Pete Laing, RFT, began his forestry and wildland fire career 34 years ago as tree planter in Toba Inlet, BC and not long after that was a contract smoke jumper in the Yukon territory. This eventually led to working for the BC Wildfire Service (BCWS) seasonally in northern BC, originally on a First Nations unit crew, then as a program manager with the BCWS Smoke Jumper Program (Parattack).

He also worked in high-lead logging, engineering, and silviculture, including slash and pile burning.

Pete eventually joined BCWS in full-time roles as a wildfire technician and wildfire officer. He is a certified as a Type 1 incident commander, operations section and liaison, and as a Type 2 prescribed burn boss. He has worked on wildfires across five continents and has been superintendent, fuel management with BCWS since 2022.