There will be a new fire chief in town as of May 1, 2016. Council has appointed Brian Durdin to the top position responsible for leading the Oakville Fire department. Durdin will replace Lee Grant who will retire as chief at the end of April but stay on as temporary executive director of emergency planning until the end of 2016.
Brian Durdin has been a career firefighter with the town since 1980 and has served as the deputy fire chief of operations since 2008.
"Council is pleased to welcome Brian Durdin to his new position as Fire Chief," Mayor Rob Burton said. "We are confident that his skills and years of experience will benefit Oakville Fire and support the continued delivery of first class emergency and fire protection services in the community. We are also extremely grateful for the exceptional leadership Chief Lee Grant has provided to the fire department over the years."
During his career with Oakville Fire, Durdin worked his way through the suppression division from a recruit firefighter to captain. After a brief period as a training officer he returned to the suppression division as a platoon chief. In 2005 he became the assistant deputy chief and was promoted to deputy fire chief in 2008. He has worked on numerous internal and external acquisition and implementation projects such as P25 800 MHz regional radio implementation, computer aided dispatch/records management system, station alerting and mobile computer aided dispatch.
“It’s an honour to accept this appointment,” said Durdin. “I look forward to serving the Oakville community in this new role and continuing to work with the exceptional team of Oakville firefighters.”
Fire and rescue services in the town are delivered by more than 200 full-time personnel. The Oakville Fire department is staffed 24 hours a day, 365 days a year to ensure the safety of Oakville residents and visitors. The Oakville Fire department operates from eight station locations as well as the Oakville Training Campus for Emergency Excellence.