Nicholas "Nick" Kalina, CFPS - President and Founder
Nick developed a passion for the fire service at an early age. He graduated in 2001 from the "West Point of the Fire Service", Oklahoma State University, obtaining a Bachelor of Science degree in Fire Protection and Safety Engineering Technology. Since graduating, he has worked in the insurance industry, municipal fire service, and the private consulting, inspection, and plan review sector. He is currently a full-time firefighter, licensed paramedic, and hazardous materials technician for a large suburban career fire department in the Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex.
Throughout his fire service career, Nick has worked on his days off reviewing fire protection, life safety, and building plans; performing code consultation and interpretation, and conducting fire inspections for a private third party company in the Chicagoland area, and more recently, for a large suburban fire department in the Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex. He has experience in all types of occupancies ranging from highly protected risk groups to residential. He is a member of the International Code Council, National Fire Protection Association, Fire Prevention Association of North Texas, and the North Texas Fire Investigators Association. He is a NFPA Certified Fire Protection Specialist (CFPS) and holds active ICC certifications as a Fire Inspector 1 and 2, Fire Plans Examiner, and Residential Fire Sprinkler Inspector/Plans Examiner.
Emily Kalina, P.E. - - Chief Executive Officer
Emily graduated in 2001 from Oklahoma State University with a Bachelor of Science in Mechanical Engineering, where she was one of the Top 5 College of Engineering, Architecture and Technology graduates for that year. After passing the EIT exam and upon graduation, she went to work in the Chicagoland area, and later in the Dallas-Ft. Worth Metroplex, for a Fortune 100 company specializing in commercial building efficiency, where she found she had a passion for the construction industry. Her focus was on large new construction projects, particularly involving university buildings, hospitals and skyscrapers. She focused on influencing the design and construction with executive level contractors and consultants by providing comprehensive technology solutions involving the HVAC, fire, and security systems. Emily achieved Masters Account Executive status in sales, being in the top 10% nationwide. In recent years, Emily discovered she had a shared interest with Nick in fire protection engineering and became a licensed Fire Protection Engineer in Texas, Oklahoma, and Florida.
