TRURO - Blois Currie never expected he would become a full-time fire chief.
"Not at all," the new chief of the Truro Fire Service admitted. "(I got involved) more to help out in the community."
Currie grew up in Sheet Harbour and saw the good work his father and fellow firefighters did in the community. When he moved to Fall River Blois decided he also wanted to help out and give back to the community and joined the community's fire department.
Currie was working in Dartmouth at the time for a company that builds equipment for offshore oil rigs and other custom work. The young enthusiastic firefighter was coming into the service when amalgamation was occurring in Halifax. It was also a time of change for many of the departments, including Fall River, where several veteran members were retiring from the service.
It enabled Currie to quickly move up the ranks and into a leadership role with the fire service. He caught the bug early and was motivated to take the many courses to broaden his knowledge and within four years had become a deputy chief in a composite brigade.
Currie took a six-month term position as a district chief that lasted three years and has most recently served in a safety officer position with the Halifax Regional Municipality looking after all its business units.
During his career, Currie has been to many major calls people in Colchester County will be familiar with. They include a 747 crash at the Halifax International Airport in 2004, white Juan, hurricane Juan and a pair of forest fires (Porter's Lake and Herring Cove). During those calls he was responsible for more than 100 firefighters from multiple departments working for a common goal.
And while he has been in an administrative role, Currie says: "I am not afraid to jump on a truck either."
Earlier this year, Tom Bremner resigned as the Truro fire chief to take a position in British Columbia.
The job interested Currie who applied and was hired in late 2009.
He comes from a composite department in Fall River, which is seen as an asset because Truro also has a paid staff and a contingent of volunteers.
"When the tones go out we are one team, doesn't matter if you're a career or volunteer," Currie said.
The new chief has a brother and cousins who live in the Truro area. From visiting them Currie is somewhat familiar with the community and looks forward to moving to town with his young family.
While only being on the job for a couple of weeks, Currie - who has an open-door policy - is trying to meet with as many people as possible. On Monday, he will meet with the brigade's new officers.
jmalloy@trurodaily.com
New chief started out by giving back to the community
New chief started out by giving back to the community
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Published on
January 2, 2010
- Published on February 25, 2010
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Jason Malloy
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