MSFA Instructor Advanced Barry Burnside Earns Doctorate
JACKSON, Miss. – Mississippi State Fire Academy (MSFA) Sr Instructor Advanced Barry Burnside wears many hats. Most recently he added a Graduation cap to his Firefighter’s helmet.
Burnside lives in Clinton and is the former Fire Chief for the city. He successfully defended his dissertation in July, earning his doctorate in Urban and Regional Planning from Jackson State University. The dissertation analyzed California wildfires from 2017-2018 and highlighted the problems after these wildfires occurred. Burnside’s research focused on the environmental impacts of Wildland fires, highlighting the health risks to firefighters.
“I was curious: ‘What are the environmental implications of structure fires involving various synthetic and hazardous materials?’” Said Burnside, “This question later became the focus based on recent catastrophic wildfires in California and the magnitude of death and destruction when hundreds to tens-of-thousands of structures burn, I found it to be important to consider the implications of such fires through the lens of urban planning.”
“Instructor Burnside’s research could help protect firefighters in the future as we build communities, plan evacuation routes, and consider all around firefighter and environmental safety,” said MSFA Executive Director Terry Wages. “All of us at the Fire Academy are very proud of Barry’s achievement.”
Burnside’s dissertation was titled “Assessing Impacts of Wildland-Urban Interface Fires: A Case Study Analysis of Wildfire in California.”
