New leadership to helm Richer fire department

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This article was published 15/11/2018 (1986 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

It’s been a rocky few months at the Richer Fire Department, but the CAO of the RM of Ste Anne says a new chief, deputy chief and enough firefighters put them in a “comfortable position” moving forward.

The department has experienced turbulence as former chief Paul Saindon, deputy chief Don McDougall and firefighter Rob Desautels were all suspended from the force back in September and later fired from their positions.

Saindon was elected as the municipality’s reeve in the recent election.

Ste Anne CAO Jennifer Blatz said in a statement to The Carillon that Edward Belisle has been hired as chief and David Reith will serve as the new deputy chief.

“The main qualities we were looking for were managerial and administrative experience, along with strong leadership skills,” Blatz said.

“Both the new chief and deputy chief were hired from within our current department and have proven and demonstrated abilities in these areas, along with an established comradery with current members.”

Blatz added the department has also hired another five new firefighters in recent weeks, giving it a total of 17 members.

“Having successfully recruited for all vacant positions, we anticipate moving forward through the transition period smoothly,” Blatz said.