About Us

Where We Came From

The Apex Fire Brigade Society (AFBS) was originally established on November 11, 2007 by a group of Apex residents, staff, business and homeowner volunteers to protect our community from fire – based on the concept of “Families Helping Families”.

In early 2019, the AFBS pursued a renewed effort to become the provider of the community’s only frontline response organization for fire, medical/rescue, motor vehicle and all hazards disaster response through it’s operational organization of Apex Volunteer Fire and Rescue. The AFBS developed this capability as a non taxed-based organization that relied solely on grants and the generous financial and equipment contributions from residents, homeowners, businesses and other fire response services. Due to the generosity of these contributors, Apex Volunteer Fire and Rescue was able to obtain our first fire engine (Engine 121 aka”Timber”), a temporary fire hall and basic fire fire-fighting, medical and rescue equipment in less than one year. With the additional hard-work and dedication of the organization’s members, a core group of emergency response members trained to the minimum levels of firefighting and medical response required to respond to fire and medical emergencies.

On March 27, 2021, Apex community members voted in a Regional District of Okanagan Similkameen Referendum to support a property tax-funded fire service to the community.  There are two budgets that were included in the Referendum; an annual $200,000 operating budget and up to a $3 million borrowing budget to support the building of a new fire hall, and the purchase of a new to AVFR fire engine.

Where We Are Now

Apex Volunteer Fire Rescue is now able to meet the immediate basic fire and medical emergency response needs and the requirements for the Fire Underwriter Survey (FUS) fire protection rating of the Apex Community. This also allows the AFBS and the AVFR to focus on planning for the sustained provision of these basic services, while expanding organizational capabilities to provide the full spectrum of emergency response services required to meet the community’s public safety needs.

Meet the Crew

We are super friendly, authentic humans who work hard for our community. We’ve been known to be a little scrappy from time-to-time but flexible and adaptable all the time. We are a diverse group of passionate visionaries, techies, and forward-thinkers who love what we do.

Kelly Johnston

Kelly Johnston

RPF, Fire Chief

Kelly is a permanent full-time resident, property owner and enthusiastic community member at Apex. He is currently the Deputy Fire Chief for Apex Volunteer Fire Rescue and a Board

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Graeme Lindsay

Graeme Lindsay

Deputy Chief

Graeme is a Board Member of the Apex Fire Brigade Society, Local Fire Smart Representative and a firefighter with Apex Fire and Rescue – Graeme Lindsay also sits on the future Apex Fire Station Building

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John Davis

John Davis

Volunteer Firefighter

A connection to the mountains of Apex began over 80 years ago for the Davis~Corbett family with John’s mother Charlotte skiing from the original Scout Cabin in the 1940’s.

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Gabe Lavoie

Gabe Lavoie

Assistant Fire Chief

Gabe is a permanent full-time resident at Apex. He is also a member of the paid ski patrol during the winter. Gabe has been the fire chief of the Apex Fire Brigade for 2 years and a member for 3. 

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Molly Raine

Molly Raine

Fire Prevention Officer

Molly has been with AVFR since 2019. As the Fire Prevention Officer, she takes care of our FireSmart and fire mitigation programs. She is currently working on completing a degree in Emergency   

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Ed Wright

Ed Wright

Volunteer Firefighter

Ed is a permanent full-time resident, a property owner who demonstrates a strong work ethic to serve his community of Apex. He joined AVFR 3 years ago and brings to the team 25 years of worldwide

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Chris Collins

Chris Collins

Volunteer Firefighter

Born in Saskatchewan, Chris bounced around western Canada for several years before finding his home here at Apex Mountain. Chris lives on the hill full time year-round, and you can often see him

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Mike Polywkan

Mike Polywkan

Training Officer

Mike served as Apex Fire Chief for ten years and is currently serving as training officer, NFPA 1041 Fire Service Instructor Level 1, Industrial Health and Safety Coordinator, Occupational First Aid Level

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This Place Is For You

This Place Is For You

Volunteer Firefighter

Are you skiing at Apex, taking care of a family, or love spending time in the GunBarrel? As you can see, we’re a bunch of positive people with different interests and backgrounds.

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