Hughes Fire Equipment and its affiliate companies are proud to announce the appointment of Ryan Burchnell as Chief Executive Officer of Emergency Technical Decon (ETD) and Emergent. Burchnell will lead strategy, growth, and profitability efforts across the entire family of Hughes businesses, helping shape the future of public safety technology and decontamination solutions.
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With more than three decades of public safety leadership, Burchnell brings unparalleled experience to the Hughes Family's organizations. He most recently served as Area Vice President for FirstNet and Public Safety at AT&T, where his leadership helped grow the FirstNet business nearly 9X annual revenue. Prior to his tenure at AT&T, he held top executive roles at the Alabama State Police and Florida Highway Patrol, including a stint as CTO for the Florida Department of Highway Safety.
"We've experienced tremendous growth over the last five years, and Ryan's addition ensures we can scale intentionally and sustainably," said Rex Hughes, owner of Hughes Fire Equipment and its affiliates. "His operational expertise and vision will help drive the next chapter of innovation for our customers and our teams."
Burchnell will work closely with Mike Duyck, CEO of Hughes Fire Equipment and Hughes Heavy Equipment. Together, they will align operational leadership across the organizations.
"Ryan's commitment to public safety runs deep, and his track record speaks for itself," said Mike Duyck, retired Fire Chief and CEO of both Hughes Fire Equipment and Hughes Heavy Equipment. "We're confident his leadership will expand our impact across the fire and EMS industries while staying true to the mission of protecting first responders and the communities they serve."
A U.S. Marine Corps veteran, Burchnell holds a bachelor's degree in criminology from Florida State University and a master's in homeland security from the U.S. Naval Postgraduate School and is a graduate of the FBI National Academy.
Burchnell joins the organizations at an exciting time for the companies as Emergency Technical Decon just opened its West Coast facility in Portland, Oregon, on Aug. 12 and Emergent continues rapid development of its solution to meet public safety best practices.
