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Dean West
Snr Remote Pilot Rural Fire Service
,
Queensland Fire Department
Dean West is a Senior Remote Pilot with the Queensland Fire Department and has over 10 years’ experience deploying RPAS in disaster and humanitarian operations. Before joining QFD, he flew drones with international NGOs across Southeast Asia and the Caribbean, supporting intelligence gathering during earthquakes, tsunamis, hurricanes, cyclones and floods.
Dean is also an experienced firefighter, crew leader and Level 2 Incident Controller, with numerous operational deployments throughout Queensland and interstate as both a brigade member and Remote Area Fire Team (RAFT) firefighter. He has deployed twice to Canada during wildfire operations, once as an arduous firefighter and once in a Division Commander role.
Dean was awarded the 2018 AAUS Humanitarian Award for his RPAS work following the Indonesia Sulawesi earthquake and tsunami and was recognised as the Australian aviation industry’s RPAS Pilot of the Year in 2024. He has also received two Australia Day Awards from QFD for integrating drone capability into emergency operations.
Within QFD, Dean has flown approximately 1,000 RPAS missions across bushfires, floods, search and rescue, HAZMAT and hazard reduction operations, specialising in integrating aerial intelligence into emergency decision-making.
Dean is also an experienced firefighter, crew leader and Level 2 Incident Controller, with numerous operational deployments throughout Queensland and interstate as both a brigade member and Remote Area Fire Team (RAFT) firefighter. He has deployed twice to Canada during wildfire operations, once as an arduous firefighter and once in a Division Commander role.
Dean was awarded the 2018 AAUS Humanitarian Award for his RPAS work following the Indonesia Sulawesi earthquake and tsunami and was recognised as the Australian aviation industry’s RPAS Pilot of the Year in 2024. He has also received two Australia Day Awards from QFD for integrating drone capability into emergency operations.
Within QFD, Dean has flown approximately 1,000 RPAS missions across bushfires, floods, search and rescue, HAZMAT and hazard reduction operations, specialising in integrating aerial intelligence into emergency decision-making.
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