Mr. Duval,

Robert Duval has been the Fire Investigator for the NFPA (National Fire Protection Association), which is based in Quincy, Massachusetts, since 1997. He is responsible for conducting investigations of technically significant incidents in order to gather, “Lessons Learned” from each incident to apply those lessons to improving NFPA codes and standards. The investigation of these incidents includes documenting the emergency services response, the structure(s) involved as well as the events leading up to and following the incident. Mr. Duval was named the New England Regional Manager for NFPA in 2003. His region recently expanded to include NY and NJ and is now referred to as the Northeast Region. As Regional Director, he is responsible for outreach within the northeast states regarding code adoptions, and training. He also serves as a point of contact for stakeholders in the NFPA process; including the fire service, engineering and safety professionals. Mr. Duval was a member of the FEMA Building Performance and Assessment Team (BPAT) that studied the World Trade Center disaster in 2001.

Mr. Duval recently reviewed the fire service response to the Merrimack Valley, MA gas over-pressurization incident of September 2018, a BESS explosion that seriously injured four firefighters in Surprise, AZ in April 2019, as well as a fatal high-rise fire in Minneapolis, MN in November 2019 for NFPA Journal magazine. He has served as the Chief of the Atwood Hose Fire Company in his hometown of Wauregan, CT, where he has been a member since 1981, since 2012. Mr. Duval has worked as an emergency services dispatcher in a regional fire department dispatch center in northeastern Connecticut since 1986. He also serves on the instructional staff of the Eastern CT Fire Training School. Mr. Duval is a Past President of the CT Fire Chiefs Association and a member of the CT Fire Service Hall of Fame, Class of 2021. He serves as a Communications Specialist for CT-TF1 – Connecticut State Urban Search and Rescue Task Force, and is also a member of the CT Region 4 Incident Management Team (IMT – 4). Mr. Duval holds a bachelor’s degree in Mechanical Engineering Technology from Northeastern University in Boston, MA.