FIRE CHIEFS OF THE YEAR ANNOUNCED

SAINT JOHN, September 23, 2010 – Fire Chief Gord Schreiner of the Comox, British Columbia Fire Department  has been named Canada’s Full-time Fire Chief of the Year.  Fire Chief Miles Boulter, Chief Instructor of the Prince Edward Island Firefighters School, is the Volunteer Fire Chief of the Year. 

Left is Volunteer Fire Chief of the year Mile Boulter and next to him is Career Fire Chief of the Year Gord Schreiner

Both awards were announced last evening during the closing ceremonies at the Canadian Association of Fire Chiefs’ annual conference held in Saint John, New Brunswick.

Calgary Fire Chief Bruce Burrell is President of the Canadian Association of Fire Chiefs.  In congratulating Fire Chief Boulter and Fire Chief Schreiner, he observed that both of them were being primarily honoured for their dedication to training and education.  “New firefighting technologies, non-fire incidents such as traffic accidents and challenges created by different types of building materials and furnishings all require an ongoing commitment to training and education,” he said.

“Firefighting is an intrinsically dangerous business,“ CAFC’s President stated. “Without the outstanding contributions of Fire Chiefs Schreiner and Boulter, and literally thousands of other Fire Services trainers and educators, 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 and appropriate equipment,” 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.

For more information, contact:

Calgary Fire Chief Bruce Burrell
President, Canadian Association of Fire Chiefs
Tel: 403-287-4255             
                       
Don Warden
Executive Director, Canadian Association of Fire Chiefs
Cell: 705-717-8009

English

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