After a winter of discontent, hope springs eternal within the Bonnyville Fire Department now that Darryl Shyian has been acclaimed as the new fire chief.
The fact contender Lawrence Ference dropped out of the race to contest Shyian for the fire chief's position at Bonnyville's Station 5 shouldn't diminish or tarnish Shyian's accomplishment.
The fact is any acting volunteer within the Bonnyville Fire Department could have submitted their name to challenge Shyian and Ference and none did.
Ference is already on record as calling Shyian an excellent volunteer firefighter with numerous years of experience and a committed family man and community-minded citizen, who has been actively involved in coaching minor sports for many years.
Brian McEvoy, Bonnyville Regional Fire Authority (BRFA) fire chief, said Shyian has “good leadership skills and he will rise to the occasion and demonstrate those skills” as the new fire chief for the Town of Bonnyville.
Shyian said he is very much looking forward to his new position and “getting everything reunited and serving the community.”
Shyian's 19 years of experience as a veteran volunteer firefighter and a certified fire inspector and investigator certainly qualifies him for his challenging new position.
Ed Rondeau, vice-chair of the BRFA, told the Bonnyville Nouvelle last week, that he's excited to have a new fire chief with the solid credentials that Shyian possesses in place.
With Shyian leading the way, the timing is right to move forward with positive change following several months of controversy, rumour and bad blood among many volunteer firefighters in the town.
Nothing can take away from the fact 14 volunteers walked off the job in late November, complaining about equipment and safety issues.
The BRFA leadership may not have handled everything perfectly, but to their credit, they did listen to those safety concerns, an audit was conducted and numerous positive changes have been put in place to address the most obvious concerns.
Shyian had nothing to do with what has happened within the local fire department over these past few months and deserves a clean slate as he takes over as fire chief in Bonnyville.
Most volunteer firefighters are solid citizens who join the local fire service to better their community and try to make a positive difference.
With the selection of Shyian as the new man in charge, the time has come to move forward in a new spirit of camaraderie and teamwork to make the Bonnyville Fire Department a volunteer fire service every volunteer and member of this community can be proud of.
We wish Shyian good luck in his stated goal to try and recruit several more dedicated volunteer firefighters in the coming months. And we wish him nothing but success in working with the BRFA leadership and management to ensure the highest level of fire protection services remains the top priority for years to come.
