Executive Director Dr. Rita Watkins (left) and Chief Deputy Laurie Christensen (right)
Harris County – Harris County Fire Marshal’s Office Chief Deputy Laurie Christensen recently received state certification in the Fire Executive Management Training (FEMT) program, becoming one of the first women to graduate from this program at Sam Houston State University.
“We are proud of Chief Deputy Christensen’s accomplishment of completing the first ever FEMT program,” said Harris County Fire Marshal Mike Montgomery. “The training received through FEMT has better equipped Chief Christensen to serve the residents of Harris County and lead HCFMO staff.”
The Law Enforcement Management Institute of Texas (LEMIT) partnered with the Texas Fire Marshals’ Association to provide the first executive management training session for the discipline in the nation. The program addresses the professional qualifications for fire marshals and evaluates the knowledge, skills and abilities needed to meet essential tasks of the job based on National Fire Protection Association standards. FEMT focuses on the day-to-day operations of the job as well as community risk assessments and resource distribution. Admission into the program is competitive and based on an application process.
“Continuing education and leadership skills are of paramount importance in the fire service,” said Chief Deputy Laurie Christensen. “We saw a void in this type of training for fire marshals, so we created a partnership with Sam Houston State University to fill that void and created the FEMT program. This program is the first of its kind nationwide, and I was proud to be a part of it.”
Christensen is the president of the Texas Fire Marshals’ Association and part of the team that helped create the FEMT program. The FEMT program is the first of its kind in the nation for executive professionals in the fire service. FEMT consist of two 40-hour modules on the Sam Houston State University campus at LEMIT, in addition to an out-of-class project called a Leadership Portfolio. Visit the FEMT website for more information about the program.