Firehouse World—the premiere fire service conference serving the Western United States—announced its move from San Diego to Los Angeles earlier this year. Here, Ed Nichols, vice president of events and show director for Firehouse World, answers key questions about the move and shares the long-term plan for the show.
Q: Why is Firehouse World relocating to Los Angeles?
A: We’ve been discussing this for the past four years and felt that 2019 was the right year to make this move. San Diego has been a wonderful location for Firehouse World, and we could not be more grateful to San Diego Fire-Rescue and everyone who has supported us there. We feel we have fulfilled our vision for World in San Diego—to be the major fire service conference serving the Western United States.
The Los Angeles area includes some of the most progressive fire departments in world with Los Angeles City and County fire departments, as well as the 28 other departments that make up the Los Angeles Area Fire Chiefs Association (LAAFCA) and the Los Angeles Area Regional Training Group (RTG), not to mention the world-class facilities for hands-on training. We wanted to be in California; however, we wanted a location and regional support and contributions that would attract fire-service professionals, not simply from a wider radius than San Diego, but nationwide—and internationally. As we looked to take Firehouse World from a regional event to an international event, we needed a venue that could support that effort via flights, hotels and facilities. It really became “why not Los Angeles?” for our team.
Q: Relocating is risky. What level of confidence do you have that you will grow in Los Angeles?
A: Greater confidence than we had when moving Firehouse Expo from Baltimore to Nashville. That’s not to say that both moves haven’t been well researched and tested, but the move from Baltimore to Nashville was out of necessity, and the support we developed, coupled with the new experience we were able to provide to prior participants, earned the 2016 Firehouse Expo event recognition as the Fastest-Growing Trade Show in 2016 by Trade Show Executive magazine.
We’ve been able to develop the support of L.A. City, L.A. County and the other 26 departments that make up LAAFCA/RTG to establish a host base like we have never seen before for our events. So, yes, relocating is inherently risky, but we continue to give it the respect necessary to be as successful as possible.
Q: What is the long-term plan for Firehouse World?
A: This move is the second part of our two-part plan to better define Firehouse World, fulfilling its name “World,” and position the show as a complement to Firehouse Expo.
Firehouse Expo has been, and remains, a leadership conference providing training, education and access for the nation’s fire service, professional and volunteer, to further their careers and provide them with incredible access to fire service leaders from all over the country all in one place.
Firehouse World now becomes the “next step” for those fire service leaders. Focused on municipal firefighting with a strong emphasis on the wildland/urban interface and the growing challenges facing urban/suburban fire departments, Firehouse World will become the conference providing current and future leaders with education and access to instructors, nationally and internationally, to allow them to further their careers and develop their own path forward.
[More Information] box
Firehouse World 2019 will be held March 24–28, 2019, at the Los Angeles Convention Center. Registration and hotels are currently open, and the educational offerings will be available by the end of October. Please visit firehouseworld.com for more information.
