FIRE CHIEFS OF THE YEAR ANNOUNCED

CALGARY, September 29, 2011 – Former Fire Chief Gilles La Madeleine, CFO of the Beloeil, Quebec Fire Service  has been named Canada’s Full-time Fire Chief of the Year.  Fire Chief Charles Boyte, CFO, Fire Chief of Pender Island Fire Rescue, is the Volunteer Fire Chief of the Year.

Both awards were announced last evening during the closing ceremonies at the Canadian Association of Fire Chiefs’ annual conference held in Calgary, Alberta.

Hamilton Fire Chief Rob Simonds, CFO is President of the Canadian Association of Fire Chiefs.  In congratulating former Fire Chief La Madeleine and Fire Chief Boyte, he observed that both of them were being primarily honoured for their dedication to training and innovation.  “New firefighting technologies, non-fire incidents such as traffic accidents and challenges created by emerging trends all require a total commitment to training and innovation,” he said.

“Firefighting is an intrinsically dangerous business,” CAFC’s President stated. “Without the outstanding contributions of Fire Chiefs Boyte and La Madeleine, and literally thousands of other Fire Services leaders, firefighting would be even more dangerous.”

“Both of our Fire Chiefs of the Year are mandated to protect the lives and property of their citizens.  To do so effectively, they must be committed to training, public education, appropriate equipment and a constant drive to find ever-better ways of doing things” CAFC’s President observed.  “More than anything else,” he added, “they have equally shown themselves to be true leaders.”

There are 3,500 fire departments in Canada and 108,000 firefighting personnel.   Volunteers comprise 91 per cent of all departments and 77 per cent of total personnel.

Information:

Hamilton Fire Chief Rob Simonds,. CFO
President, Canadian Association of Fire Chiefs
Tel:     905-546-3343

Don Warden
Executive Director, Canadian Association of Fire Chiefs
Cell:   705-717-8009

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