Passing of Dr. Guylene Proulx

[FM William Burns]

Dr. Guylene Proulx was with the National Research Council Canada and was an expert in human behavior in fires. She was incredible...what she knew, her research, her publications, made a huge difference in how buildings were built, how fire protection and prevention programs were run. She was one of those people that most of the line fire fighters and fire officers may never have heard of, but her work made their lives, and those of the people living and working in these buildings, safer. If you Google her name and the word "fire" you will find many references to her works and publications. Unfortunately, she passed away last week at the age of 48 from cancer. In the short time that she was with us, Guylene was one of those people who, literally, changed the world through her work.

I had the extreem pleasure of learning from her over past 15 years while working on code development on fire protection and egress matters. I learned more from her in one hour having lunch together then any handbook could offer. She will be sorely missed.