Bill Cox of Powassan is now the former fire chief of the municipality, having served 50 years as a firefighter with Powassan.
Cox officially became a civilian on Sept. 24, exactly 50 years after entering the service in 1974.
One of his last official acts was to appear as a delegate at the Sept. 17 council meeting, which saw council members thank Cox for his decades of service.
Cox rose to address the council and said, “I’d like to get a new tanker and we’re probably looking at half a million dollars.”
The comment drew laughs from the council. Coun. Randy Hall said, “For a minute I thought you were serious.”
Once the laughter subsided, Cox thanked the elected officials and staff and said he “had a great rapport” with everyone.
“I don’t think I’ve ever had a ‘no’ response from (council) for anything we wanted to get,” Cox said. “When we applied for (outside) funding and couldn’t get it, you were good enough to put up the money.”
Cox said he was hopeful that a strong working relationship would continue with the fire department.
But at 50 years it was now time to go.
He pulled out his badge and began walking toward Mayor Peter McIsaac to hand over the chief’s badge, which he said was a tradition.
“You probably didn’t know we had a badge,” joked Cox again.
“You should keep it," responded McIsaac. “We’re not going to ask you to return your badge. I’m sure we can get the (new) fire chief a badge."
Cox then pocketed his badge.
Cox also commended council for recently hiring Brayden Robinson, the municipality’s treasurer and director of corporate services.
“When you hired Brayden, I didn’t have to come before council anymore, I just dealt with him,” Cox said. “I get along great with Brayden. He’s a great asset to the municipality.”
Despite the kind words, Cox couldn’t resist getting in another joke with Robinson in the chambers.
“He’s a little sneaky, but easy to get along with and I kind of got him figured out,” Cox said.
The comment again drew laughs from council members and Robinson.
Coun. Dave Britton was the first to congratulate Cox.
“Bill, 50 years of service in the community, it’s amazing,” Britton said, adding Cox represented “the best of the community” through leadership and integrity.
Hall said Cox was one of the first municipal officials he met when he was elected to office and heaped a great deal of praise on him.
Hall noted that Cox was the driving force for the new fire hall and he had the tough job of amalgamating the Powassan Fire Department with the Trout Creek Fire Department when the municipality pursued amalgamation.
“You made it work,” Hall said. “You’re a true leader and I hope you start enjoying life."
McIsaac has known Cox for years because for a time McIsaac was also a volunteer firefighter.
Like his council colleagues, McIsaac thanked Cox for his half century of service.
McIsaac said Cox’s leadership was second to none and it was on full display during the pandemic throughout 2020, when his "leadership was immeasurable."
Although he’s now retired, Cox told council the community hasn’t seen the last of him.
He remains involved with Firefighters Without Borders where he and his brother, Ken Cox, a retired captain with the Brampton Fire Department, collect surplus equipment from larger fire departments and disperse it to smaller fire halls, mostly in northern Ontario.
Cox’ s philosophy is if larger fire departments want to unload older equipment, which is still in working order, because they are replacing it with newer equipment, Firefighters Without Borders will gladly take it off their hands.
“That surplus equipment saves local taxpayers money,” Cox said.
Shortly after making that comment, the 75-year-old said his final goodbyes and left the council chambers.
Rocco Frangione is a Local Journalism Initiative reporter with Almaguin News. The Local Journalism Initiative is funded by the Government of Canada.
