Bill Hopson is a 27 year veteran of the New Jersey Fire Service. He started his career in 1978 as a firefighter for the Seaside Heights Fire Department and currently serves with the Beachwood (NJ) Fire Department. Since October of 1986, he has served as a Deputy Fire Marshal, for the Ocean County, NJ Fire Marshal's Office. From 1998 to 2002, he served as the Fire Training Coordinator at the Ocean County Training Center - Fire Academy. Bill is a State of New Jersey, Division of Fire Safety Level II certified Fire Service Instructor. He is also certified by the Division of Fire Safety as a Live Burn Instructor, a SCBA instructor and a Smoke House Instructor. He is a published author with both Fire Engineering magazine and the Fire Department Training Network. He is the Lead Instructor and creator of the FDIC H.O.T. evolution "Fixed Burn Building Instructor Training" and has instructed at FDIC, FDIC East and FDIC West. Since 1999, he has also instructed for the New Jersey Division of Fire Safety for both Rutgers University and Kean University. Bill is a certified State of New Jersey, Hazardous Materials Technician and is certified to instruct several National Fire Academy field courses, including "Incident Safety Officer", "Training Challanges for the Local Company Officer" and "Emergency Response to Terrorism - Tactical Considerations for Company Officers". He is also certified by the New Jersey Division of Fire Safety to instruct the Incident Management System I - 100; I - 200 and I - 300 curriculum. In addition, he is a licensed Fire Official and Fire Inspector for the State of New Jersey. For 19 of his 27 years in the Fire Service, he has served as a Line Officer for the fire departments he has served.