Fort Nelson wildfire technician wins award at 2026 BC Wildland Firefighter Award

FORT NELSON, B.C. — A wildfire technician from the Fort Nelson fire zone has won an award at the recent BC Wildland Firefighter Award. 

Rena Dehne, a wildfire technician for BC Wildfire Service, was given the Vanguard Award at the recent 2026 Wildfire Resiliency and Training Summit that was held from April 8th to April 12th. 

As a wildfire technician, Dehne’s job supports both wildfire response and fire management within her respective zone, including contributing to fire preparedness and prevention work. 

According to Dehen, the Vanguard Award is a “specific honor” within the BC Wildland Firefighters Award. 

“This award recognizes an early career wildland firefighter with 10 years or less of experience who demonstrates excellence, dedication and leadership within their role,” Dehne explained. 

Dehne was humbled and surprised when she won this award. 

She said: “I was really surprised, mainly because I feel like this award could have been given to so many people within the BC wildfire service.” 

“I was then deeply humbled by this recognition, as it isn’t something that I see as mine alone. It really reflects the strong partnerships we’ve built within this community and the work we do.” 

She believes that these “strong partnerships” bring out the best in everyone involved. 

Professionally, for Dehne, this award feels like a “meaningful affirmation” of her leadership approaches. 

“[These approaches] I’ve developed over time are grounded in collaboration, listening and relationship building are making a positive impact,” she adds. “Personally, it reminds me that showing up as my authentic, sometimes vulnerable self matters and those qualities are not only accepted but valued together.” 

After working as a crew member on the line for seven years, Dehne noticed that there wasn’t a lot of female leadership outside of the crew dynamic. 

“For me, first of all, I love the work, the opportunity and being a part of something bigger than myself,” she added. 

“It’s also important for me to be someone other women can look up to, so when they’re in an interview, it’s not just all men, but there’s another woman there, to feel supported, capable and [know] they’re not alone in pursuing this career path.” 

When asked how she is preparing for the 2026 wildfire season, she said Fort Nelson Fire Zone is introducing the Junior Fire program, which hires grade 11 and 12 students to introduce them to career opportunities in wildfire. 

She said: “[The] long-term objective is to get locals interested in wildfire, to have retention within the local community and let youth know what the career opportunities are [around] wildfire [management].” 

“We’re conducting Mutual Aid Training, preparing for prescribed burns and getting ready for when the conditions are right to activate those prescribed burns.” 

In addition to this, the fire zone is getting gear maintained and ready for deployment, running mock scenarios, partnering up to do fuel reduction works and setting operational priorities for when the snow melts. 

Dehne noted that this year, the biggest difference compared to the last three seasons is that they have time to prepare and set priorities. 

“Once the snow melts, we will be conducting thermal scanning to see the heat on the landscape to help set our priorities, to gain a clearer understanding of the fire potential early into the fire season, as we’ve never been given that opportunity in the last few seasons,” she explained. 

When asked if she has a message for the other nominees and winners, she said: “Keep showing up each day with integrity, compassion and a commitment to being the best version of yourself.”

“Stay open to learning from other people’s perspectives and lean into collaboration, because that’s how we come together to accomplish the tasks at hand, empower each other and have fun along the way.”