New Deputy Fire Chief Mike Figliola was getting comfortable with his new North Bay Fire Department digs when BayToday caught up with him on Tuesday. Photo by Kate Adams.
The North Bay Fire Department has welcomed a new deputy fire chief.
Mike Figliola has joined the department after Deputy Fire Chief Brian Hunt, quietly and without fanfare, bid adieu to the service he had dedicated over 30 years of his life to this past month.
Figliola joins the NBFD after serving as fire chief at Canada’s busiest airport Pearson International in Toronto.
“I had been the deputy there for three years and the chief for 12,” he tells BayToday.
“We had gone through numerous restructuring and I had put in secession plan in place and it was time for me to move on and explore other things.”
Figliola says coming north was a golden opportunity he could not refuse.
“I know the area very well,” he says noting that this will be his 50th summer going to Algonquin Park and has an aunt living in the west arm of Nipissing.
“This was again that golden opportunity to put career with the personal and it was win-win,” he states.
The new deputy says he brings a solid skill set coupled with experience and education which will help the department especially when dealing with a tight budget.
“We’re looking to be efficient, but still provide that level of service that the community wants.”
Figliola says he looks forward to working with the ranks in an environment that addresses problems and works to solve them without finger pointing or playing the blame game.
“I believe in holding people accountable,” he says.
“I’m a big believer in delegate authority down let people do the job because it’s their job and they know how to do it, but I will hold them accountable for that responsibility. That’s how I operate.”
“Tough, but fair that's how people describe me.”
