2026 THAT DAM FIre Conference
Register HERE
September 25th and 26th 2026
Lecture Series Location-
Holiday Inn Express Ankeny
2502 SE Hulsizer Dr, Ankeny IA 50021
Hands On Training Location-
Mayday Mindset- Urbandale Fire Training Tower
3927 121st St, Urbandale, IA 50323
The Can Man- Saylor Township Fire Department
211 NW 54th Ave, Des Moines, IA 50313
Hotel Information
Holiday Inn Express Ankeny
2502 SE Hulsizer Dr, Ankeny IA 50021
515-965-2400
$139 per night (Block Name- 2026 D.A.M. Fire Conference)
**Make sure to tell the hotel that you are part of the FOOLS fire Conference
friday’s Lecture Series
Fully Involved Leadership: Building Trust, Accountability, and a Culture of Excellence - Mark vonAppen
Class- In Fully Involved Leadership, Mark vonAppen delivers a raw, passionate, and experience-driven presentation that challenges leaders to own their influence, embrace accountability, and build trust through consistent action. Rooted in his “Big 4” principles—Do Your Job, Treat People Right, Give All Out Effort, and Have an All In Attitude—vonAppen explores how high-performing teams are built on clarity, integrity, and shared purpose. Drawing from decades in the fire service, he connects real-world lessons from the fireground and the kitchen table to universal leadership challenges in any organization. Through stories, humor, and hard truths, vonAppen shows that leadership isn’t about titles or authority—it’s about earning respect, creating buy-in, and modeling the behaviors you expect from others. Attendees leave with actionable tools to strengthen their culture, improve communication, and lead with authenticity, humility, and courage
Instructor Bio- Mark vonAppen is a nationally recognized fire service leader, speaker, and creator of the Fully Involved movement—a leadership philosophy that has influenced thousands of firefighters and leaders across the country. With over 25 years of fire service experience, vonAppen has served in multiple operational and leadership roles, developing a reputation for his no-nonsense approach to team dynamics, communication, and personal accountability. A decorated firefighter, instructor, and writer, vonAppen’s work has been featured in Fire Engineering, FireRescue, and numerous leadership forums nationwide. His teaching blends the grit of experience with the heart of mentorship, challenging leaders to confront complacency and build cultures where excellence is expected and earned every day.
The Senior Man- Jess Rodzinka
In a firehouse there is formal leadership: Fire Chief, Battalion Chief, Captain, Lieutenant. However there is informal leadership in the firehouse, the Senior man. In this class we will discuss how to be a senior man. Whether you have 2 years of 20, this class will talk about being the informal leader in the firehouse, at the kitchen table or even out for an evening with the brothers and sisters.
Instructor Bio- Jess is 29 year volunteer/career veteran of the fire service. He is a Captain for the Charlottesville Fire Department in Virginia. He is currently assigned to Engine 5. Prior to working for Charlottesville, Jess worked for Staunton Fire and Rescue for 11 years where he was assigned to truck 1 and Engine 2. Jess holds certifications in Virginia for Officer 4 and Instructor 3. A constant student of the craft Jess teaches truck company operations as well as forcible entry up and down the east coast. Jess is an Instructor at 350' Line, Fill the Box Training, Makin' the Stretch, Fort Lauderdale Fire Expo, Andy Fredricks Training Days, Wichita HOT, Carolina Fire Days, Tailboard, Rockingham Regional School, Fireground Commander Conference and the Key City Conference.
Mayday Mindset- Robert Ramirez
This class will cover the most up to date experienced driven firefighter survival and RIT/RIC training models and curriculums entirely backed by real world data. Rob will address the effects that these high energy, low frequency, life or death, emotional events have on our tactical and strategic decision-making process. This discussion will teach today’s Fire Service Instructors the most practically effective approach to addressing the psychological and physiological preparations necessary to command, deploy, and survive the modern fireground. Attendees of any experience level or rank will be provided with an interactive and honest look into our history and data. The objective of this dynamic presentation is to train your department’s trainers by building on what has been learned from past mayday incidents, and through the application of Rob’s gradual, realistic, purposeful, controlled actions under stress approach to any mayday incident. Rob’s goal is for the audience to leave this presentation equipped with data driven, street proven, effective, real-world solutions to better train and prepare today’s firefighters. This course will be delivered in a raw and uninhibited manner and focuses on the premise that OUR feelings are not FACTS, and that your expectations and not check boxes should run fireground decisions!
Instructor Bio- Division Chief Rob Ramirez has been a student of the Fire Service for over 22 years and holds a degree in Fire Science. Rob is a state certified Fire Instructor II, Fire Officer II, Safety Officer, and Live Fire Training Officer. Since 2006, he has served as a Rescue Team Manager for the Department of Homeland Security F.E.M.A. U.S.A.R. Florida Task Force 2 out of Miami, Fl. He has been on many high-profile USAR deployments including Hurricane Katrina in 2005 and the Haiti earthquake in 2010. Rob is the lead Instructor of Fire, Military, and Special Operations classes for National Rescue Consultants, an all-hazards national training company based out of West Palm Beach, Florida. He is the founder of the Firefighter Advanced Survival Techniques program, formerly delivered at the Coral Springs Fire Academy located in Florida from 2014-2018. Rob is also the lead instructor for the Firefighter Rescue and Survival program at the annual Ft. Lauderdale Fire Training Expo; an Engine Company Instructor at both the Orlando Fire Conference (OFC) and the Metro Atlanta Firefighter Conference (MAFFC). Throughout his Fire Service career, he has held the ranks of Firefighter, Paramedic, Lieutenant, Dept. Training Officer, and Captain. Rob is currently the Division Chief of Training and Safety for the Jupiter Fire Rescue Dept in South Florida.
Saturday’s Hands-on-training
Mayday Mindset- Robert Ramirez
The Mayday Mindset HOT program is backed entirely by decades of real-world experience and the most up-to-date firefighter survival and proactive RIT training models available. This one-of-a-kind training program focuses entirely on providing today's firefighters with the necessary tools to teach, learn, develop and excel at any fire ground skill. In addition to this, Rob and his cadre will highlight the unquestionable benefits of understanding physiology, human behavior patterns, and the effective introduction of artificial stress during firefighter training. This physically challenging class will also ensure that attendees of any rank or tenure are equipped with the most relevant, data-driven solutions available to become better instructors and firefighters. This program will be delivered in the rawest and most emotive manner and focuses on the premise that "If you can't truck, you can't RIT"
PPE Required: Full PPE with SCBA and Spare Bottle.
The "CAN MAN"- Jess Rodzinka
The water can is the most under utilized tool on the fire apparatus. We carry them on eveything: engine, truck companies, medic ambulances. However we were never shown the true capability of the 2.5 gallon water can. This class will go through a brief lecture to discuss the water can and search techniques with the can. Then head to the hands on portion where we will demonstrate the effectiveness of the water can. The students will then proceed to go through several rotations of scenarios to obtain the knowledge, skills and abilities to perform the "Can position"
PPE Required: Full PPE with SCBA and Spare Bottle.