Rocky View County (RVC) Fire Chief and manager of emergency management Randy Smith will be hanging up his firefighter’s helmet for good when he retires in December.
Smith confirmed to reporters at RVC Fire Services’ service longevity award luncheon on Oct. 1 that he had handed in his retirement papers after 42 years as a firefighter, the last nine of which were spent as Fire Chief in Rocky View County.
“I will miss it, for sure,” he said. “But I’ve done 42 years, so I wanted to try something else in my life. It’s time to move on.”
Smith came to RVC in 2013 from Innisfil, Ontario, which is located just north of Toronto. His decades-long career saw him serve other communities in southern Ontario, as well as in Nunavut. Smith served as Fire Chief and emergency management co-ordinator in Innisfil before being enticed to come to Alberta.
He said it was the diversity of Rocky View County Fire Services that attracted him to the region.
“This is a very diverse group,” he explained. “In most fire departments, you are in a town or municipality, and that’s one, two, or three stations. But Rocky View County is different. We cover seven stations. We have career staff, we have part-time staff, and we have volunteer staff … The diverse work groups (means) it is totally different in Balzac than it is in Irricana. It is totally different in Irricana than it is in Elbow Valley. We are so diverse in Rocky View County; so you have to really be able to take what comes and (realize) one size does not fit all in the fire service.”
Smith felt the County’s fire service was really starting to come into its own as a distinct and unified entity comprised of formerly disconnected fire departments in the region.
“This department is growing, and it is changing,” he said. “I have been here for almost nine years, and it has been interesting to watch it grow and morph, and it is time for somebody else to take it to that next level.”
After he steps down in December, Smith will be moving to Olds with his family. While he will likely not be involved in firefighting again in the future, Smith intends to continue his emergency management training work.
“I am passionate about emergency management,” he stated. “I already do a lot of training in emergency management; so I will just continue on. Just not as much – and, on my time.”
