OUR Team

TREK team members are flexible, adaptable and qualified in multiple roles.
TREK team members are a mix of senior experienced leaders - who worked as managers or supervisors for wildfire agencies in Canada, in particular British Columbia, and experienced younger leaders - many of whom still work for the BC Wildfire Service during the fire season period. TREK team members have international experience in fire operations, wildfire training and/or project management.

 

Phil taudin-chabot

President

Phil is a senior wildland fire leader with successful operational, human resource, financial, strategic policy and planning experiences and contributions.  Phil worked for the BC Wildfire Service (Protection Branch) for over 35 years starting out as a firefighter, working in aviation operations, and becoming a senior manager.  Phil currently provides consulting, training and project management services in wildland fire prevention, preparedness and operational emergency response, after action investigations and facilitated learning analysis to governments, forest companies, associations, suppliers and other clients. His recent clients include the BC Government (BC Wildfire Branch; BC Public Service Agency), TimberWest Forest Corporation, Forest Technology Systems Limited, and the BC Government and Services Employees’ Union.  Phil is current in wildland fire operations and management practices and was hired by the BC Wildfire Service during the 2015 and 2014 Fire Seasons as the Provincial Liaison responsible for briefing, integrating, monitoring and debriefing all out of province personnel from across Canada, United States, Australia and South Africa engaged in wildfire operations.

 Phil was a Regional Fire Centre Manager over a diverse 12.8 million hectare area responsible for 250+ staff and accountable for annual budget expenditures of $15-25 million for seasonal wildland fire prevention, preparedness and response activities. He had delegated authority as a Statutory Decision Maker to make fire cause determinations in order to administer penalties and/or bill fire suppression costs and damage to persons/companies who were not in compliance with fire laws. As the Superintendent Training and Safety, Phil was responsible to develop and instruct standard training courses and safe work practices.  He led a national wildfire training committee to develop consistent training standards that were adopted by the Canadian Interagency Forest Fire Centre (CIFFC).  As well, Phil worked closely with senior managers from the BC Emergency Management Program to develop the standard emergency response protocol for the province - the British Columbia Emergency Response Management System. As the Superintendent Fire Prevention, Phil was the project manager to complete the installation of the automated Provincial Fire Weather Network System that is used to calculate Fire Weather Ratings and Danger Class.  He also produced the Province’s first comprehensive homeowner and community fire prevention planning guide - Beware & Prepare Community Planner - that became the foundation document for the Canadian FireSmart program.  Phil was the Provincial emergency management representative on a national steering committee that developed the new standard Canadian Incident Management System.  Phil was a co-author of the Canadian Wildland Fire Strategy Vision document and was the provincial representative at the planning workshop to develop the current the 2013-2018 Strategic Plan for the Canadian Interagency Forest Fire Centre (CIFFC).

Phil has international experience in SE Asia, South America and United States.  He delivered a series of technical workshops on the practical application of the Southeast Asian fire Danger Rating System in Malaysian peninsula and Borneo to assist resource managers in Indonesia and Malaysia to better manage fire and smoke. Phil developed and delivered a 3-week fire training program for the State of Sabah (Borneo) Forestry Department and forest plantation supervisors.  In Argentina, Phil worked on the aspects of a new national fire plan that evaluated fire training course content and emergency response organization structures, preparing a report with recommendations on best practices and standardized procedures.  In September 2011, Phil was sent to Texas, USA as a Provincial Representative to observe, monitor, interview and record how the Texas Forest Service and the U.S. Forest Service functioned during the Texas drought and extended wildfire season.

 

john flanagan

Senior Associate

John Flanagan is a retired senior fire specialist with 40 years experience with the British Columbia Forest Service having worked in as all aspects of forestry field operations; harvesting, silviculture, engineering, range management, resource management planning, pest and disease management, community involvement and wildfire operations in the Province of British Columbia.  He is well skilled in emergency management command and control operations managing prevention, preparedness, suppression, communications and research and development programs.

 John is very knowledgeable in the human resource management during emergency management response operations excelling in managing critical situations being involved with some of the most severe wildfire seasons in BC’s history. He is a strong communicator and decision maker with a particular talent for logistical planning and innovative problem solving and team building.

 He is well versed in the integration of applied technologies to wildfire operations developing advanced communications for suppression resources and situational awareness systems for the real-time tracking of resources.  He has been involved with Canadian Aerospace companies and the Canadian and European Space Agencies in the development of satellite based emergency communication systems for floods, wildfire and telemedicine emergency response applications.

 He has lead the development of provincial, national and international mutual aid agreements for the sharing of emergency response resources.  These complex agreements allow for the smooth exchange of experienced personnel, equipment, and aviation assets between agencies during times of greatest need. He has represented BC at national and international meetings to establish common exchange requirements to resolve operational issues and standards.

brian mcintosh

Senior Associate

Brian is a Registered Forest Technologist (RFT #0595) with the Association of BC Forest Professionals (ABCFP) and has a solid wildfire planning and operational background with over 35 years of experience specializing in Fire Behaviour, Fuels (vegetation) Management, and community planning.  Brian worked for the BC Provincial Government, BC Wildfire Service and the Alberta Forest Service on Incident Management Teams and at operations centres. During the 2015, 2014 and 2013 Fire Seasons, the BC Wildfire Service hired Brian to work at the Regional Fire Centre in Tactical Operations and Planning/Liaison roles.  Brian has a thorough understanding of wildfire operations and fire/fuels management.  He is currently developing fire planning guidelines for a local government and is providing input on Best Management Practices for utility companies.

As the Superintendent, Fuel Management for the BC Wildfire Service Brian was responsible for the Strategic Wildfire Prevention Initiative, the provincial fuel management program and the total number of hectares prescribed and treated. He oversaw the work of Geomatics staff and was involved in Fire Science. He was the BC provincial champion of the FireSmart program and in 2012 joined the Board of Directors of Partners in Protection / FireSmart Canada.

Brian has hands on planning and operational incident command experience. During his career Brian obtained a number of qualifications and certificates including: FireBehaviour Specialist, Operations Chief, and Planning Section Chief.  He has been deployed to wildfire incidents throughout Canada, the United States and Australia.  Brian was a Fire Behaviour Specialist for 56-day period during a very active wildfire season in the State of Victoria.

Brian has additional international experience working in Argentina on a Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA) project where he delivered a series of wildfire training courses and produced a wildland/urban interface (WUI) hazard mapping and treatment project for a number of villages and communities at risk from wildfire.  

Brian is well grounded in operational experiences and understands the importance of fire science.

TREK Associates on International Projects:

  • Dan Taudin-Chabot
  • Mike Dittaro
  • John Davies, Davies Wildfire Management Incorporated
  • Rob Moore, Park Mountain Consulting
  • Rick Grayston
  • Tim Ewart
  • Warren Burkinshaw
  • Kevin Cochrane
  • Nick Davis
  • Paul Williams
  • Dan Levesque
  • Gordon Dumas
  • Jesse Gidney
  • Cy McConnell
  • Alan Beaver
  • Nolan Edwards
  • Andy Low, Frontline Operations Inc.
  • Pierre Gagnon

TREK’s Connection Network:

  • Canadian Interagency Forest Fire Centre (CIFFC)
  • Canadian Wildfire Agencies (Provincial/Territorial Govts) e.g. BC, Alberta, Ontario, Yukon, Parks Canada
  • Canadian/BC wildfire suppliers, FireSmart Canada
  • Fire Research: Canadian Forest Service (NRCAN), FP Innovations
  • Aviation Consultants: aircraft inspections, procurement
  • Aerial FF Companies: Conair, Airspray, Nomad
  • Equipment Suppliers: SEI - bambi buckets; FTS – automatic fire weather equipment
  • Systems: Selkirk Systems – Dispatch; Fire Tracking