NFD hosts International Association of Fire Fighters Western Conference
By Contributor
Nelson’s professional fire fighters will welcome close to 100 fire service leaders from across western Canada and beyond when they host the International Association of Fire Fighters’ (IAFF) annual Western Canadian Conference June 16-19 at the Prestige Lakeside Resort.
The firefighters’ conference, while putting a renewed focus on public and firefighter safety issues locally, also provides a boost to the local economy as delegates and their families support local businesses.
The fire fighters, who are local and provincial firefighter association leaders from the Yukon, B.C., Alberta, Saskatchewan and Manitoba, are gathering in Nelson to exchange information about current trends and issues facing professional fire fighters, including public safety and firefighter health and safety issues such as post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD).
“It’s an honour for us to be hosting the IAFF’s Western Canadian Conference in Nelson,” says Marc Thibault, a Nelson fire fighter and president of the Nelson Professional Fire Fighters Association.
“We’re proud to have this opportunity to showcase this great city to our fellow fire fighters from Western Canada and beyond.”
IAFF General President Harold Schaitberger, one of North America’s top labour leaders, will travel to Nelson from Washington, D.C. to attend the conference. Schaitberger, who began his career as a fire fighter in Fairfax County, Virginia in the late 1960s, has led the 300,000-member IAFF since 2000. The IAFF has 23,300 members in Canada, about half of them men and women who protect lives and property in western Canada.
Schaitberger is scheduled to address delegates at 8 a.m. on Wednesday, June 17, and media are welcome hear him speak. Nelson Mayor Deb Kozak is scheduled to address the firefighters later on Wednesday morning.
The IAFF’s conference in Nelson is also show of support for the city’s professional fire fighters, who do their jobs proudly despite concerns the IAFF has with the Nelson fire department being chronically underfunded.
The Nelson Professional Fire Fighters Association, IAFF Local 1343, represents 10 professional fire fighters who provide full-time fire and emergency response in Nelson, as well as in the outlying area of the RDCK covered by a contract with the city.
The IAFF, headquartered in Washington, D.C. with a Canadian Office in Ottawa, Ontario is the North American leader in firefighter and public safety.
