Kenneth C. Topping, FAICP

Consultant Trainer
Western Exercise

Ken Topping is currently a Visiting Professor in the Disaster Prevention Research Institute at Kyoto University, Japan. Topping served as the Director of Planning for the City of Los Angeles and as a consultant and General Manager for the Community Services District of Cambria, California. In addition, he has co-authored Planning for Post-Disaster Recovery and Reconstruction, PAS Report 483/484, published by FEMA and APA. Topping holds a B.A. cum laude in sociology for the University of Redlands and an M.S. in public administration from California State University, Los Angeles.

The western exercise focuses on wildfires and geological hazards, such as earthquakes and landslides that often affect western states. The scenarios used in this exercise were developed from the national Firewise program with permission and cooperation of the National Fire Protection Association (NFPA). These exercises apply various data sets to a hypothetical county.