Thomas Burwell "Burr" Dodd was born in 1969 in Hartford Connecticut. He attended High School in Boulder Colorado, and graduated from the Savannah College of Art and Design, with a BFA in photography and a deep love of abstract art and old buildings.

Burr incorporated his business Brooklyn Fire Proof in 1999. BFP originated as studios and a makeshift gallery space built into a vacant factory building in Williamsburg, Brooklyn. Burr began by showing art by under-recognized artists he strongly felt needed to be seen. The gallery promoted kindness in art, an environment where people could feel welcome as an insider not an outsider.

What began essentially as a venue for Burr to show & tell quickly grew into a full-blown gallery in collaboration with his future wife, Pearl Son-Dodd. Together they added a performance space, curated larger shows and built more studio spaces in the neighborhood. With the studios covering much of the business’ overhead, Burr and Pearl were able to focus less on making sales in the gallery and more on developing a friendly environment that encourages creativity, experimentation and risk in the arts above merely marketability. 

Brooklyn Fire Proof later moved to its current location in East Williamsburg/Bushwick, where the Dodds have expanded the company to include more studios, sound stages that host film and television productions, gallery space called Temporary Storage, and Brooklyn Fire Proof East, a café and bar (now Terra Firma). BFP has returned to showcasing the artwork Burr loves with its newest company, BFP Creative.

After a seven-year-hiatus dedicated to building the seven companies of BFP, Burr has returned to making art. He works in one of the studios he built, in the center of the community he cares deeply for.