Shawn Bloemker

Shawn Bloemker began his fire service career in 1995 as a paid-on-call firefighter before becoming a career firefighter in 1999. After more than 30 years in the fire service, Shawn retired in March 2026 as an Assistant Chief to focus full-time on firefighter training and education through Max Fire Training, Inc., a company he founded in 2014 and named after his son, Max.

Throughout his career, Shawn taught within multiple fire science programs, including Lewis & Clark Community College and the University of Illinois Fire Service Institute, while continuing to serve on the fireground and develop realistic hands-on training programs for firefighters.

After years of development, testing, failures, redesigns, and real-world use, Shawn finally reached a point where he knew the Max Fire Box Phase I and Phase II were ready for the fire service — training tools built with enough confidence and quality that Max Fire Training could stand behind them with a lifetime warranty. The goal was never to simply build a prop, but to create an interactive learning environment where firefighters could see and understand fire behavior, thermal imaging, ventilation, smoke movement, and changing fire conditions in real time within a safe and controlled setting. Shawn believes firefighters need realistic repetitions before encountering these conditions on an emergency scene, allowing them to build experience, confidence, and decision-making skills before lives are on the line. Many of the fire behavior and thermal imaging conditions demonstrated within the Max Fire Box can be consistently repeated and studied in ways that are difficult to duplicate during acquired structure training.

One of the first people Shawn wanted to place the Max Fire Box in front of was Andy Starnes of Insight Training, LLC. Long before they met, Shawn had followed Andy’s work through social media and fire service education, learning more from Andy’s teachings on fire behavior and thermal imaging than from many traditional textbooks or college classes. Shawn often jokes that he had an “internet crush” on Andy because of the amount of respect he had for Andy’s knowledge, teaching style, and ability to explain complex fire dynamics in a way firefighters could understand.

After loading the Max Fire Box into his truck, Shawn called Andy and explained that he had developed a training tool focused on fire behavior and thermal imaging. Shawn then drove from the St. Louis region to Charlotte, North Carolina, where Andy was serving as Captain at Engine House 2. During that visit, they conducted burns with the Max Fire Box and spent hours discussing fire behavior, thermal imaging, ventilation, and modern fire service training. That trip and friendship would become one of the most influential moments in Shawn’s fire service career.

Shawn credits Andy Starnes as one of the most influential mentors in his career. Andy’s encouragement, belief in both Shawn and the Max Fire Box, and willingness to share knowledge helped push Max Fire Training forward during its early years. Shawn believes he learned more from those experiences and conversations with Andy than from any classroom or textbook.

Over the years, Shawn has also had the opportunity to assist Andy Starnes and Insight Training, LLC with training programs throughout the United States and Canada, further expanding his knowledge of fire behavior, thermal imaging, and modern fireground operations while helping educate firefighters across North America.
Today, Shawn travels throughout the United States, Canada, and Puerto Rico conducting Burn & Learn programs focused heavily on fire behavior and thermal imaging education. Using the Max Fire Box Phase I and Phase II systems, firefighters can see fire growth, flow paths, heat conditions, smoke movement, ventilation effects, and thermal imaging interpretation develop in real time. Shawn’s instruction focuses on helping firefighters better recognize changing conditions, improve fireground decision-making, and operate more safely during interior firefighting operations.

Max Fire Training is also a certified vendor and trainer for Seek Thermal firefighting thermal imaging cameras, helping departments better understand how thermal imaging technology can improve situational awareness and firefighter safety on the fireground.

Shawn’s teaching philosophy remains simple: firefighters learn best when they can actually see fire behavior happen in front of them — not just hear about it in a classroom. That philosophy continues to drive everything Max Fire Training does today.