New Minden Hills fire chief, Don Kruger, did not began his career as a firefighter until the age of 32.
Somewhat older than most volunteers, he was enticed by a neighbour after he had moved to Waubaushene, on the southeastern shore of Georgian Bay. The neighbour was the fire chief for Tay Township.
“I come from a family of cops and originally wanted to be a cop,” Kruger says while seated in his office at the Minden fire station on Hwy. 35.
At the time, policing was a sought-after job and it did not happen for Kruger. Shortly after, he and his wife, Angela, moved to Waubaushene.
“One evening [the neighbour] came across the street and introduced himself and asked, ‘have you ever thought about joining the fire department?’ and I said ‘no.’ He said, ‘you’re a relatively young guy, you’re a family guy, you live in town, we have a couple of openings, would you be interested’?”
Kruger said he didn’t know, but asked what he would have to do. He was told to fill out a form and shave his beard. Firefighters cannot have beards because their self-contained breathing apparatus (SCBA) can’t seal properly over beards. Kruger filled out the paperwork, the chief brought it to the station and he was approved. He showed up with Kruger’s pager the next day. That was 20 years ago.
Asked if he recalled his first ever callout, he replies, “I remember everything about that day. Right from day one, I loved it.” It was a boat on fire tied up at a marina. He drove to the fire hall, ran from the car to grab his gear and hop onto the truck, and raced to the scene.
He still recalls the chief – as he was slowly walking to the truck – telling him that after four or five years he wouldn’t be running anymore.
“I still run.” He attributes that to both the adrenaline rush and helping people. “I know I have saved lives.”
He’s been at the helm in Minden just over two months. Prior to that, he was the chief in Manitouwadge, about four hours east of Thunder Bay, and for the Township of South Algonquin. He’s been a fire instructor with the Ontario Fire College. He’s also done a lot of public fire education, in schools and at libraries.
Kruger grew up in Stratford and then Midland, was in Barrie for a spell, and then Coldwater before Waubaushene. His dad retired to the family cottage on Kennisis Lake and he and Angela are living there until they find their own home. He recalls working at the marina as a teen and spending his summers on Kennisis.
Kruger elaborated that Manitouwadge felt like a long way from family. “We had a death in my wife’s family in January and we could not come down for the funeral because it would have been a 14-hour drive. That was kind of the catalyst.” In February, they got news his dad had health challenges and the two decided, “maybe we should start looking for something back down this way.” Their 19-and-21-year-old children are also in the region.
Kruger said “the dominoes all fell into place very well” as they are helping his dad, and Angela got the executive director role at Abbey Gardens. Angela is originally from the Peterborough area. “This has always been an area that we identified where we wanted to be,” the chief said.
So far, he said he is loving the job, adding it’s quite a bit busier than what he is used to up north. He noted the County is large and he is happy for mutual aid. His closest department was an hour away in Manitouwadge.
He said the biggest challenge is getting to know the place and the people. From a firefighting perspective, it’s familiar. He’s looking for more volunteers. They have 21 but he’d like 30. He plans on doing more fire code inspections and public education about fire prevention.
“Other than that, we have a Timmie’s here and a Dairy Queen,” he says with a chuckle. “Up north, our closest Timmie’s’ was an hour away.”