We provide protection to the village of Big White and the Big White Ski Resort, which has a capacity of 25,000 people and accommodations for 20,000 people. Big White Ski Resort, or simply Big White, is located 56 km (35 mi) southeast of Kelowna in the Southern Interior of British Columbia. Located on Big White Mountain, the highest summit in the Okanagan Highland, an upland area between the Monashee Mountains and the Okanagan Valley, it is the second largest resort in British Columbia after Whistler-Blackcomb.

Types of Calls
●    Fire suppression and prevention
●    Fire and life safety presentations
●    Public assists
●    Emergency medical response
●    Auto extrication 
●    Rope rescue 

We also provide road rescue services to over 90 kms of Big White Road and Highway 33 to Carmi, and emergency medical response to the residents of Idabel Lake.

Who We Are
We are a composite fire department with approximately 40 dedicated paid on-call firefighters. 

We commit ourselves to preserving life and property by providing Fire Prevention, Emergency Planning, Public Education and Responding to Emergencies within our community. We dedicate ourselves to the safety, security and well-being of our members.

Career Staff:
Josh Foster,  Fire Chief
Chris Bridgeman, Deputy Fire Chief – Operations & Training
Dominic Carlile, Deputy Fire Chief – Fire Prevention & Life Safety
Susan Sherriff – Accounting & Administration

Paid On-call:
1 captain
3 lieutenants
28 firefighters
7 Work Experience firefighters

Our full-time work experience firefighters are participants of an innovative work experience program (WEP) that runs every year for 11 months from June to April. Now in its 20th year, this program allows us the opportunity to staff our fire station with a crew 24-hours, seven days a week. Our program continues to gain popularity throughout Canada and internationally with over 80% of our graduates going on to career positions in the fire service.

Equipment
We operate out of one fire hall (Station 311) with 1 engine, 1 ladder truck, 1 rescue truck, 1 bush CAFS truck, 2 command vehicles, 1 utility truck and 1 SPU type 3 trailer. 

Work Experience Program (WEP)

The Big White Fire Department is very proud of the success and accomplishments of the WEP over the past 19 years. Nearly 90 per cent of our graduating members have gone on to career positions in 50 plus departments across Canada.

For more information on the 2022 WEP, please visit bigwhitefire.com including information about when and how to apply as we transition from our separate departmental website to joining all our fire rescue services at rdkb.com.