Melissa
Wednesday, 01 November 2023 16:27
Lucy Grainger
Lucy Grainger (she/her) works as the FireSmart Education Officer for FireSmart BC. She recently joined the FireSmart BC program, where she is dedicated to working with communities to build resiliency and implement practices to reduce wildfire impacts in their regions. She graduated from Quest University Canada in 2018 with a Bachelor of Arts and Sciences, where she focused on education and social-emotional learning. With over a decade of experience in wildfire, Lucy has worked with the BC Wildfire Service since 2013, primarily on a ground crew through the Rapattack Program. Lucy is grateful to live and work is the unceded traditional territories of the Skwxwú7mesh (Squamish), Səl̓ílwətaʔ/Selilwitulh (Tsleil-Waututh), and xwməθkwəy̓əm (Musqueam) Nations.
Published in
Speakers
Tagged under
Tuesday, 10 October 2023 13:30
Dan Stevens
Dan Stevens is the FireSmart Education & Outreach Coordinator working for the First Nations’ Emergency Services Society (FNESS). Dan is honored to live, work, and play on the traditional and unceded territory of the Secwépemc peoples.
Published in
Speakers
Tagged under
Wednesday, 26 October 2022 16:43
Ashlene Aktarian
Meet Ashlene Aktarian, the FireSmart Coordinator with Sooke Fire Rescue supporting wildfire risk reduction initiatives for the community. She has over eight years of experience in emergency and disaster management. Previously worked for the Provincial Emergency Support Services program with Emergency Management BC developing the Evacuee Registration Assistance tool and notably supporting the Lytton Fire response in 2021. While working with BC Wildfire Service for five years, she worked in wildfire operations, public engagement, and prevention roles such as a Fire Information Officer. Working both unprecedented 2017 and 2018 wildfire seasons, and notably the Big Bar Landslide in 2019. Ashlene worked on flood and wildfire events for the Canadian Red Cross and supported the response to the Grand Forks Flood in 2017. Born and raised on Vancouver Island, her passion for people and the natural landscape led her to study geography, resource management and public safety.
Published in
Speakers
Tagged under
Wednesday, 26 October 2022 16:42
Helena Marken
Helena Marken is a FireSmart Analyst for the BC Wildfire Service. She has worked with BC Wildfire Service for the past seven years, on the fireline and assisting with operational communications mainly in the Cariboo and Kamloops Fire Centres. During her years in suppression, she spent a lot of time working with and near rural communities. She saw how capable and driven these communities were to protect their lands, and how necessary preventative FireSmart principles are to make BC a wildfire resilient province. With these experiences, she wanted to get involved with FireSmart to help protect communities.
In her FireSmart Analyst role she supports the FireSmart team by preparing research, presentations, and communications for their projects to help deliver FireSmart programming to BC. Helena is also currently finishing the last course for her Bachelor of Natural Resource Science. Helena is excited to apply her wildfire experience and formal education to help improve wildfire resiliency in our province.
Published in
Speakers
Tagged under
Monday, 26 September 2022 10:24
Thomas Dobbin
Thomas Dobbin is the Interface Fire Prevention Officer for the Regional District of East Kootenay. He is one of many FireSmart professionals who answer questions and offer guidance to local residents as they actively FireSmart homes and properties.
Thomas is proficient in firefighting, emergency response, and safety. His skill-set and knowledge come from 15 years of combined municipal, industrial, and wildfire firefighting as well as completing fire inspections and testing while promoting education, preparedness, and prevention.
It takes simple and effective steps to reduce vulnerabilities of ignition around homes and on properties. Having an emergency evacuation plan benefits individual households and neighbourhoods by forming group networks and strategies of what to do if wildfire moves toward structures. Preparing in advance is key. Focusing on the FireSmart priority zones can be the difference to a home surviving, which can reduce the intensity of wildfire and slow its spread to adjacent structures.
Thomas lives in the breathtaking lakeside community of Windermere with his significant other and their dog, Ludo. They like to spend time outdoors enjoying all of what the Columbia Valley has to offer. By focusing on prevention, and being involved with FireSmart BC he continues to develop trusting relationships with community members and believes that together, they can work toward a wildfire-resilient valley.
Published in
Speakers
Tagged under
Monday, 26 September 2022 10:11
Brayden Osborn
Brayden Osborn is the Regional District of Nanaimo’s, Special Projects Coordinator for FireSmart in Emergency Services Department. Brayden brings 7 years of experience within the fire service to this role, along with his passion for community and collaborating with others. Brayden’s formal education includes a Bachelor of Business Administration from Vancouver Island University, a multitude of fire service-related certifications, and he is currently working on completing his Fire Officer 2. Brayden’s background includes several years in the construction industry, in customer service, and most recently, he was an Engineering Project Coordinator for an international Engineering firm. He has led, supported, and contributed to the successful completion of many projects in a variety of industries. This experience is well demonstrated by his recent work developing a comprehensive firefighter’s mental health handbook. Outside of his professional experience, Brayden has always been drawn to the great outdoors, ever ready for the next adventure.
Published in
Speakers
Tagged under
Friday, 09 September 2022 09:55
Cathy Mackenzie
Cathy MacKenzie is a Registered Professional Forester working as a Mitigation Specialist for First Nations’ Emergency Services Society (FNESS). In this capacity, she assists First Nations to increase their community’s wildfire resiliency, through the development of Community Wildfire Resiliency Plans, completing Operational Fuel Treatments on the land and applying FireSmart principles in the residential neighbourhoods.
Prior to joining FNESS, Cathy spent over 18 years in Regional Government where a significant part of her time was planning, coordinating, and overseeing community wildfire prevention projects including Community Wildfire Prevention Plans (CWPP) and forest fuel management treatments. During this time, Cathy was fortunate to collaborate with a wide variety of people, each passionate about wildfire prevention in their own way. These included First Nation knowledge keepers, BC Wildfire Service staff, fire department personnel, consultants, contractors, local government staff, and volunteers. Spreading the FireSmart message to residents has always been a significant component of every wildfire prevention project and Cathy looks forward to continuing this through the Local FireSmart Representative workshops.
Published in
Speakers
Tagged under
Friday, 01 April 2022 22:32
Scott VanderMeer
Hi, My Name is Scott VanderMeer, I am a career Structural Firefighter with the Calgary Fire Department. I have been with them for twelve years. I am part of the Calgary Fire Department's Wildland Urban Interface Committee. I have an education background with a MSc in Experiential Education. I also run a consulting company on the side, VDM Fire Inc., which focuses on educating folks on FireSmart principles in all kinds of environments. I am currently part of FireSmart Canada's Technical Committee. I was an observer in the development of the National Codes Guide for Wildland Urban Interface Fires (NRC). I am an active community advocate of FireSmart principles in the community I live in. I also have seven years in Alberta's former wildfire initial attack Rapattack program, followed by a year with FPInnovations Wildfire Research Group.
Published in
Speakers
Tagged under
Wednesday, 23 March 2022 15:19
Miyoko McKeown
Miyoko joined the Penticton FireSmart Team after serving three seasons with British Columbia Wildfire Service. Starting as a dispatcher in 2018, Miyoko’s contributions supported wildfire suppression efforts during the worst wildfire season on record for the Province of British Columbia. In 2019 she made the moved to Initial Attack (IA) in Penticton and functioned as a crew member until the late spring of 2021. During her time with the Penticton IA, Miyoko undertook a deployment to the United States in 2020 fighting wildfires in Quincy, California. She now operates as the FireSmart Team Lead for the City of Penticton (Fire Department), reporting to the FireSmart Coordinator. She is a certified Local FireSmart Representative and a Wildfire Mitigation Specialist. Her background in wildfire, including an understanding of wildfire behavior, assists in her role assessing individual residential properties and providing wildfire risk reduction recommendations based on FireSmart guidelines. Miyoko enjoys the public engagement aspect of the FireSmart program and works hard to educate the public on the steps they can take to FireSmart their homes. Outside of her FireSmart role Miyoko enjoys exploring the outdoors through a variety of activities, and spending time with her two dogs. She brings with her a Bachelor of Business Administration, with a major in Human Resources, and is working towards her GIS accreditation.
Published in
Speakers
Tagged under
