Face wildland challenges head on

             

Throughout the past year, we have seen significant fire events in Australia, British Columbia, France, Portugal and the United States. As we collaborate to suppress fires, we need to work together in developing safety principles and tools to ensure the safety of firefighting forces against wildland fires.

The Seventh Annual International Association of Wildland Fire Safety Summit was held in Toronto, Canada on Nov. 18-20. The Ontario Safety Summit was very successful due to the timely program developed by the Ontario Ministry of Natural Resources and the participant involvement.

We, the wildland fire community, were challenged by Marty Alexander, a Canadian Fire Researcher and the 2003 IAWF Wildland Fire Safety Award recipient, not only to develop safety programs and tools for our wildland firefighters, but also to develop safety programs, messages and tools for the public. Given the deaths of citizens in the Southern California fires of this year, Marty makes a good point for all of us to consider.

Marty was selected for the award for his research in fire behavior in Australia, Canada and the United States. He has been instrumental in development of fire behavior training for firefighters in Canada. As a Safety Summit Award winner, he becomes a lifetime member of the International Association of Wildland Fire.

The Eighth Annual IAWF Wildfire Safety Summit will be held Down Under in the fall of 2004.

In the meantime, check out the program agenda for Wildland Fire 2004: Surviving in the Interface Danger Zone in Reno, Nev., March 3-5, 2004. IAWF will hold a membership meeting during the conference. See conference ad on the back cover and visit www.iawfonline.org for conference details.

See you in Reno!

International Association of Wildland Fire 4025 Fair Ridge Drive Fairfax, Va. 22033 phone: 785-423-1818 fax: 785-542-3511 e-mail: iawf@iawfonline.org