If you spend a few minutes talking to Joe Readman, you’ll know that he was born to be a firefighter. His passion for serving the public and supporting volunteer firefighters speaks for itself.
Joe is now at the helm of the Burk’s Falls and McMurrich-Monteith Fire departments. On June 8th, the Burk’s Falls Firefighters Association invited the community to a pancake breakfast to meet their new chief.
“It’s been going great,” Joe told 705BLACKFLY.COM. “(There’s) a good group of people here, both here and Sprucedale because I am the chief for both. Both good base, good people, training has been going excellent. It’s been going very well in the first couple of months.”
Joe stepped into his new role in April after serving in the Gravenhurst and Magnetawan fire departments, and he’ll have a busy few years ahead of him. At the top of his list of priorities is the development of the new fire hall that will be shared with Armour and Ryerson. He’s also been very vocal about volunteer recruitment and retention. While Almaguin fire departments are seeing a significant rise in calls, they are also struggling to get volunteers. If you are interested in volunteering with the Burk’s Falls Fire Department you can get more information at: https://www.ryersontownship.ca/departments/fire-department/recruitment.
Firefighters from the Kearney fire department were on hand at the pancake breakfast to lend their support.
“We’re definitely behind each other 100%,” said Kearney Fire Chief Paul Schaefer. “We want to show Joe that we’re here for him.”
However, it’s every fire department for itself when it comes to the upcoming Heritage Festival and Firefighters Challenge! Kearney currently holds bragging rights, and Chief Schaefer says it’s going to stay that way.
“It’s on. The game is on,” he told us, laughing. “It’s a challenge and we’re here to win it.”
Chief Readman, on the other hand, is playing his cards close to the vest.
“This year I’ll take a more diplomatic approach to it. I’ll be cheering on everyone.”
Check out or video for more from our interviews with Chief Readman and Chief Schaefer.
This year’s festival takes place July 13th and will be bigger and better than ever. In addition to the Firefighter’s Challenge, there will great vendors, food and games for the kids. 705BLACKFLY.COM is proud to join Asylum Hot Rods as a sponsor of the car show at the festival. We’ll be giving away a fishing gear gift pack to the owner of our favourite set of wheels. We look forward to seeing you there!
