24/7 Support
24/7 Support

What We Do Saves Lives

Our Team

Rick Berwick
Chairman and Co-Founder

  • Rick has been in the fire and life safety industry since 1973, getting his first start as a sprinkler and fire protection installer. A graduate from George Brown College, he worked at Wormald Fire Systems until 1988 when he founded Classic Fire Protection Inc. For some 33 years, Rick devoted his heart, mind, body and soul to leading Classic Fire to a leadership position – one client request and job at a time. He continues that work today with the same passion and energy.

Francois Godin
CEO

  • Prior to joining Classic Fire & Life Safety in 2021, Francois worked for the Gates Corporation, a leader in automotive and industrial parts manufacturing. Prior to this role he was Managing Director of Atlas Hydraulics, associate principal at McKinsey & Company management consulting and field service engineer at Schlumberger, an oilfield service company, where he worked on rigs around the world. As CEO, Francois is responsible for overall direction and vision for Classic Fire & Life Safety and each of its business units.

Randy Bird
President, Fire & Life Safety

  • Randy served as president of FCFP Group of Companies from 2016 through 2021. Growing up in the business with his father, he has held different roles throughout the organization. Inspired by his team’s passion, dedication and expertise, Randy has worked tirelessly to harvest the contributions of his staff at all levels to deliver the best and most thorough fire/safety solutions to his clients. A board member of multiple organizations, Randy generously donates his time and resources to many local and international charitable organizations. In addition to leading the Fire & Life Safety division, Randy is also president of Northern Sprinkler Design.

Dan Bird
Co-Founder and Business Lead for APEX and EDGE

  • Dan is the founder and original president of FCFP. Having transitioned the position of president to his son Randy in 2016, Dan continues full-time responsibilities as company Director and Senior Project Manager. Dan readily offers his expertise in the sprinkler industry to support team members throughout the organization. In his current role, Dan manages special projects whose complexity requires special attention. Additionally, Dan oversees the APEX Fabrication & Supply and EDGE Fire Protection business divisions.

Andy Mallon
Chief Financial Officer

  • Andy joined our team in 2022, bringing 20+ years of financial management experience in multisite wholesale distribution and retail businesses; and financial consultancy.  Andy provides oversight of the financial team and systems, and help drive financial reporting, controls, governance and analytics for the group of companies.  He has a strong track-record of leading financial teams and operating effectively in high growth environments.  He is a coach and mentor who is passionate about building and developing high performance and collaborative finance teams.

Chris Berwick
Vice-President of Service

  • Chris has been the manager of the Maintenance and Service (IMS) Division at Classic Fire Protection since 2016, overseeing all branches for the company. Chris started working at Classic Fire part-time in 1993, and moved to a full-time role after college in 1999. He served as an apprentice and became a licensed fitter in 2004. In that same year he redirected his energies to sales and operations where he successfully expanded the work and performance of the company’s IMS Division.

Dave Groen
Vice-President of Construction

  • Dave is currently responsible for the overall growth and development of the construction team comprising estimating, design and construction. Dave also manages the operations of Northern Sprinkler Design (NSD). Dave started working for FCFP in 2004 after graduating from Seneca College’s Fire Protection Engineering Technology program. He has been manager of the GTA branch overseeing a group of some 15 direct reports and a total of 50 staff. In 2019 he was promoted to Vice-President of Construction overseeing the construction operations for the Ontario and Winnipeg regions, including estimating, design and installations. In June 2021 Dave was elected as a CASA Director for Ontario (B Region).

Melissa DIAZ
Vice-President of Human Resources

  • Melissa Diaz oversees all aspects of Human Resource Management. She works closely with each division to establish recruiting strategies, employee relations, performance management and organizational structure to support the growth and development of each.  Melissa joined our team in 2022 with a wide assortment of experience gained over close to 15 years in diverse business environments including sales and marketing, distribution, manufacturing and the professional services sector.  Before joining Classic Fire + Life Safety, Melissa held the position of Human Resources Manager at Gates Corporation, a leading manufacturer of application-specific fluid power and power transmission solutions. Prior to that, she worked for close to 10 years at Bunge Canada, a company committed to connecting farmers to consumers in the areas of food, feed and fuel delivery.  

Mike Caskanette
Vice-President of Support

  • Mike Caskanette has played a central role in the growth of FCFP Group of Companies for over 25 years. He is currently a vice president overseeing IT systems, fleet management and marketing. He is the chief security officer for government clearances, handles pre-qualifications for tenders and provides oversight for FCFP's Security division. Mike has hands-on experience in all levels at of all the companies including shop fabrication, purchasing, order desk, payroll, IT and managing operations. Most recently, Mike has been working with the various business units to establish SOPs and is currently spearheading the integration of the company's new ERP systems. He holds a Master's Certificate Six Sigma Blackbelt (2018) and a Master's Certificate in Innovation Leadership (2019).

Testimonials

“Working with each of you has been far more professional and client-centric than the other competitors referred to me!”

Mario

“We are looking forward to working with them again next year and would highly recommend them for other wind farms who require fire protection inspections and testing.”

Dave Furlano
Assistant Site Supervisor | Grand Bend Wind LP

“They consistently bring a high level of service to each project both administratively and operationally which benefits both parties as well as the most important thing, the project itself.”

Greg Richards
Project Manager | Bird Construction

“From attention to detail at the early stages of project planning, to the efficiency and streamline execution during installation, they provided a high level of workmanship and overall project performance from start to finish.”

Alexander Yarmoluk
FPET, C. Tech. | Arencon Inc.

“The professionalism exercised by our project staff and tradesmen has made working with you on this project a pleasure.”

Paul Pigott
Senior Project Manager | PCL Constructors Canada