The 5th annual Canadian Wildfire Conference is set to take place over one day at the beautiful KF Centre for Excellence in Kelowna, BC. Just outside the huge transparent hangar door of wing B will sit around a dozen vehicles helping to lead the wildfire fight, including a Sikorsky Firehawk and S-92, Bell 429 and 412, and an EC120, in addition to advanced firefighting trucks.

Visit Canadianwildfireconference.ca to check out the current list of speakers for the conference, which includes two panel discussions beginning with an interoperability morning session featuring BC Wildfire’s Airtanker Coordination Officer and two Deputy Chiefs from West Kelowna Fire Rescue. The second panel in the afternoon focuses on technology and strategy with leaders from Helicopter Transport Services, Coldstream Group and Vernon’s Fire Chief.

The day kicks off with a keynote presentation from Jason Brolund, Fire Chief, West Kelowna and Westbank First Nations, who will provide a behind-the-scenes glimpse of the 2023 McDougall Creek Wildfire when 35,000 people were evacuated and 190 homes were lost.

The one-day event at the KF Centre for Excellence in Kelowna, BC, also features five sponsor presentations throughout the day, designed as 10-minute case studies covering a range of topics for both ground and air operations. This includes aviation themed presentations from Wayne Coulson, CEO of Coulson Group, and Dr. Carrick Detweiler, CEO of Drone Amplified. More behind-the-scenes presentations from the ground side will be provided by Safetek Profire, Perimeter Solutions and JVC KENWOOD Canada.

The Canadian Wildfire Conference also features more than 55 exhibitors on hand to share their expertise, services and new technologies in wildfire suppression, as well as a static display of both ground and air vehicles used in the fight.

Join us in Kelowna on October 17 for this unique multi-stakeholder platform, bringing together ground and air, made possible by the aligned efforts of Annex Business Media properties Fire Fighting in Canada, Canadian Firefighter, Wings and Helicopters.