Remote Fire Fighting Solutions has assembled a team of fire service professionals who understand the unique and complex challenges facing volunteer fire departments today. Volunteer fire departments in smaller communities and rural areas are especially hard pressed to provide an appropriate level of service which is effective, competent, efficient and sustainable. The climate for change for rural fire suppression is upon us with economic and demographic factors changing the landscape for the volunteer fire service. We design a realistic sustainable fire service model for our clients. This new approach comes from our years of experience consulting rural communities as they struggle to maintain and sustain traditional fire services. Our management team knows that adherence to operational guideline protocols, appropriate training programs and the delivery of an established level of service model is required. When these actions are incorporated by the Authority Having Jurisdiction for a fire department, fire chief and fire department officers, it offers a safer working environment to protect its personnel from liability and injury when operating at an emergency scene.

With over 140 years of combined experience, our team has a wealth of real world experience to draw upon. Our management team and certified instructors all occupy current or past leadership positions within the fire service. We provide our clients with informed, cost effective solutions to meet their fire protection capabilities as they relate to their communities specific needs and circumstances. We offer total fire protection service packages which are designed to incorporate "best practices" using new technological fire suppression systems and defensive fire suppression strategies. We also offer our clients access to a comprehensive after service Rural Fire Administration Support Program package. This service enables the client to contact our fire service advisory staff and obtain guidance when addressing operational or administrative issues. Our Rural Fire Administration Support Program is designed to provide rural Fire Chiefs with the basic administrative and operational knowledge required to function as a rural fire department. Below is a brief biography of each our Instructional staff.

The mission of Remote Fire Fighting Solutions Ltd. in partnership with Specialty Fire Protection Systems is to provide our clients with safe, affordable fire protection solutions using modern fire technologies combined with appropriate fire training programs.   We believe that conducting a Basic Fire Risk Assessment should be an early priority in the development of a rural fire service. We believe the opportunity to develop and promote “Best Practices” supported through adopted Standard Operational Guidelines is the solution for rural fire services.

Assistant Chief Keith Boswell
Surrey Fire Department

Keith Boswell has been an active member and student of the fire service for over 30 years. Keith currently serves on Surrey's management team as Assistant Chief of Operations. His specialties within the Fire Service include recruit training, incident command, officer development, strategies and tactics and hazardous materials response.

Keith has expanded his role into Disaster Management, being the Central Regional Director for the British Columbia Emergency Managers Association.

Academic achievements include a wide variety of accredited fire service certificates and a British Columbia Provincial Instructor Diploma. Keith also holds a certificate in Emergency Management from the Justice Institute of British Columbia. Keith's passion for the fire service and desire to learn led him to the Justice Institute of British Columbia Fire Academy (JIBC) in 1985 where he began instructing and developing a wide variety of fire service programs.

He has worked as an instructor with fire departments and industrial clients throughout North America and in the Middle East in the areas of Fire Officer and Hazardous Materials Response. He has worked as a consultant in reviewing fire services and training operations for the First Nations Emergency Services Society (FNESS) and municipal fire departments. He also worked as an advisor with the International Fire Service Training Association (IFSTA) in Oklahoma in the development of the IFSTA Incident Safety Officer manual. A steady demand for Keith's unique skills has him instructing throughout Canada and internationally.

Deputy Chief Dean Colthorp
Abbotsford Fire Department

Dean Colthorp became involved with the Fire Service in 1987 as a Paid on call member and later as a career member with the City of Surrey Fire Rescue Services. In 1996, Dean moved to Westbank to become the Assistant Fire Chief with the Westside Fire Rescue in charge of Training and Operations. He has worked with the Fire and Safety Division of the Justice Institute of British Columbia since 1992 and was employed as the Program Coordinator for the Fire Fighter Programs from 2003 to 2006. He spent time with the Langley City Fire Rescue Services as the Assistant Chief in Charge of Training as well as the Langley City Occupational Health and Safety Officer.

Dean's current role is the Deputy Fire Chief in Charge of Operations and Training with the Abbotsford Fire Rescue Service. He has a Diploma in Fire Service Leadership, a Bachelor of General Studies from Simon Fraser University and has his Chief Fire Officer designation. He is currently working on his MBA in Public Administration. Holds the position of Fire Fighter Coordinator with the Fire and Safety Division and is an Emergency Services Advisor with the First Nation's Emergency Service Society of British Columbia. Dean is also the President of the British Columbia Fire Training Officers Association.

Assistant Chief Darren Lee
West Kelowna Fire Rescue

Darren Lee has been a career firefighter and student of the North American fire service for the past 14 years. He holds a Fire Service Leadership Diploma from the JIBC and is a certified NFPA 1021 Fire Officer IV. Darren is nearing completion of the JIBC Bachelor of Fire and Safety Studies Program. He currently works for West Kelowna Fire and Rescue, serving as the department's training officer co-managing the operations portfolio.

Darren is a JIBC Fire and Safety Division adjunct instructor and has written, developed and implemented various training programs for the JIBC, West Kelowna and other agencies. Over the past decade Darren has gained extensive engine operations and structure protection experience from a broad range of wildland and urban interface incidents in British Columbia, Alberta, Oregon, Montana, Idaho and Wyoming.

In 2006 Darren was seconded to the British Columbia Office of the Fire Commissioner – Structure Protection Program. In June of 2009 he traveled to Lillooet to work as the Structure Branch Director on the BCFS Type 1 Incident Command Team.

Fire Chief Wayne Schnitzler
West Kelowna Fire Rescue

Wayne Schnitzler began his firefighting career as a firefighter with the Surrey Fire Department in 1979, and was promoted to captain of training in 1994. In August 1996, he and his family moved to the Okanagan and Wayne took on the role of fire chief with the West Kelowna Fire Rescue (formerly Westside Fire Rescue).

Wayne has been a member of the BC Fire Chief's Association since 1996, and has held positions of 1st vice president, 2nd vice president and zone 3 director. He also actively works with the First Nations' Emergency Services Society helping to deliver and develop fire safety, public education and firefighting training. Wayne also served as Unified Commander during the 2003 Okanagan Park fire, 2005 Rose Valley Fire and the West Kelowna Complex fires of 2009.