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www.insideHALTON.com | OAKVILLE BEAVER | Thursday, April 21, 2016 | 6 Oakville has a new re chief on the scene by Julia Le Oakville Beaver Staff Spotlight "Connected to your Community" B rian Durdin didn't always have his heart set on becoming a re ghter. He started working at the Town of Oakville in its parks and recreation department in 1978 and was encouraged by his supervisor at the time, David Pennycook, to apply for the job. "I'd done some training in forestry for forestry re ghting, but I had no idea I wanted to be a re ghter," admitted Durdin. "I saw an opportunity and went after it." Both Pennycook and Durdin became re ghters in 1980. At the time, Durdin was just 21 years old and living in Oakville. The Queen Elizabeth Park High School graduate credits his 36-yearand-counting career in re ghting to a number of mentors, who helped train him and encouraged him to move within the ranks at the Oakville Fire department. "It became a hunger to learn more," said Durdin, who moved to Milton in 2001 with his family. "As I qualied or became eligible to move up the ladder from a re ghter captain, I was eager and willing to look at the next step. I took the philosophy that every door that opened, I'd try to step through it and I've been successful." Durdin worked his way through the suppression division from a recruit re ghter to captain. After a brief period as a training of cer, he returned to the suppression division as a platoon chief. In 2005, he became the assistant deputy chief and was promoted to deputy re chief in 2008. He has worked on numerous internal and external acquisition and implementation projects, such as P25 800 MHz regional radio implementation, computer-aided dispatch/records management system, station alerting and mobile computer-aided dispatch. At the top of his game, he has been named the new re chief of Oakville. He was appointed to the role in February and is soon to step into the Brian Durdin has been appointed Oakville's new re chief. He of cially steps into the role May 1. | photo by Graham Paine ­ Oakville Beaver (Follow on Twitter @halton_photog or facebook.com/HaltonPhotog) post of cially May 1. He replaces Lee Grant, who is retiring as chief at the end of April, but is staying on as a temporary executive director of emergency planning until the end of the year. Durdin, who is married and has four children between the ages of 20 and 26, said he's honoured and humbled to be taking on the role and working with the men and women of Oakville Fire and Town staff to continue improving the service to the community and "offer the best public re safety and re services we can to the residents and taxpayers. "Essentially, we have the obligation to provide the best service possible and my goal is to enhance that, and improve it, where we can, and improve life safety in the town," he said, adding he's thankful for the faith and trust the community has put in him. Durdin notes he has big shoes to ll, describing Grant as a "progressive chief." These moments tend to be challenging for the career re ghter. Everyone wants to be successful and help everyone and save everybody, but sometimes it's just not going to happen. Oakville's new re chief Brian Durdin He hopes to continue in Grant's footsteps to enhance the department's "three lines of defence," which are improving public education about re prevention, continuing prevention practices for inspections and suppression activities. Durdin would also like to create more paths and open doors for other re ghters to succeed him or other senior level management from within the department. "That would be an extremely large goal to encourage people there is opportunity to achieve the senior ranks in the Town from within," he said, noting many members of the current management team will retire within the next ve years and he'd like to provide opportunities for others to get the education, knowledge and exposure to the roles. Re ecting on his career, Durdin says he's fortunate to be in a profession that is rewarding and ful lling. Noting that re ghters are there to help people in their "worst hour" and when they need it the most, he said it's gratifying to know you've made a difference in someone's life. However, being a re ghter does come with challenges, Durdin admitted. Even if you've done everything you possibly can in an emergency, in some circumstances, Durdin says re ghters often battle feelings of failure when a person dies. "These moments tend to be chal- lenging for the career re ghter," he said. "Everyone wants to be successful and help everyone and save everybody, but sometimes it's just not going to happen. Sometimes it's a vehicle accident and they've perished before you get there, or you go to a house re and you pull people out, but they perish later in hospital because of the exposure to re. "That takes the wind out of you for a while, but as a crew you've got to come together and help each other through it," Durdin said. But the rewards far outweigh the challenges, he adds. Fire and rescue services in the Town are delivered by more than 200 full-time personnel. The Oakville Fire department is staffed 24 hours a day, 365 days a year to ensure the safety of Oakville residents and visitors. The Oakville Fire department operates from eight station locations as well as the Oakville Training Campus for Emergency Excellence. NEIL OLIVER Vice ­President and Group Publisher KELLY MONTAGUE Regional General Manager Volume 54 | Number 32 5046 Mainway, Unit 2, Burlington (905) 845-3824 Oakville Beaver is a member of the Ontario Press Council. The council is located at 80 Gould St., Suite 206, Toronto, Ont., M5B 2M7. Phone (416) 340-1981. Advertising is accepted on the condition that, in the event of a typographical error, that portion of advertising space occupied by the erroneous item, together with a reasonable allowance for signature, will not be charged for, but the balance of the advertisement will be paid for at the applicable rate. The publisher reserves the right to categorize advertisements or decline. Editorial and advertising content of the Oakville Beaver is protected by copyright. Unauthorized use is prohibited. 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