Aerial Firefighting Conference to be Held in Anaheim, California

Add Feedback

Share |

The first aerial firefighting conference and exhibition ever to be held in America is set for Thursday, February 19th and Friday, February 20th at the Crowne Plaza Resort in Garden Grove, California.

Aerial Firefighting USA 2009, staged by Tangent Link, is said to be the first dedicated event to address both the fixed and rotary winged elements of aerial firefighting at a global level.

Following last year's highly successful Aerial Firefighting Conference in Athens, Greece, which attracted over 180 attendees from 22 nations, attendees at this gathering will share their experiences in battling wildland fires with the use of fixed and rotary winged aircraft as well as unmanned air vehicles.

On the agenda will be discussions of lessons learned from firefighting agencies in the United States, Canada, Brazil, Argentina, Russia, Asia - including Japan and China - plus Europe and other countries under attack from wildfires on an annual basis.

Flying in for this conference is a key representative of the National Aerial Firefighting Centre in Australia to talk about that agency's efforts to gain control of a series of brush fires where the confirmed death toll has now reached 200 people. News reports from Australia say more than 1,800 homes have been destroyed and 7,500 people displaced because of these fires.

Among those slated to attend is Del Walters, newly appointed Director of the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection (Cal Fire). California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger recently praised Walters for "playing a key role" in combating the state's 2007 and 2008 firestorms.

The conference will feature a panel session on "What Impact does the media have on aerial fire fighting operations and budgets?" including representatives from Cal Fire and The Wildfire Research Network, an organization dedicated to support the acquisition of aerial firefighting apparatus.

The Crowne Plaza Resort Anaheim-Garden Grove is located in Orange County just south of Los Angeles near the Disneyland and California Adventure Theme Parks.