The IAFC hosted a Fire Department Exchange that brought together fire service professionals from the United States, Australia, Canada, the United Kingdom, South Africa, and Portugal. This diverse group of leaders engaged in dynamic, solution-focused discussions centered on the most pressing challenges facing the global fire service.
Throughout the exchange, participants explored shared challenges, emerging solutions, technological innovations, major incident response, and resource mobilization strategies. Conversations also highlighted new approaches to wildfire mitigation and the rapidly evolving landscape of fire behavior driven by climate and environmental changes.
This white paper examines the outcomes and opportunities identified during the second International Fire Department Exchange (IFDX), held in conjunction with the International Association of Fire Chiefs’ (IAFC) Wildland-Urban Interface (WUI) conference held in March 2025 in Kansas City, Missouri. Year two of the IFDX further strengthened efforts to share knowledge, refine practices, and foster partnerships between diverse regions, each contributing its unique expertise to fire management. The exchange widened and deepened perspectives about wildfire issues on an international scale by building on the insights and feedback from the inaugural exchange held in 2024.