By Janelle Foskett
The International Association of Fire Chiefs (IAFC) announced Tuesday that its flagship conference, Fire-Rescue International (FRI), will be a two-part series of events, focused on a virtual experience.
The announcement follows the initial news from mid-June that FRI’s in-person event was canceled due to COVID-19 “hot spot” concerns, as virus cases spiked in Arizona.
As originally scheduled, FRI – now dubbed #VirtualFRI – will kick off on Aug. 19 with the IAFC Board of Directors meeting and the annual business of the IAFC; division, section and committee meetings; and the installation of our new IAFC officers, all held in a virtual environment.
Additionally, the association announced that a ReIGNITE Digital Conference will be held Oct. 19–22, 2020. “This new virtual offering will focus on cutting-edge training, education, best practices, as well as new technologies, apparatus, and equipment,” the IAFC announcement read. “What’s more, this conference will play host to the IAFC EMS Section’s signature educational event – Fire-Rescue Med, #VirtualFRM, on October 19.”
Lastly, the 2020 Wildland-Urban Interface (WUI) conference that was originally scheduled for March 2020, has been rescheduled to Nov. 2–6, 2020 – and is also now called #VirtualWUI.
The 2020 VCOS Symposium in the Sun Conference, scheduled to take place at the Clearwater Beach Hilton in Florida, Nov. 12–15, is currently moving forward with the originally planned in-person conference.