a paid-on-call firefighter with Crete Township in 1992 before joining the Champaign Fire Department in 1995. He retired as a lieutenant in 2015 after serving primarily on a busy engine company and spending four years assigned to a squad.

Jeff also worked for the Illinois Fire Service Institute from 1998 through 2023. During his 25 years with IFSI, he worked in the facilities department designing and constructing training props, burn structures, and research simulators. He also served as a field and lead instructor for programs including recruit academy, Smoke Divers, Advanced Technician Firefighter, Tactics I and II, acquired-structure burns, and engine and truck company classes.

Before beginning his full-time fire service career, Jeff worked in the construction trades with his father and through the union in the Chicago area. He continued managing and completing construction projects throughout his time at IFSI.

Jeff began developing Building Comprehension for the Fire Service in 2002 to address what he saw as a frequently overlooked area of fire service education. The program originally consisted of separate single-family and multi-family dwelling classes, which he often presents in a blended format.

He also offers a traditional Building Construction for the Fire Service course and A Firefighter’s Guide to Building Mechanical Systems. The latter covers electrical and plumbing systems, renewable energy, photovoltaic and battery energy storage systems, standby generators, HVAC systems, elevators, fire pumps, standpipes, alarm systems, and other building components firefighters routinely encounter.

Building construction has remained Jeff’s primary area of focus throughout his career. He has spent thousands of hours researching, developing, and revising his programs and has presented them to more than 6,000 firefighters throughout Illinois and Indiana. His work has also been featured in Fire Engineering magazine.

David “Dave” Briggs

Dave Briggs is the operator of Firefighter Training, Development, and Coaching and serves as fire chief of the Riverside Fire District in Central Wisconsin.

A 25-year student of the fire service, Chief Briggs has 22 years of teaching experience in fire, rescue, and emergency medical services. His work focuses on developing individual firefighters through training, professional development, and coaching to improve organizational outcomes.

His teaching emphasizes intentionality, understanding different perspectives, and functional fire, rescue, and EMS response methodology. Chief Briggs believes well-rounded firefighters equipped with knowledge, practical skills, and sound decision-making abilities are best prepared to manage and mitigate emergency incidents effectively.

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