Dan Ross is a 23-year veteran of many battles.
For the first 20 years he was a sergeant in the Royal Canadian Air Force and then he served another three fighting in Yellowhead County.
His combat action was against fires, and now he brings his blaze-battling expertise to Innisfail as the town's first full-time fire chief.
ìI am quite excited. I get to blaze the way,î said Ross with a big laugh. ìThere is lots of work to do. There are a lot of expectations on me, so I've got to meet those expectations, both from the guys on the floor and administration.î
Ross, 44, comes to Innisfail following a Canada-wide search by the town to find the right replacement for John Syroid, the town's longtime respected part-time fire chief who retired last fall.
Terry Welsh, the town's director of community and protective services, said the search came down to three ìexcellentî candidates from Alberta and Ross was the one that ultimately rose to the top.
ìDan was chosen for both his career experiences and his qualifications, which were impeccable,î said Welsh. ìWe are very pleased to have Dan join us. He will do some wonderful things for us.î
For the military, Ross was a trusted and respected firefighter from Victoria, B.C. to Cold Lake, Alta. He retired just over three years ago to become deputy fire chief of Yellowhead County. His office was in Edson and his main duties were with training and human resources with some operational tasks he shared with the other deputy chief.
His fire department in the county had to cover more than 22,000 square kilometres of territory with 140 volunteer firefighters operating from nine fire stations, with none in Edson and the closet being a 20-minute drive.
He welcomes the big logistical changes he already sees in Innisfail.
ìI think it is an advantage here,î said Ross of his move from the sprawling rural county landscape to the intimacy of a small town in Central Alberta. ìBecause of the huge distances in Yellowhead County, by the time we got the call and when we were on scene, it was usually well involved. Here the guys live close and response time is not far. You are getting there at the start and able to mitigate the scene a lot better.î
Ross said he's also impressed with the new 14,000-square-foot Innisfail Fire Hall, which was completed in October 2012 at a cost of $1.8 million.
ìIt is a very nice building. It's excellent,î said Ross. ìStations in the county were much smaller. They were purpose built for the trucks. The guys liked it but each station had two, maybe three vehicles. We have quite the complement of vehicles here.î
Ross's first day on the job in Innisfail was on Feb. 3. Welsh helped him with the transition, along with Syroid, who remains with the department as a volunteer, and Dennis Fehr, the deputy fire chief.
He was introduced to the fire department's 27 dedicated volunteers and was instantly impressed.
ìThe guys here are definitely dedicated. They are always giving up their time to be here, finish a project they have on the go or doing something they are doing on their off time to get it done,î said Ross, adding he was especially grateful for the help he received from Syroid. ìI am going to be able to interact with this one group of guys day in and day out, whereas in the county the nine stations were spread out. A lot of times you didn't see the guys at the far end of the county for weeks at a time.î
In the meantime, Ross has already met members of town council and has found a place to live. Later this spring his family from Edson will join him. While he waits for their arrival he will navigate through the process of fighting fires for a vibrant small-town community.
ìThe tactics that I am going to have to use are going to be different,î said Ross. ìBut there really isn't much operationally that is going to change between the county and here. Firefighting is firefighting.î
