Leadership Bios
Laura Poole - President
As President, Ms. Poole oversees the administration of all business activities and serves as contract administrator. She works with our teaming partners to insure that binding agreements are in place and proper insurance coverage provided. A graduate of Purdue University, she is an experienced computer programmer and analyst. Her financial background and business experience strengthens Poole Fire Protection’s ability to stay on top of a project’s budget and progress.
Jack Poole, PE - Principal
Mr. Poole earned his Bachelor of Science Degree in Fire Protection Engineering from the University of Maryland, College Park, in 1986. He is a Registered Fire Protection Engineer in 29 states and has 23 years of experience. As Principal of Poole Fire Protection, his expertise includes fire suppression and detection system design; fire hazards analyses, fire risk assessments; construction management; and fire protection water distribution system evaluations. He has also provided legal testimony for fire investigations, code analyses, life safety and fire protection system design testing and maintenance.
Mr. Poole has experience performing fire and egress modeling to analyze the growth rates and effects of the fire. This includes the evaluation of safe exit capacity for large assembly, business and educational occupancies and to analyze post fire events.
He has served as project manager, project engineer and lead fire protection engineer on projects for public and private sector clients. His responsibilities have included serving as a primary contact between clients, planning design schedules, scheduling manpower and staffing, meeting the confines of the budget, and coordinating the fire protection engineering tasks to assure a complete and correct fire protection design.
Mr. Poole is a member of the Society of Fire Protection Engineers, National Fire Protection Association, NFPA Technical Committee on Airport Facilities, NFPA Technical Committee on Helicopter Facilities, NFPA Technical Committee on Subterranean Spaces, NFPA Technical Committee on National Fire Alarm Code, National SFPE Education Committee, International Code Council, Building Official and Code Administrators International, National Society of Professional Engineers and Kansas Society of Professional Engineers.
He is a Past President of the American Backflow Prevention Association and 2006 Committee Chair of the Year, a Past President of MO-KAN Chapter of SFPE and an ICC Certified Special Inspector for spray-applied fire resistive materials.
Steve Dryden, PE, CSP - Director of Engineering
Mr. Dryden earned his Bachelor of Science degree in Fire Protection Engineering from the University of Maryland, College Park, in 1988. He secured his Masters of Business Administration from Baker University in 2001. He is a Registered Fire Protection Engineer in three states.
Mr. Dryden is responsible for providing fire protection design services, facility assessments and code consulting. His 21 years of experience includes fire suppression and detection system design; fire protection facility assessments, life safety analyses; construction management; and emergency planning.
He has an extensive experience with flammable liquids and their associated fire hazards.
Kansas State House Renovations Poole Fire Protection designed sprinkler and fire alarm systems for the renovation of the Kansas State Capitol Building in Topeka, Kansas.
larned state hospital Poole Fire Protection was responsible for the review and approval of the contractor’s submittal drawings, fire alarm calculations, circuit layout, wiring counts and panel diagrams.
Forbes Field Operations and Training Center Poole Fire Protection served as the fire protection engineer, designing and developing the building’s fire sprinkler and fire alarm system, including a wet pipe sprinkler system for the building.
Hutchinson Correctional Facility Poole Fire Protection designed an automatic sprinkler system to retrofit an attic area at the Hutchinson Correctional Facility for Cell Houses A, B, C, D and the Rotunda Building.