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Wandering River Fire Department hesitant to elect new chief

Athabasca County fire services coordinator Brad Staty will fill the role and mentor local members to take over
20200625 Wandering River FD exterior_FILE_WEB
The Wandering River Fire Department volunteers are being cautious after a rare investigation into the former chief went public because he is a sitting councillor.

ATHABASCA — It was a unique set of circumstances that led to the investigation of a sitting Athabasca County councillor into allegations of conduct while the Wandering River Fire Department (WRFD) chief, but it has left volunteers nervous to let their names stand for the position. 

At Athabasca County's Sept. 13 council meeting, director of agriculture and community services Dawn Phillips explained initially the role was going to be filled by two volunteers, Maureen Kirby and the deputy chief, but Kirby resigned as chief as of July 4. 

“When Ms. Kirby resigned, I requested that they do an election and bring forward the one that they chose to be their new chief,” said Phillips. “They did not want an election so, I advised them that I would be bringing forward her resignation today.” 

She added an election was held Sept. 8, but no chief was elected, and Coun. Tracy Holland asked why. 

“There's hesitation around recent events with the investigation of our previous fire chief,” Phillips said. 

Holland then asked if it stemmed from the investigation being made public. 

“Normally, if there was a concern the fire services coordinator and myself as the director we would investigate, we’d bring in HR, potentially even the CAO,” said Phillips. “We would not bring in a third party, it would not be public because the only reason it was different in this situation was the individual was also a councillor so it murkied the waters.” 

The motion to accept Kirby's resignation passed unanimously, then Coun. Gary Cromwell, who was the subject of the investigation, said now was not the time to appoint fire services coordinator Brad Straty as WRFD chief. 

“I believe that we have a fire service review right now and we've already had that discussion that we're not going to make any major changes until that review is finished and I think we have a process that needs to be followed,” said Cromwell. 

“When a chief is not found for a department, I have serious concerns that nobody's appointed chief. Then do we allow a department to continue to operate without a chief in that position?” asked Phillips. 

Coun. Ashtin Anderson agreed it would not be a good idea to leave the chief position vacant and if Straty wasn’t appointed right away council could be forced to close the WRFD until a chief could be found. 

“Understanding the effects of the motions we vote for is important,” she said. “And once the decision of council is made, I think we need to stick with that decision and in this case, I cannot ignore the fact that we have formally accepted the resignation of the Wandering River chief and that the motion on the table is to not appoint a fire chief.” 

Phillips wondered if it was even legal to have a department without a chief. 

“I would have concerns that we do not have someone to oversee the operations of that department if we don't have Mr. Straty stepping in as the overarching chief assisting in those departments where there isn't a chief in place,” she said. 

Cromwell’s motion not to appoint Straty was defeated 8-1 and Coun. Camille Wallach immediately made a motion to appoint Straty as Athabasca County Fire chief which passed with an identical vote, with only Cromwell opposed. 

Straty will now oversee the department and help mentor one of the members to take over the role locally. 

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