About Us: Bruce Hensler

Senior Policy / GIS Analyst His areas of responsibility include municipal public policy and GIS analysis for the public sector and economic development. He holds a BS in fire service administration and a Master of Public Administration degree. In 2007, he completed the Graduate Certificate Program in Geographic Information Systems with Penn State University.

Bruce has over 34 years experience as a career and paid-call firefighter serving in positions from firefighter to fire chief. He is currently a paid-call lieutenant for the Rockport Fire Department where he has served for nearly 20 years. His professional credentials include board certified fire protection specialist and EMT-Basic. Bruce spent 11 years in the Maine Fire Service Training Program where he was instrumental in developing new training programs and served as Deputy Director of Operations.

He wrote a book on nineteenth-century urban fires and the role they played in shaping urban planning, fire insurance underwriting, and the modern fire serviceThe book titled, Crucible of Fire: Nineteenth Century Urban Fires and the Making of the Modern Fire Service will be published by Potomac Books late in 2010. For more about Bruce, his book, fire photography, and fire service experience visit his website: www.brucehensler.com

Read an article Bruce wrote on complexity in the contemporary fire service for the November 2007 issue of the Maine Townsman.