Karla Klas
Karla Klas was hired in 2026 as a safety specialist at the National Fire Protection Association (NFPA). Her focus at NFPA is on preventing fire and burn injuries by leading the Older Adult Program that is tailored to seniors. Developing fire and life safety programs for seniors has
been an area of focus in the fire service for several years and has become near and dear to me and my wife since both of us are now closer to 80 years old than we are to 70. Karla also serves as a proud member of the NFPA Fire and Life Safety Education Section Executive Board. Prior to joining the staff at NFPA, she spent more than 30 years as a critical care nurse and was the manager of Injury/Violence Prevention at the University of Michigan Trauma Burn Center. While there, she fostered a culture of safety and prevention that extended on both a national and international scale. These experiences and accomplishments endured her to the fire and emergency services community at the state and national levels where she collaborated and partnered for more than three decades with fire service organizations and other colleagues and professionals on numerous endeavors. This includes organizations such as the International Association of Fire Fighters (IAFF) Burn Foundation, the NFPA, the American Burn Association (ABA), and Vision 20/20. Karla’s work has been instrumental in developing numerous burn and fire prevention programs that have had a direct impact on the safety of people in all 50 states and in more than 150 countries. Karla is also widely considered an expert in youth fire-setting prevention, having coordinated programs such as “Straight Talk.” She has been an instructor on this subject at the National Fire Academy (NFA) and at other venues. Due to
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