Chris Case, assistant fire chief with the Chatham-Kent Fire Department, will become the municipality's fire chief on Dec. 6. Handout/Postmedia Network
Chatham-Kent’s assistant fire chief will be moving into the top job on Dec. 6.
Chris Case will become the next fire chief, replacing the retiring Bob Crawford. Case has 28 years working in fire operations service, first being hired by the Merseyside Fire Brigade in Liverpool, U.K., in 1991.
There, he worked in operations, special operations, administration, planning, training and command. He formed the U.K.’s only dedicated fire and explosives task force to deal with arson and explosives crime and worked as a lecturer to the U.K. Fire Services College.
Case moved to Canada in 2016 with his wife and four children for his assistant chief role with the Chatham-Kent Fire Department.
John Norton, general manager of community development for the Municipality of Chatham-Kent, said there was a nationwide search and recruitment effort for the job.
“Among a large group of capable applicants, Chris emerged as the best candidate to lead the fire service into the future,” Norton said in a news release. “I have observed Chief Case for several years now and I know that he has the respect of his peers, firefighters and the wider community. I have the utmost confidence that we have selected the right person for this role.”
Don Shropshire, Chatham Kent’s chief administrative officer, said Case has been a “major contributor to the fire service” since he was hired.
Case has also held the post of operations chief. He and his family were granted permanent resident status this year on a nomination from the Province of Ontario.
“Since arriving in this wonderful community over three years ago, I have enjoyed every day serving alongside our outstanding firefighters to safeguard the communities of Chatham-Kent,” Case said in the release. “I am lucky enough to have an outstanding team here at work and at home. The endless support from my family and the teams at CK Fire has made this next step in my career possible.
“I cannot express how thankful I am for this opportunity and how much I am looking forward to being your fire chief.”
Crawford originally served as fire chief from 2001 to 2013, and returned to the role in 2017.
Link to original article on chathamdailynews.ca: Case named Chatham-Kent's new fire chief