It’s official, Steph Amyotte is the new fire chief of East Ferris, “and we’re so delighted” enthused Mayor Pauline Rochefort. She noted that the East Ferris Fire Department “is highly respected in our area,” and is always willing to collaborate with neighbouring municipalities. “We’re very fortunate for that,” she said.
With such reverence for the department, the obvious choice was to “promote from within” to fill the chief’s chair, which led to choosing Amyotte, an 18-year veteran with the department. “It’s a lot to take on,” Amyotte said, but he’s looking forward to the new opportunity, and is ready to change his Captain’s hat for the Chief’s.
The position has been vacant since July 15th, when former Chief Frank Loeffen left to become fire chief of West Nipissing.
See: West Nipissing welcomes new fire chief, Frank Loeffen
Amyotte will be heading to Richmond Hill next week for some course training—chiefs do a lot more paperwork than captains—which will prepare him well for his new administrative duties. As for the many other duties, he has those covered.
He’s been involved in the training division for years and plans to continue attracting new members to the department. “We’ve got a great group of volunteers” he said, “all very skilled and very dedicated” and this group “is going to make my job a lot easier.”
Amyotte will continue to reach out to the community so the public is aware of the roles and responsibilities of the fire department, because the more people know about how it operates, the more likely people will be to volunteer.
“He’s highly respected by members of the department,” explained East Ferris’ chief administrative officer, Jason Trottier, “and we’re excited” to have him step into his new role.
“It’s important to remember how critical these roles are in our community,” Mayor Rochefort said. “So, to have dedicated people in our community like Chief Amyotte is pretty special.”
David Briggs is a Local Journalism Initiative reporter who works out of BayToday, a publication of Village Media. The Local Journalism Initiative is funded by the Government of Canada.
