Bringing more than three decades of firefighting experience to the table, Stan Double is settling into his new role as interim fire chief in Port Colborne.
Double — most recently platoon chief for Hamilton Fire Department — brings a wealth of expertise, dedication and leadership to the position.
He officially assumed the role on Dec. 12.
Double’s contributions to the field were recognized in 2024 when he received the prestigious International Association of Fire Fighters Leadership Award.
“I was fortunate to start this occupation in fire service at a young age,” he said. “As I entered it and grew into the service, tapping into those experiences, hopefully, made me a well-rounded individual to take on this role.”
Port Colborne initially planned to enter a shared firefighting services agreement with Wainfleet. After a pursuit of that agreement was abandoned, the city announced it was bringing on former St. Catharines fire chief David Wood as chief in Port Colborne.
Days later, Wood opted to retire instead, leading to the city’s decision to hire Double to helm Port Colborne Fire and Emergency Services.
As the new fire chief, Double said his top priorities include risk assessment, delivery and community engagement.
“We want to do a review of the current level of delivery service and attempt to enhance that service through administration and training,” he said. “It’s looking to raise the service to the next level here in Port Colborne.”
One of his immediate goals is to address challenges faced by Port Colborne.
“With the waterways and industrial zones, one of the things we have to do as a community is open our eyes to exactly what we have here,” he said.
“A priority will be to take an inventory of the fire stock that we have and then apply a level of service to ensure that we can meet the needs of each industry if an emergency were to happen.”
Double emphasized the importance of community outreach, having a hands-on approach to fire prevention and education.
“It’ll be a visual thing so the community can see us there, they can approach us and ask us how and what we’re doing,” he said.
Alongside community engagement, Double said he plans to delve into a long-awaited update to Port Colborne’s fire services master plan, which will include a critical risk assessment. Much of that work is done by an outside consultant, and Double said he hopes to have that completed by the end of August.
Double said he is optimistic about the future of the department and the community it serves.
“It’s been just shy of a month, but the personal excitement that I have on a day-to-day basis is really incredible.”