A new Fire Chief has been named to replace the retiring Mike Pintar.

City council has voted to approve the hiring of Normand Beauchamp, who was the Chief in Smiths Falls until announcing his resignation at a special meeting Monday.

At Timmins council, it was noted by CAO Dave Landers that Beauchamp comes with over 19 years experience at the helm of fire halls.

However, the vote went an interesting way…on the surface at least. Voting against the motion were Councillors Walter Wawrzaszek and Joe Campbell.

The reason? Hiring from outside the city.

Wawrzaszek said after the meeting the hire should have been in-house.

“I think that’s why people come to work, they want to work their way up the ladder,” he said, “I think the experience is there and the men are there, so now we might have a morale problem.”

Nonetheless, Pintar will officially retire at the end of the year, but due to accumulated vacation time, his last day in the office will be October 31st.

Ironic enough, it’s said Beauchamp will not leave his role in Smiths Falls until the end of October. But one can expect Beauchamp will be in Timmins in the coming weeks to slowly adjust to his new surroundings.

Filed under: Local News