Presented by ROC-NFPA, LLC, the 2009 National Fire Protection Association (NFPA) Conference & Expo begins Monday, June 8 and concludes Thursday, June 11, at McCormick Place, 2301 S. Lake Shore Drive, Chicago. More than 5,000 fire and life safety professionals are expected to attend, says the NFPA.

The annual event is important for fire, security, electrical and life safety professionals who work daily to save lives and protect property, the NFPA says. Meeting outcomes not only affect the profession but the public, as many proposed safety and building codes are voted on. The conference and expo runs Monday through Wednesday, June 8-10. Code voting will take place June 10-11.

The conference features more than 130 education sessions. Concurrent tracks focus on building and life safety, codes and standards, detection and suppression, emergency/business continuity, fire and emergency services, fire protection engineering, facility fire safety and security, electrical, public education and research. This year’s spotlight sessions from 8 a.m. to 9 a.m. on Wednesday, June 10 include “How the Great Chicago Fires Impacted Code Development,” with Martin J. Pabich, Underwriters Laboratories, Inc., Northbrook, Ill., and “U.S. Chemical Safety & Hazard Investigation. Board Response to Dust Explosions and Other Investigations,” John Bresland, U.S. Chemical Safety Board, Washington, D.C. The featured presentation, from 10 a.m. to 12 p.m. on Wednesday, is titled “World Trade Center – NIST Report on Collapse of Tower 7,” with Shyam Sunder, Ph.D., National Institute of Standards and Technology, Gaithersburg, Md.

The three-day exposition features more than 300 organizations and companies exhibiting products and services related to fire protection, building and life safety systems, electrical systems and building design. For the latest information on the conference, including the conference blog, visitwww.nfpa.org\conference.