Don Arney (born 1947) is a

Canadian Canadians (french: Canadiens) are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of ...

inventor and entrepreneur best known for inventing the Bambi Bucket, a collapsible

helicopter bucket A helicopter bucket is a specialised bucket suspended on a cable carried by a helicopter to deliver water for aerial firefighting. Each bucket has a release valve on the bottom which is controlled by the helicopter crew. When the helicopter is i ...

used for fighting forest fires."Delta firm makes big splash with firefighting bucket"
''The Vancouver Sun'', Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. September 1, 2003, Page: 27 Arney is the founder of SEI Industries, an industrial fabric product manufacturer which he started in 1978."Don Arney’s Bambi Bucket, a major contribution to aerial firefighting tech from the 1980s"
''IP Watchdog'', By Steve Brachmann, October 2, 2017

Early life

Arney was born in

Prince Rupert, British Columbia Prince Rupert is a port city in the province of British Columbia, Canada. Its location is on Kaien Island near the Alaskan panhandle. It is the land, air, and water transportation hub of British Columbia's North Coast, and has a population of 12 ...

; he spent the first eight years of his life there before moving a number of times around

Vancouver Island Vancouver Island is an island in the northeastern Pacific Ocean and part of the Canadian province of British Columbia. The island is in length, in width at its widest point, and in total area, while are of land. The island is the largest by ...

in order to accommodate his father's work in construction. In his youth, he spent time living in Port Alberni,

Chemainus Chemainus is a community within the municipality of North Cowichan in the Chemainus Valley on the east coast of southern Vancouver Island, British Columbia, Canada. Founded as an unincorporated logging town in 1858, Chemainus is now famou ...

, Nanaimo and

Victoria Victoria most commonly refers to: * Victoria (Australia), a state of the Commonwealth of Australia * Victoria, British Columbia, provincial capital of British Columbia, Canada * Victoria (mythology), Roman goddess of Victory * Victoria, Seychelle ...

. Arney attended

Simon Fraser University Simon Fraser University (SFU) is a public research university in British Columbia, Canada, with three campuses, all in Greater Vancouver: Burnaby (main campus), Surrey, and Vancouver. The main Burnaby campus on Burnaby Mountain, located ...

and graduated with a Bachelors of Science in

Biology Biology is the scientific study of life. It is a natural science with a broad scope but has several unifying themes that tie it together as a single, coherent field. For instance, all organisms are made up of cells that process hereditary i ...

Career

Arney worked at a Vancouver shipyard, testing underwater airbags. Soon after, he moved to North Vancouver where he founded SEI industries in 1978 with Mark McCooey. He began work on what would be his best-known invention, the Bambi Bucket. SEI introduced the first iteration of the Bambi Bucket to firefighters in 1982. Its lightweight design and low price point made it a practical tool for fighting fires. The Bambi Bucket was officially unveiled at the Helicopters Association International trade show that same year. The Bambi Bucket continues to be used in firefighting around the world; they were used in 2011 to cool nuclear reactors in Japan after damage from a tsunami. In 1984, SEI industries moved from North Vancouver to Richmond. Arney continued to invent and acquire products with SEI Industries over the years. In 2002 he invented the HangBoard, a

winter sports Winter sports or winter activities are competitive sports or non-competitive recreational activities which are played on snow or ice. Most are variations of skiing, ice skating and sledding. Traditionally, such games were only played in cold are ...

board that combines the experiences of snowboarding and

hang gliding Hang gliding is an air sport or recreational activity in which a pilot flies a light, non-motorised foot-launched heavier-than-air aircraft called a hang glider. Most modern hang gliders are made of an aluminium alloy or composite frame covered ...

. While speeding downhill and manipulating steering rudders, the rider is suspended above the snow on a small folding crane. The invention has yet to be produced commercially.

Awards and accolades

In 2017, Arney was inducted into the

National Inventors Hall of Fame The National Inventors Hall of Fame (NIHF) is an American not-for-profit organization, founded in 1973, which recognizes individual engineers and inventors who hold a U.S. patent of significant technology. Besides the Hall of Fame, it also oper ...

at a ceremony in

Washington, D.C. ) , image_skyline = , image_caption = Clockwise from top left: the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, United States Capitol, Logan Circle, Jefferson Memorial, White House, Adams Morgan, ...

He was recognized for the life saving qualities of his invention the Bambi Bucket. Arney has received the BC Export Award, which was awarded to his company SEI Industries in 2003, and an Ernest C. Manning Award, which he won in 1986. In 2005, Arney was featured in the ''BC Almanac''s ''Book of Greatest British Columbians''.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Arney, Don 1947 births Living people Canadian inventors People from Prince Rupert, British Columbia Simon Fraser University alumni