A top-tier delegation of three senior fire service leaders from Antigua and Barbuda has touched down in the Dominican Republic to represent their island nation at the 2026 Caribbean Association of Fire Chiefs Conference, a major regional gathering that kicked off earlier this month and will run through May 24. The delegation is composed of Assistant Commissioner of Police Vivian Parker, Superintendent of Police Elvis Gordon, and Assistant Superintendent of Police Lester Bagot, all of whom are taking part in the week-long event hosted at the coastal resort town of Playa Juan Dolio.
The official opening ceremony took place at the Hodelpa Garden Suites Golf and Convention Center, drawing chief fire officers and senior emergency management professionals from every corner of the Caribbean. This year’s convening centers on the forward-thinking theme “Beyond Borders: Advancing Integrated Emergency Management Across the Caribbean,” a framing that highlights growing regional recognition that cross-border coordination is critical to addressing shared disaster and emergency risks.
Over the course of the conference, delegates will engage in a packed schedule of collaborative activities, including plenary addresses from leading emergency management experts, interactive panel discussions, and closed-door strategic working sessions. Key topics on the agenda span core operational and strategic priorities for Caribbean emergency services: strengthening leadership capacity within fire brigades, improving on-site command effectiveness during large-scale incidents, expanding community and infrastructure-focused risk mitigation strategies, refining long-term strategic planning for disaster response, and exploring the practical applications of Geographic Information Systems (GIS) technology to boost emergency response outcomes across the region.
Beyond the immediate work of the 2026 conference, the gathering also sets the stage for Antigua and Barbuda’s upcoming turn in the regional spotlight: the nation has been confirmed as the official host of the Caribbean Association of Fire Chiefs Conference in 2027, marking an important milestone for the country’s fire and emergency services sector.