Kenneth Newcombe graduated from Maritime Forest Ranger School in 1990. He has spent over 20 years in private forest industry before being employed by the Nova Scotia Department of Natural Resources and Renewables for the past 12 years. Currently, he is the fire technician in local district office providing wildland training to local volunteer fire departments. With 20 years of experience in the volunteer fire service, he is actively engaged in Fire prevention in the local schools. Ken is new to being an LFR but looking forward to it! 

Roger has been with the New Brunswick Department of Resource Development since 1999. Many years were spent working in the District Office in Fredericton, during this time he worked on numerous fires with a large majority of fires being in the Wildland Urban Interface setting. Since 2015 Roger has been working at the Provincial Forest Fire Centre as the Provincial Wildfire Prevention Officer. 

Jennifer is a Captain with Hantsport Fire Department, in Nova Scotia; a Fire Prevention Education, and FireSmart LFR. She is deeply passionate about building community capacity and resiliency when it comes to fire prevention education. She recognizes that Fire departments have a unique place within the community allowing opportunity to provide a service delivery strengthened through partnerships and resource sharing. 

Jonas Joe started his wildfire career as a crew member with the British Columbia Wildfire Service (BCWS) in the year 2000. He then studied forestry at the British Columbia Institute of Technology (BCIT) and graduated in 2008 as a Forest Technologist. He completed his articling period and passed the written exam to become registered with the Association of BC Forest Professionals (ABCFP) as a Registered Forest Technologist (RFT) in 2011. He started his scope of practice in wildfire prevention with a non-profit organization called First Nation Emergency Services Society of BC (FNESS). He became a Local Fire Smart Representative (LFR) in 2013.  Since then Jonas travelled the province assisting First Nation communities to build their FireSmart Programs to become nationally recognized as a FireSmart community. He recognized through the programs FNESS offers the importance of Fire Prevention in First Nation communities. He is now currently working in Merritt, BC as a Wildfire Tech and continues to advocate the importance of FireSmart in his region.    

Jeff Erwin brings a wide variety of experience from training Wildland and Urban Interface Firefighting to Structural Firefighters to working with neighbourhoods on how to implement FireSmart. Jeff is looking forward to working with your neighbourhood in the future. Position: Wildland Urban Interface Specialist Organization: Manitoba Office of the Fire Commissioner

Brittany started her career in wildfire in 2008 with the British Columbia Wildfire Service (BCWS). During her eleven seasons of employment, she fulfilled various roles from Dispatcher to Crew Leader. Her employment at the B.C. Provincial Rapattack base in Salmon Arm provided the opportunity for her to participate in an international exchange program with the rappel base in Victoria, Australia. Employment with the BCWS also created an opportunity for Brittany to work with Emergency Management of British Columbia and was deployed on several occasions to the headquarters in Kamloops in response to the flooding in 2017 and 2018. After leaving BCWS in the spring of 2019, Brittany found herself working for Frontline Operations Group Ltd. – a wildfire and forestry consultant company. During her time with the company, she facilitated several FireSmart program initiatives for local governments as a certified Local FireSmart Representative. She also assisted with research and data collection for Evacuation Route Planning, Community Wildfire Protection Plans, and Wildfire Prescriptions. Currently, she is the FireSmart Coordinator for the City of Penticton (Fire Department) and has received her Wildfire Mitigation Specialist designation through the Home Partners Program. She also brings with her a Certificate in Emergency Management and is working towards a Certificate of Applied Leadership. She believes education is the first step to reducing the impacts of wildfire in the Wildland Urban Interface.

Kara McCurdy – Wildfire Prevention Officer – Province of Nova Scotia 

Kara McCurdy has worked for Natural Resources and Renewables for 28 years. She started her career thanks to her background in volunteer fire service with the wildfire suppression crew in Nova Scotia. After receiving her forestry degree in 2001, she became a permanent forest technician in 2003, a role that brought all facets of experience in forestry including wildfires. In 2009, Kara also worked at the Natural Resources Education Centre teaching forestry. 

Now the Wildfire Prevention Officer role at the Nova Scotia Provincial Fire Centre, her role consists of wildfire investigation, public information officer, fire behaviour analyst, Fire Prevention education team leader, and the FireSmart representative for Nova Scotia. You’ll find Kara working in the Fire Centre through the summers and assisting with out of province wildfire efforts. Outside of work, she spends most of her time volunteering with Search and Rescue, as the Deputy Chief of the local fire station and when there is still time, in her gardens and with her kitties!  

 

 

Good day
My name is Mark Dyer and I’m a Prevention Specialist with the BC Wildfire Service (BCWS).
I made my start with BCWS in 2005 when I attained my first fire fighting job in Fort Nelson.  I worked in Fort Nelson fighting fires in the summers while attending post secondary education in the Yukon, Alaska and Northern BC during the winters.  After graduating from school, I took a promotion with BCWS and moved to Prince George.
Currently, I work at the Prince George Fire Centre with my primary job functions being dedicated to the wildfire prevention and suppression efforts. Some of those items include coordinating local FireSmart activities and writing fire prevention plans, coordinating regional level prescribed fire projects, preforming as fire operations officer and acting an a LFR Instructor.
Over my career I have seen firsthand the devastation wildfires can have on homes and communities all over North America. I’m a firm believer that implementing FireSmart initiatives where you live is the best way to protect the places and the people you care about.

Geoff worked on fire crews as a youngster while going to school for Forestry at the University of Alberta. Upon graduation, he was hired as a Forest Officer in the Rocky Mountain House Forest Area, where he worked for two years before coming to Edmonton to begin his career in FireSmart. Geoff has now worked in the FireSmart Program for almost a decade and still enjoys being deployed on wildfires in operational roles.

Stew Walkinshaw is owner/operator of Montane Forest Management Ltd. based out of Canmore, Alberta. He has specialized in wildland/urban interface fire operations and community planning since 1993 across western and northern Canada. Stew is the Local FireSmart Representative for two communities in southwestern Alberta.