Rick Dunlap

Rick has over 47 years of experience in fighting wildfires, fighting his first fire in 1978. He spent 1978 through 2007 with the United States Forest Service (USFS ) focused on aviation operations in the field. Rick became a member of the USFS Washington Office Aviation Staff in 2007, retiring in 2016 after specializing in aviation resource management. His retirement was short-lived, joining Aero-Flite in 2017 within the Flight Operations department, coordinating complex logistics for all deployments, supporting the growing fleet of amphibious and large airtankers. In 2025 Rick was promoted to Director of Government Affairs, where he offers his four decades of experience to our government partners, building new relationships and maintaining long standing ones, working together to provide solutions to agency needs.