This Presidents Message is very difficult to write as events since the last one has changed so much. First off was the loss of my dear friend and colleague Tim Irish in January. Tim's passing was such a shock to everyone who knew him. Tim's dedication to CAFI was above and beyond, and he was so excited to become President in December. Tim had so many ideas of how he was going to implement during his term. The training was one. He and I wanted to have online training for all Fire Services across Canada. We had been working on this for months.

In this webinar, we will be discussing challenges of performing fire and explosion investigations in extreme cold and how cold temperatures impact the scene, investigator and equipment.

In Memoriam - Tim Irish

It is with great sadness that we inform you of the passing of Tim Irish, 1st Vice President of CAFI. Tim passed away on January 21, 2020 after a very brief illness.

Tim had been an invaluable executive member of the CAFI Board. His passing will be a huge loss to the Association and he will be deeply missed.

Hello all from Alberta:

It is that time of year where we start preparing for our end of year festivities and spending time with our families. We have also just finished Thanksgiving; a time for remembering our past year and what it has meant to us as well as reflecting on how our families are the most important part of our life.

This presentation will provide an overview of how many livestock barn fires occur and the most common causes of these fires.  It will also provide some base knowledge on how to detect corrosion in electrical systems, tips on reducing the risk of barn fires and a summary of available resources.

Vicki Hilborn is the Engineering Program Coordinator for the Ontario Ministry of Agricultural, Food and Rural Affairs.  She coordinates the Reducing the Risk of Barn Fires Advisory Panel which brings key stakeholders (such as fire department, livestock groups, insurance companies, chief building officials and ministries/agencies) together to discuss how to reduce the number of barn fires in Ontario.  She has been with OMAFRA since 2015.

Hello all from Alberta:

With summer coming to a close, I hope everyone had a great vacation and was able to enjoy family and friends during this time. I had the pleasure to visit my family in New Brunswick and enjoyed the great visit and Love from them. Building memories with family and friends are one of the great joys in life.

Title: An Overview of Natural Gas and Propane Systems and How They are Related to Fire Causes
Date: Tuesday, September 24, 2019 12:00 pm - 1:00 pm EST
Presenter: Joe Adams, CFEI, G1, GPI, PM2, PM3, PMH, AC REFRIG MECH., Fuels Expert at Origin and Cause Inc.

REGISTER

Celebrating Our 40th Anniversary with All Our Members!

In recognition of CAFI’s 40th Anniversary in 2020, we are pleased to introduce our Association’s Challenge Coin. These special commemorative coins are being released for sale on a pre-order basis.

Your cost is only $15.00 each plus shipping ($3.50 for two coins and an additional $1.00 for each additional coin ordered). Maximum of four (4) coins per order.

Once orders have been received, the Coins will be ordered. Delivery is expected to be six to eight weeks.

This early spring has caused some crazy wildfires here in Alberta. We have lost thousands of acres of woodland, thousands of families have been displaced, and a number of houses destroyed. Please keep all of our First Responders and their families in your prayers. There will be lots of files open with all of the properties that were lost and lots of investigations, so everyone please stay safe when Investigating these files as there are dangers we need to keep in mind.

Happy Spring Everyone!

The executive and I have been working on updating our profile and will be launching a Facebook page shortly so we can provide information about who we are and what we do. This page is for all of us to comment on and place information on investigations happening within Canada that we are working on. We will also be launching a LinkedIn page also so that the same information can be shared around the world. These sites will be monitored by a couple of the executives so we can make sure the information getting out is correct and follows our policies.