CANADIAN FIRE CHIEFS OF THE YEAR ANNOUNCED

WHITEHORSE, YUKON, September 25, 2008 –Toronto Fire Chief William Stewart and Sechelt Chief Fire Officer Bill Higgs have been respectively named Full-time Fire Chief of the Year and Volunteer Fire Chief of the Year by the Canadian Association of Fire Chiefs (CAFC).

Both awards were announced last evening at the closing ceremonies of the CAFC at their annual conference in Whitehorse, Yukon.

“This year marks the 100th Anniversary of our Association and so these awards are particularly meaningful to us,” said incoming CAFC President, Bruce Burrell, Chief of the Calgary Fire Department. “These two men are now part of a long history of outstanding achievement among leaders of the Canadian Fire Services who have earned the highest level of  acknowledgement from their colleagues.”

Fire Chief William Stewart is a 36-year Fire Services veteran , having served in the former City of North York Fire Department prior to amalgamation of the City of Toronto on January 1, 1998. Toronto Fire Services is the largest in Canada and the fifth largest in North America, with 82 fire stations and over 3100 personnel.

Chief Fire Officer Bill Higgs joined the Sechelt Fire Department as a volunteer in 1985 and was appointed Fire Chief in 1990. The Sechelt Fire Department has a staff of four, and complement of 40 volunteers serving a community of 11,000. Sechelt is located 40 kilometers north of Vancouver on the Sunshine Coast.

There are almost 3500 full-time, composite and volunteer fire departments across Canada, with over 108,000 firefighting personnel. Volunteers comprise 91 percent of departments and some 77 percent of personnel.

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Information:

Don Warden

Executive Director
Canadian Association of Fire Chiefs
Cell: 705-444-9745
Blackberry: 705-717-8009

www.cafc.ca

Dawson City Fire Chief Jim Regimbal
President of the Association of Yukon Fire Chiefs
Tel: 867-334-6371

Click on the icon below to download the press release (.pdf format)

WILLIAM A. STEWART

Fire Chief – Toronto Fire Services

                  
Chief Stewart is a thirty-six year Fire Service veteran having served in the former City of North York Fire Department for 26 years prior to the amalgamation of the new City of Toronto on January 1, 1998.  He has served as an operations fire fighter, Captain, Administration Chief, Assistant Deputy, Deputy Chief and the Fire Chief since May 1, 2003.

Bill has served as a member of the Professional Standards Setting Body, Ontario Fire College, in the review of all standards for fire fighter training in Ontario.  He is also the Chairman, Fire Apparatus and Equipment Committee, Underwriters’ Laboratories of Canada; Past President, Institution of Fire Engineers (Canada Branch) as well as an Advisory Board Member of Humber College, Fire Services Program and Durham College, Fire Services Program.  He also serves as the President of the Metropolitan Fire Chiefs Association, and International Association of Fire Chiefs/National Fire Protection Association and is the International President Elect of the Institution of Fire Engineers.

Bill is a graduate of the Ontario Fire College, Technology Diploma Programs, general and advanced levels, Executive Development Program and the Canadian Emergency Preparedness College.  He also holds professional designations from the Institution of Fire Engineers FIFireE; Ontario Municipal Management Institute, Certified Municipal Manager CMM, and the Canadian Association of Fire Chiefs, Chief Fire Officer, CFO designation.  Bill is committed to life long learning, and is currently serving as a Board member for Public Administration and Governance, Ryerson University.

BILL HIGGS

CFO Sechelt fire Department 

Bill Higgs was born in Vancouver BC on April 2nd 1957 and grew up in Sechelt BC.

He graduated from Elphinstone High School in 1975 and then followed his father and grandfathers footsteps into the marine towing business. He obtained his Minor Waters Master ticket in 1983 from the Pacific Marine Training Institute.

Bill joined the Sechelt Fire Department in 1985 as a volunteer member rising quickly through the ranks and was appointed as Fire Chief in January of 1990, he remains in this position today.

In 1992, the department played a significant role as one of the first fire departments in North America to introduce Compressed Air Foam Systems (CAFS) and class A foam into the municipal firefighting arena.

The department has been extremely active in promoting the effectiveness of automatic fire sprinkler systems. To this end they produced a sprinkler video that has been widely used by others to convince local governments of the benefits of fire sprinklers. This video can be viewed on the department’s website. As a result, very stringent sprinkler bylaws were passed by local politicians making the Sechelt Fire Protection District one of the most sprinklered communities in Canada.

The department promotes Fire Protection concepts that can potentially lessen risk to firefighters and serve the public better. Lately they have been using the Dry Sprinkler Aerosol Units (DSPA) that can quickly provide “knock down” when thrown into a fire by first arriving crews. 

Fire Chief Higgs believes that although there will always be a place for the
 “Muscle and Hose” Fire Protection model, a lot can and should be done to explore and embrace new ideas and technology. He adds that “Fire Chiefs owe a moral and ethical obligation to their members and the communities they serve, to be aggressively searching for and implementing ways to better provide Fire Protection”.

Bill offers a piece of advice for up and coming Chief Officers “Don’t ever give up, sometimes perseverance and determination can be your best virtue”.

The Sechelt Fire Department has a staff of four, a complement of 40 volunteer members and serves a community of 11,000. It is located 40 kilos north of Vancouver BC on the beautiful Sunshine Coast.