Halifax fire

Halifax’s new fire chief says she is excited to work for an organization as big as the one in our city.

Deryn Rizzi stepped into the role this week and says the main draw to come to this department is the size of the coverage area.

“For me, it creates the opportunity to be a better fire chief, because you’re being exposed to different emergency situations that I haven’t had exposure to previously.”

Rizzi takes over for former chief Dave Meldrum, who faced calls to resign from the Halifax Professional Fire Fighters union over management.

The Halifax Regional Municipality encompasses urban, suburban, and rural areas, with more than 1100 staff, some career and some volunteer firefighters.

She says a lot of her experience is working in an urban setting. Her most recent position was chief and director of the fire service at the Toronto Pearson International Airport.

And working with a rural setting is different, considering there is limited water supply, or structure fires could be silos or farms.

First woman chief since amalgamation

Rizzi might be the first woman to hold the role since amalgamation, but that is not what she is focusing on after years of service.

“Certainly, it’s a privilege and honor to serve this fire service, the oldest fire department in Canada. And I join, you know, a long roster of fire service leaders in history, and that is what is important to me,” said Rizzi.

“I have been a chief officer for 13 years, so I don’t really think about [being a female fire chief]. When I walk into a boardroom, a conference or a fire station, I am a fire chief, period.”

Change needed, but will take time

Rizzi takes over as the Halifax Professional Fire Fighters union continues to call for change, including more staffing, which is one of the major issues facing the department.

Rizzi says she is aware response times are below the North American standards, set by the National Fire Protection Association. That is “a significant concern.”

Rizzi says it looks at the number of firefighters, vehicles available, the risk level of the call, and the type of building. Based on that, it suggests how fast a certain number of resources should get to the scene.

Halifax is too slow.

Before she can decide what changes need to happen, Rizzi says she has to thoroughly review the service from an administrative standpoint.

That means looking at all the equipment, where it is, when it needs to be replaced, and how much it will cost.

Once the review is done, Rizzi says she will build out both a short=term and long-term budget strategy.

No major plans for next budget

She says we want to avoid spikes in requests, suddenly putting pressure on city council and the taxpayers, with a big request one year and maybe not one the next. She says they want to spread those requests out over time.

That assessment will take about a year, she says.

That means the entire long-term and short-term funding plans would not be ready for the 2027-2028 budget.

Starting, Rizzi says she feels great with a good team around her.

“There’s a lot of institutional knowledge here, and I think as we work as one team towards these objectives, and also to meet the city and council objectives, I think we’re going to be successful in the future.”