A special honour was given in North Perth last night.
North Perth Fire Chief Ed Smith was given a service award for over 40 years of fire service, including being an Ontario fire instructor. Chief Smith says it was great to be honoured for all his years.
"[In] 40 years there's been a lot of good times, and a lot of times that you'll never forget," he says . "In 40 years you see a lot of stuff that you wish you hadn't, but in general it's been quite a 40 years."
Chief Smith says one new change coming that he supports is the proposed changes to the Fire Prevention and Protection Act, where all fire fighters will have to take the same training and certificates, whether they're full time or volunteer. Chief Smith says in his time fighting fires, a lot has changed.
"When I started, we rode in the back of the truck, we wore the trench coats with the boots up to your hips," he says. "Today, nobody rides in the back of a truck, you're wearing bunker gear today, things have changed a lot."
North Perth Mayor Julie Behrns says the chief is "one of the finest people I've had the pleasure of working with."
