Rick has more than 40 years’ experience in fire and emergency protection and response services including emergency preparedness, business continuity and risk management.  He has extensive experience in all aspects of fire protection and the development and application of fire, building and safety codes.  Currently, he contributes technical expertise to a team of consultants at Behr that carry out fire, emergency response, emergency services operations and management reviews and master plans.

Following his career in the Canadian Navy as a firefighter and helicopter search and rescue crewman, he moved to more progressively responsible fire and emergency response related positions.  These include Fire Chief, Principal of the Saskatchewan Fire College, Fire Commissioner for the Province of Saskatchewan, Fire Commissioner for the Province of Alberta, Assistant Managing Director of the Alberta Emergency Management Agency and six and a half years as the Director of Fire and Protective Services (Fire Chief) for the City of Regina.

As Regina’s Fire Chief, Rick led the department in becoming accredited by the Commission on Fire Accreditation International.  He also successfully negotiated a collective agreement with the International Association of Fire Fighters Local 181 within City mandate.  This had not been accomplished in several previous rounds of collective bargaining.

As Fire Commissioner, he was responsible for providing expert advice on solving issues regarding fire and life safety, public education and fire and building code compliance.  He was also responsible for the development and administration of fire and public safety policy, legislation and regulations; delivering and evaluating fire safety and public education and awareness campaigns; training and certification of fire fighters in accordance with internationally recognized professional qualification standards as well as curriculum development and program delivery.

Rick was an active member of the major Fire Advisory Councils including: Underwriters Laboratories Inc., Underwriters Laboratories of Canada and the Canadian Standards Association.  Each of these agencies is involved in the development of standards and the testing and certification of a variety of consumer and emergency responder products and services.

As a member of the Underwriters Laboratories Fire Council, Rick recently participated as moderator in an International Lithium-ion Battery Summit in Ottawa (2016).

Rick has served on several committees including the National Research Council on the task force for Objective Based Building and Fire Codes and the implementation of the New National Model Code Development System.  He was an ex-officio member of the Canadian Commission on Building and Fire Codes for two years and was chair of the Provincial and Territorial Sub Committee responsible for the National Fire Code of Canada.

Rick is currently involved with the NFPA Fire Protection Research Foundation committee reviewing ‘Fire Safety Challenges for Tall Wood Buildings’ and continues to serve on the CAFC Codes Committee.