Cranbrook has a new fire chief.
Wayne ‘Dez’ Desjardins comes to Cranbrook with 36 years of service with the Canadian military, the last dozen of which were in a fire protection role.
Additionally, Desjardins has also been a paid on-call and volunteer firefighter since the mid-1990s.
Desjardins takes over from former fire chief Wayne Price, who recently retired and successfully ran for Cranbrook city council last fall.
READ: Long-time fire chief retires
Originally from North Bay in Ontario, Desjardins has served in many communities across the country, but retired in Winnipeg after military service.
“In this particular place, I was well aware that this is a very smooth-running fire department, the management and union relationship is stellar, so there are no controversial issues there that I need to address,” said Desjardins.
“It’s a smooth machine and all I need to do is assist it to progress.”
As Director of Fire and Emergency Services, Desjardins will head up a department of 30 personnel that includes firefighters and support staff.
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