Kevan, and his wife of 42 years, Carolyn have been residents of Pineview in St. Albert for 14 years. Their three children and their spouses reside in St. Albert and North Edmonton.

 

With over 40 years of public service with municipal and the provincial governments, Kevan recently completed his career as Provincial Fire Commissioner with Alberta Municipal Affairs.

 

Prior to attending the University of Alberta Kevan worked in the oilpatch across Northern Alberta as well as in building and underground utility construction. He graduated from the University of Alberta in 1981. During his university years Kevan was an active volunteer examiner and board member of the Royal Life Saving Society and the National Lifeguard Service.

 

Kevan has also worked for multiple Alberta municipalities including the Town of Claresholm and the Cities of Edmonton, Lloydminster, and St. Albert prior to taking on the Director of Recreation position with the Westlock Regional Recreation Board in 1981. While in Westlock, Kevan served on the Volunteer Fire Department and was Grand Knight for the Knights of Columbus. He also served on the Board of Directors of the Alberta Recreation and Parks Association.

 

Kevan began work in 1990 with Alberta Labour as their Regional Fire Services Advisor for the Southern Region out of Lethbridge. His primary role was providing hazard/risk identification and risk management services to municipal and band councils, administration, and fire departments across southern Alberta. Additionally, Kevan co-managed the implementation of the Safety Codes Act across the province which is still used by municipalities to manage the construction and life safety of buildings and facilities throughout Alberta. Kevan has also conducted multiple fire code inspections, fire origin & cause investigations and provided certified fire department operations and leadership training throughout Alberta and in Nunavut.

 

A major portion of his advisory risk management work involved the review of fire department operations and the creation/revision of fire and emergency services by-laws, Master Plans and regional service agreements related to fire department operations and emergency management with an emphasis on the Municipal Government Act, the Safety Codes Act, and the Emergency Management Act. He has been a part-time Associate Instructor at the Alberta Fire Training School (now Lakeland College’s Emergency Training Centre) in Vermilion since the mid-1990s and holds most National Fire Protection Association fire service certifications.

 

Kevan served on the parent’s executive of Lethbridge #11 Squadron - Royal Canadian Air Cadets, as hockey team manager for the Lethbridge Athletic Association and was Vice President of the Lethbridge Y’s Men’s Club in support of the local YMCA while working in Lethbridge.

 

Kevan transferred to the Edmonton office of the new Alberta Emergency Management Agency in 2007 and temporarily filled the roles of Assistant Fire Commissioner and Provincial Operations Manager before being appointed as the province’s Chief Fire Administrator in 2009. This new position offered Kevan direct responsibility for the development and administration of the Alberta Fire Code and the Fire Safety Discipline under the Safety Codes Act. From 2014 to 2016 Kevan was also tasked to serve as the Manager of Flood Recovery Assistance. This temporary role saw Kevan managing the claims of many residents and businesses in Calgary and High River as well as on the Siksika First Nation and the Stoney Nakoda First Nation following the devastating Southern Alberta floods of 2013. In this role he also managed the collaborative multi-disciplinary Rapid Damage Assessment process in 2016 following the Ft. McMurray (Horse River) wildfire.