Matt has been a member of BC Wildfire for the past 15 years, beginning his career as a crew member on the Williams Lake BCWS unit crew in 2007. His experiences fighting wildfire throughout BC and other provinces, in both wilderness and interface environments, has helped shape his approach to prevention. The 2017 and 2018 wildfire season made a significant impact on him, where he saw firsthand how Firesmart measures can impact and protect a community.

He is currently a wildfire assistant in Quesnel where he is very active in promoting Firesmart within the various communities of that jurisdiction. He has also played a significant role in the promotion of Firesmart and fire prevention throughout the Cariboo Fire centre for several years. He has done this by participating in a wide variety of Firesmart initiatives, giving presentations to communities and schools, participating in info-booths and working with the city of Quesnel to fuel manage critical infrastructure. He has also liaised with industry professionals to ensure the dissemination of fuel management objectives, tactics and information.

Matt spends the winter months between fire seasons travelling and volunteering with various NGO’s assisting refugees around the world.

Don Mortimer (Fireline Consulting - Rossland BC) brings over 35 years of operational fire suppression & management experience to the team. Don is one of Western Canada’s most well-known interface fire protection specialists and has worked with a variety of agencies to develop and launch numerous initiatives. These include development of the FireSmart program, the BC OFC Structure Protection program and a number of specialized training courses for interface fire responders (S-115, S-215 and ICS training).

Don has worked with fire service teams to produce WUI fire tactical response plans for several municipalities (Banff, Jasper, Windemere/Fairmont and Invermere). Don has worked with emergency professionals to develop CWPPs in all three Kootenay regional districts and also works with private interests in developing wildfire protection plans for lodges, resorts and other holdings.

Don has been closely involved in the development of both the original 2012 FireSmart Canada Community Recognition Program and its current update replacement - the 2020 Neighbourhood Recognition Program. Don has delivered multiple Local FireSmart Representative workshops - training over 1,000 fire professionals in eight provinces / territories to work as Local FireSmart Representatives serving wildfire-vulnerable neighbourhoods in their respective communities. Don works with several municipalities in BC and Alberta’s FireSmart Programs and functions as the Local FireSmart Representative for over a dozen active FireSmart Committees in various neighbourhoods.

Welcome to the Local FireSmart Representative (LFR) Workshop.  My name is Brenden Mercer and I work for First Nations Emergency Services Society (FNESS) as a Forest Fuel Management Liaison.  

Upon starting at FNESS I became an LFR and a Registered Forest Tech (RFT) through the Association of BC Forest Professionals (ABCFP).  During my time at FNESS, I have assisted a number of few First Nations communities with all aspects of the FireSmart Canada Neighborhood Recognition Program.  Additionally, I have assisted many First Nations Communities with applying for FireSmart related funding through the current Community Resiliency Investment (CRI) Program and the previous Strategic Wildfire Prevention Initiative (SWPI) program.  Through that experience, I have helped to facilitate numerous LFR workshops over the past couple of years. 

Aside from my work at FNESS, I am currently in the process of completing a Master’s degree in Environmental Practice through Royal Roads University.  During my spare time I enjoy being active by running, working out at the gym and hiking among many other activities.

My name is Quentin Nelson, a Forest Fuel Management Liaison with First Nations’ Emergency Services Society of BC (FNESS), where I have been since 2019 and I am currently a Forester in Training (FIT). In 2018, I took the Local FireSmart Representative training and became a certified LFR. I have a Forestry Diploma and most recently in 2019, I completed my bachelor’s degree in Natural Resource Science. I work and live in Kamloops, BC.

In my current role with FNESS, one of my duties is to be an advocate for FireSmart, which is something I wholeheartedly believe in - at the end of this workshop, I hope you do too. What tends to work for me when I am engaging with our First Nations communities on the road is to conduct a Neighbourhood Wildfire Hazard Assessment to help jump-start their FireSmart path. This creates opportunity for our communities to apply into the Community Resiliency Investment (CRI) program to pursue funding to carry out an array of FireSmart activities so they can work towards achieving greater neighbourhood resilience in the event of a wildfire. As of January 7, 2021, I became the FireSmart Canada Provincial Liaison for First Nation communities in BC. Long-term, I would love to see every single neighbourhood adopt FireSmart principles and work towards becoming FireSmart recognized.

Feel free to reach out to me if you have any questions at all!

Michael Bourdon, an expert in fire safety is the Assistant Chief in Fire Prevention as well as the Deputy Emergency Coordinator for the Chilliwack Fire Department.

Michael Bourdon has been a FireSmart Facilitator for the past 2 yrs.

Prior to working at the Chilliwack Fire Department, Michael Bourdon worked as a Senior Loss Control Consultant for Intact Insurance and a Loss Control Consultant for Royal Sun Alliance Insurance. Prior to working in the insurance field, Michael Bourdon worked at Langley City Fire Rescue as a Captain of Fire Prevention and also worked for the Surrey Fire Service as a Fire Inspector / Investigator.

Michael Bourdon has been working in the Fire Prevention industry for over 28 years. Michael Bourdon is a Certified Risk Manager, Certified Fire Investigator and Certified Fire Inspector. Past President of the B.C. International Association of Arson Investigators Chapter 15 and past Vice President of the Fire Prevention Officers’ Association of B.C.

Michael Bourdon holds current memberships in the Canadian Association of Fire Chiefs’ (CAFC), Fire Chiefs’ Association of BC (FCABC), B.C. IAAI Chapter 15 and Fire Prevention Officers’ Association of B.C.  

In Michael’s spare time he enjoys fishing and spending time with his family.

Rob has been very involved in the forest industry since 1979 and has worked in harvest planning, silviculture, prescribed burning and wildfire prevention.  He has been working in the field of wildfire prevention for the last eight years as a Fuel Management Contractor and as a Fuel Management Specialist at the First Nations Emergency Services Society.

Rob has worked with local governments and Indigenous communities across the province to help them become more fire resilient.  He has been sharing his knowledge, experience and expertise with individuals and communities as a Local FireSmart™ Representative over the last two years.

Owen Price joined First Nations’ Emergency Services Society of British Columbia this past April working within the forest fuel management department, after a 30-year career with wildfire management in Saskatchewan. Owen’s passion for wildfire management began in the boreal forests across the north in the late 1980’s suppressing wildfires in a number of different exciting roles and responsibilities. As the years progressed an educational opportunity arose and he was able to obtain a 2-year diploma in Forest Ecosystems Technology in Prince Albert, completing this in 2004 as a “mature student” 😊.

Managing wildfires was his primary role occupying various job positions within large fire management since 2002, having the opportunity to assist other provinces and territories in Canada and the United States through mutual aid agreements. 2011 was when he decided to join wildfire prevention as a Prevention and Mitigation Specialist, which began his journey through FireSmart awareness and its guiding principles. The gratification of educating and assisting communities in working to become FireSmart was overwhelming, as most interactions in the past were in highly charged emergency fire situations. 

Working with communities proactively prior to a wildfire incident is one of the best solutions and becoming a Local FireSmart Representative and facilitator allows this to happen.