SUNDRE – The Sundre and area community has been left reeling after the death of a former longtime Sundre Fire Department chief and community member.
A multi-agency emergency response involving mutual aid that included fire crews from Sundre, Olds and Clearwater County rushed out on the afternoon of Friday, Nov. 22 to the scene of an industrial shop on a rural property west of town after receiving a call about a structure fire.
RCMP confirmed there was a deceased individual and have said Occupational Health and Safety are investigating what at this time is being considered “a tragic workplace accident,” Cpl. Gina Slaney told the Albertan Saturday.
“There is absolutely nothing to indicate that it’s criminal based on the initial investigation,” said Slaney.
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Although authorities did not identify the deceased, friends, colleagues and former colleagues have identified him as Marty Butts, a business owner of a private fire services company and Sundre's former fire chief.
“With heavy hearts we send our most sincere condolences to the family and friends of our former fire Chief Marty Butts,” reads a Sundre Fire Rescue Society statement posted to social media Sunday. “Chief Butts proudly served the people of Sundre for more than 30 years, and was beloved and greatly respected by his peers.”
Butts had more than 30 years of service with the Sundre Fire Department, nearly 10 as chief. His ousting from the position in 2020 was very divisive for the community.
Following his many years on the Sundre Fire Department he focused full-time on the private fire protection service he had started called No Surrender Fire Services and had been actively involved in combating wildfires across Alberta, including the response to the inferno in Jasper this past summer.
Hundreds of residents have taken to local social media pages that have been flooded with comments lamenting the loss with expressions of condolences to his wife Nicci Doyle and his family and friends, as well as share some of their own personal heartfelt memories of a man whose lifelong involvement in the community influenced and inspired many people.
Doyle runs a local establishment called Backwoods Bakery and Café that has been closed until further notice, and sorrowful thoughts have also been shared on both her own page as well as the eatery’s.
“The community lost an incredible man,” Shawn MacNeil commented on a page called Sundre and Area News that shared a post encouraging people to offer their thoughts.
“He would do anything for anyone. When we had the COVID lockdown I reached out to him to see if we could use his fire truck as a background for our rec hockey team pictures so the kids could have something special,” said MacNeil.
“Marty was one of the most community minded persons I have ever met,” wrote Linda Jean.
“We shall never be the same without him,” she added.
“I met Marty as a teenager who had just moved to Sundre and was trying to find my direction in life,” reads part of another comment posted by Hayden Korethoski.
“I had joined the fire department as a junior member at the age of 16 and Marty welcomed me with open arms. He was a wonderful mentor and gave me the full learning experience that he had as a member.”
The Olds, Didsbury and Carstairs fire departments also posted condolences on their respective social media pages.
