International Aerial Firefighting Conference 2008

International Aerial Firefighting Conference

21 – 22 October 2008, Athens, Greece

Introduction
The new millenium has experienced some of the worst fires around the globe in living memory. Not just wildfires that affect huge swathes of forest, savannah and agricultural land, but also fires occurring in suburban areas and city high-rise buildings as a result of both deliberate and accidental ignition.
In 2007 alone whole communities in Athens and California have been razed at a huge cost to both human life and property.
How can civil and military fixed and rotary aircraft, using highly innovative aerial firefighting technologies and techniques, work with firefighting units on the ground to suppress and extinguish these fires safely and successfully?

In response to these questions – and for the first time – BDAerospace has developed an aerial firefighting event, managed by Tangent Link, that addresses both the global issues and aerial technologies and techniques necessary to attack both low-populated forest and agricultural wildfires and the highly-populated urban and high-rise environments. This conference will bring together the worlds experts and focus on aerial firefighting technologies and operations, including the cooperation and collaboration experiences and lessons learned in ground-to-air firefighting management.

International Support
This conference is running in association with The Global Fire Monitoring Center (GFMC), UNISDR-United Nations International Strategy for Disaster Reduction, the International Association of Wildland Fire.
Chaired by Johann Goldammer – Director of the Global Fire Monitoring Centre – the Aerial Firefighting Conference will embrace the issues, techniques and technologies necessary to improve and develop the ways to tackle wild and high-rise fires using aerial means.

Who should attend
European Commissions Environment & Research Directorates
NATO – EADRCC – Euro-Atlantic Disaster Response Coordination Centres
Ministries of Interior and Civil Protection Depts
Civil Emergency Directorates
Ministries of Forests
Deptartments of Agriculture
Departments of Conservation & Land Management
Ground Based Fire Brigades
National Aerial Firefighting Organisatons
Helicopter Operators
Helicopter Manufacturers
Fixed Wing Operators
Fixed Wing Manufacturers
HALE UAV Manufacturers remote fire spotting
Communications system Manufacturers
Powerplant Manufacturers
Engine filter Manufacturers
Avionics manufacturers – Terrain Avoidance Systems, TCAS, GPS, GPWS
Manufacturers of firefighting products delivery systems (buckets), rescue baskets, retardants, foams, gels etc