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Q&A and open discussion | Confronting the global wildfire threat with the technology and leadership the moment demands
The wildfire crisis is not a future problem. It is a present-day emergency that is redefining the operational limits of fire services across the globe — from the canyons of Southern California to the peri-urban corridors of Australia. The January 2025 Los Angeles fires did not fail communities because of a lack of courage or commitment. They failed because the tools, systems, and strategies deployed were built for a different era — and the fire didn't care.
This panel brings together three of North America's most recognized voices in fire service leadership, research, and technology to confront that gap head-on. Drawing on operational experience leading some of the largest and most complex fire departments in the United States, and the vantage point of the International Association of Fire Chiefs, the panelists will examine the true scale of the wildfire and climate threat, where current capabilities fall critically short, and what a credible technology pathway forward actually looks like — from early detection and AI-driven fire behavior prediction to autonomous suppression and data-integrated response.
Australia is not a bystander in this conversation. It is a mirror. The conditions, the community configurations, and the institutional challenges that produced Los Angeles are present here — and the innovations being tested and deployed in the United States offer lessons that the Australian fire service can accelerate, adapt, and help shape. This is not a panel about waiting for the next disaster. It is a call to lead before it arrives.
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