Ken Block
President, Canadian Association of Fire Chiefs

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Fire Chief, Ken Block was appointed Fire Chief of the City of Edmonton on Feb. 1, 2009. Serves as President, Canadian Association of Fire Chiefs (CAFC), Canadian Building Codes Commission member, Chair Governance Council, Alberta First Responders Radio Communications system, past President, Metropolitan Fire Chiefs Association, past Chair CAFC, National Advisory Council, Presidential Advisor, Alberta Fire Chief's Association (AFCA).
 
Worked as an advocate previously serving three terms as Edmonton Fire Fighters Union President. His leadership was instrumental in addressing a fractured labour management relationship between Fire Fighters Union and the City of Edmonton, eventually developing into one of the most progressive Labour Management relationships in North America, highly regarded as a model across Canada.
 
He has worked as a tireless campaigner for public safety and for those in the Fire service, playing a significant role in the successful lobby of the Alberta Provincial Government as well as Internationally in Australia, to enact Fire Fighter’s Presumptive Cancer legislation, recognizing seventeen primary site cancers as well as heart injury as being job related in Professional Fire Fighters, as well advocating the issue in United States, Norway, Denmark, Croatia, Iceland and Germany.
 
He was named to the Alberta Minister of Municipal Affairs, High Intensity Residential Fires (HIRF) Committee , tasked with bringing recommendations forward to address Alberta Building Code public safety issues related to fire safety. To date 18 of the 20 recommendations put forward by the HIRF Committee has resulted in amendments to the Alberta Building Code.
 
Awards received include Queen’s Diamond Jubilee Medal, Alberta Centennial Medal, Canadian Exemplary Services Medal, Alberta Provincial Emergency Services Medal. Chief Block was named Metropolitan Fire Chiefs Association 2015 Fire Chief of the Year and Canadian Association of Fire Chiefs, 2013 Chief of the Year.
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
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