Dale Gartshore says he's "very excited" to officially step into his new role as Sarnia's community emergency management coordinator (CEMC) and deputy fire chief.
Gartshore officially took on the new role on Monday, August 28.
As the CEMC, Gartshore will be tasked with reviewing and improving municipal emergency planning.
He said emergency management consists of five components: prevention, mitigation, preparedness, response, and recovery.
"So the emergency management that I'll be focusing on to start is prevention, mitigation, and preparedness," he said. "How do we prevent things from happening if they are going to happen? How do we reduce the impact? And how do we prepare to make sure we're ready when the time comes?"
To begin with, Gartshore said he plans to start developing and building relationships within the community to ensure everyone is ready and on the same page when and if an emergency occurs.
The City of Sarnia's communications manager said the municipality is transferring the emergency management portfolio to Sarnia Fire Rescue Services to better reflect the needs and goals of emergency management.
"Given Fire’s mandate as it relates to emergency response, emergency management is a logical fit. The move allows the city to capitalize on pre-existing skills, operational efficiencies, and Sarnia Fire Rescue’s established relationships with other emergency response organizations," said Steve Henschel in an emailed statement. "Prior to transferring the CEMC role to Fire, the city had two staff performing two roles. The new model will see one staff member providing both emergency management in addition to operational and leadership support for Sarnia Fire Rescue."
Gartshore said he was provided direction from Fire Chief Bryan Van Gaver when offered the CEMC position.
"From my understanding, I'll be spending the bulk of my time initially working on the emergency management role and as that comes into shape, I'll start helping out with the day-to-day operations," Gartshore said.
He said at this time, it's unclear how his duties as deputy fire chief will be split with Sarnia Deputy Fire Chief Ken Dwinnell.
Until recently, Gartshore was the acting platoon chief and has been a member of Sarnia Fire Rescue since 1997.
"I've been looking forward to an opportunity like this for a while and preparing for it," he said.
Earlier this year, Gartshore also took the lead as the initial incident command when a fire broke out at Fairwinds Lodge.
Gartshore has obtained numerous certificates and graduated from Western University's public administration program. He will pursue a master's degree in public administration from Western in the fall.