Randy is currently working as FireSmart Coordinator for the ACRD with Local FireSmart Representative and Wildfire Mitigation Specialist certifications.  In this role, he is providing project management and coordination for a 2-year CRI Grant Project for the Regional District, including 6 Electoral Areas, with Project Partners - City of Port Alberni, Hupacasath First Nation, and Tseshaht First Nation.  His goal is to foster change in how we interact with the land to measurably reduce the risk posed by wildfire.

Malina Garner (she/her) is the FireSmart Home Partners Program Coordinator for the First Nations’ Emergency Services Society (FNESS). In this position, she supports the integration of the Home Partners Program into Indigenous communities, including training Wildfire Mitigation Specialists. 

Malina is also a volunteer firefighter and previously worked for the National Indigenous Fire Safety Council. Her FireSmart experience comes from her former role as a Local FireSmart Representative (LFR) where she implemented local FireSmart programs. Malina has a Bachelor of Science with combined Honours in Biology, Environment Sustainability and Society from Dalhousie University and accreditation from the Justice Institute of British Columbia (NFPA 1001, Fire and Life Safety Educator). She is also an accredited Silviculture Surveyor (Ministry of Forests, Lands, Natural Resources Operations and Rural Development). Malina is currently working on a micro-certification in Co-Management of Natural Resources (UBC Forestry). 

Malina is of Denesųłiné and European ancestry and is a member of the Buffalo River Dene Nation in Saskatchewan. She is grateful to live, work and play on the unceded traditional territory of the Secwépemc Peoples. 

 

Len is a Local FireSmart Rep and a Wildfire Mitigation Specialist. Since 2019, Len has been the FireSmart Coordinator for the Columbia Shuswap Regional District. During this time he has personally completed over 300 home ignition zone assessments, over 50 Neighborhood Assessments and currently works with 8 recognized communities. In addition to being a structural fire fighter, Len is also a team leader for the regional district's structure defense and structure protection provincial deployment team. In this capacity, Len has seen first hand the impact wildfire can have on a community and is a firm believer in the role FireSmart plays in resilient neighborhoods. When he is not in the field, Len is also a Professor at the Okanagan College School of Business where he teaches Supply Chain, Logistics, Operations and Business Strategy.