Meet your Office of Emergency Management team

Each September, FEMA celebrates National Preparedness Month. Since 2004, the campaign has encouraged Americans to prepare for emergencies.

This year's theme is "Americans Stand Ready." The theme reflects the spirit of unity, resilience and resourcefulness that make our country strong. It's a reminder that each of us can make a difference by taking proactive steps before a disaster strikes. Encouraging loved ones to do the same, Americans can contribute to the safety and security of the entire nation.

Preparedness is everyone's responsibility, and disasters and emergencies can happen at any time, anywhere, and sometimes without warning.

Get to know the team behind the City of Fort Worth's Office of Emergency Management:

Edgardo Barreto serves as interim emergency management coordinator for the City of Fort Worth's Emergency Management & Communications Department. He brings more than 20 years of experience across emergency management, public safety, crisis coordination, interoperable communications and operational technology. Before joining the City, Barreto served in a senior emergency management role at Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport, where he supported major preparedness initiatives, Emergency Operations Center activations and projects focused on situational awareness, communications resilience and operational readiness. Throughout his career, he has worked to bring together people, technology, planning and operations to build practical solutions that strengthen preparedness and support effective emergency response. Barreto holds a bachelor's degree in criminal justice with a concentration in homeland security and counterterrorism from Southern New Hampshire University.

Outside of work, Barreto is a proud husband and father of two who enjoys spending time with his family. He is also a technology enthusiast and an avid LEGO builder who appreciates the challenge of turning complex ideas into something organized, functional and creative, whether that means developing emergency management capabilities or figuring out where that one missing LEGO piece went.

Quinn Kahler is manager of community engagement and preparedness for the City of Fort Worth's Office of Emergency Management. She leads the City's community engagement and preparedness programs, working to strengthen Fort Worth's readiness through public education, outreach, special event coordination and partnerships across sectors.

Kahler brings more than six years of combined experience in emergency management and critical care nursing, a background that gives her a practical understanding of preparedness, crisis response and public safety operations. Before her promotion in November 2025, she served as an emergency management officer for the City, including serving as Fort Worth's World Cup planning coordinator for the citywide workgroups that prepared the City for the tournament.

She holds a Bachelor of Science in emergency management and an associate of applied science in nursing, along with FEMA certifications in the Professional Development Series, the Incident Command System and Hospital Emergency Response Training. Kahler is also a licensed registered nurse in Texas and holds an FCC amateur radio license.

Alyssa Owen serves as the emergency operations center manager for the City of Fort Worth, where she supports the coordination of citywide emergency operations, preparedness initiatives, emergency planning and multi-agency response efforts. Her work spans EOC operations, operational planning, special event preparedness, public warning and coordination with local, regional and state partners.

Before becoming EOC manager, Owen served as an emergency management officer with the City of Denton, a disaster program manager for the American Red Cross and a public safety dispatcher for the City of Fort Worth — experience that spans the dispatch floor, disaster relief and municipal emergency management.

Owen holds a Bachelor of Science degree in emergency administration and planning from the University of North Texas and a Bachelor of Arts in criminology and criminal justice from the University of Texas at Arlington. She is also a graduate of FEMA's National Emergency Management Basic Academy.

Brian Fackler is an emergency management officer for the City of Fort Worth, where his work centers on planning and exercises, helping the City develop the plans it relies on during an emergency and test them before they are needed.

Fackler earned his Bachelor of Science degree in emergency administration and planning from the University of North Texas in 2021. Since graduating, he has worked in city and county emergency management agencies in Texas and in public health emergency preparedness in Washington state. Before moving into emergency management, he worked in EMS and, together with his wife, owned and operated a nationwide horse transport and quarantine business.

Outside of work, Fackler enjoys hiking with his German shepherd and spending time with his wife of 15 years.

Photo: Edgardo Barreto, Quinn Kahler, Alyssa Owen, Brian Fackler

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