Fire Chief Grant Love has announced he is retiring in January.
In an email to staff, Love says he plans on taking an extended vacation starting July 29, then officially retiring from North Bay Fire & Emergency Services January 27, 2017.
Love calls his career, "30 exciting and fascinating years".
In addition to being Chief, Love is an associate instructor at the Ontario Fire College.
"I have loved this profession and the fabulous people I work with. After more than 29 years, though, I’m ready for a new challenge," he said. "Thanks to everyone who has joined me on this wonderful ride."
Mayor Al McDonald praised Love.
"On behalf of the city of North Bay, I would like to thank Chief Love for his dedication to our city and his 29 years of service helping make our city one of the safest cities in Ontario. We would like to wish Cathy and Grant a wonderful retirement."
Love says a few serious fires stand out in his career, three close together in the downtown.
"The Frank and Freddie's fire and there was Richardson' Sports and also the Parkview. Those are three of the biggest ones. Then you have the Lefebvre fire recently."
Love says those fires made him realize how concerned locals were about the downtown.
"Everybody rallies around when they suffer a loss and when those three buildings burned there was a similar feeling from the community towards the businesses that were affected. It reminds us how the community supports each other, including the businesses."
And he's seen his share of changes in fire fighting.
"The tactics and strategies are different because of the amount of flammable consumables that people have in their house. When I first started a wooden chair was a wooden chair. Now a lot of it is composite wood all held together with a very flammable product. Even upholstery on the chair is pretty much all synthetic now, and it really changes the characteristics of the fire."
Love is a familiar face around the rink, but says he plans more family time.
"We have a grandchild in North Bay and my son has two out in B.C. and it will be nice to spend more time with them."
