NEWS RELEASE

HRM Fire Chief to Continue His Work with National Association

(Saturday, September 30/06)--- Fire Chief Director Michael Eddy is advancing his June 2007 retirement date and plans to continue to devote his time to the work of the Canadian Association of Fire Chiefs (CAFC), it was announced today.

Chief Eddy recently completed a two-year term as President of the CAFC, which was highlighted in August when he hosted and chaired the annual national conference of the Fire Chief’s Association in Halifax.

"I am entering my 30th year in my fire service career and throughout much of that time, I have actively participated in the work of the Canadian Fire Chiefs Association and volunteered a lot of my time over the years because I believe it is essential that our firefighters and our nation have the highest safety standards possible," he said "During my term as President, I introduced a lot of change and now I want to devote more of my time to seeing those efforts become reality and ensure that firefighting in Canada continues to move forward."

Chief Administrative Officer Dan English extended his thanks to Chief Eddy for his leadership during his years as Director of the Fire and Emergency Service and said he was pleased that Chief Eddy planned to devote time and effort to the National Fire Chiefs Association.

"I recognize the significant advances that Fire and Emergency Services has made since amalgamation and I thank Mike for his leadership in this area, " he said " It’s important that we stay focussed on the Mission, Vision and Values that Chief Eddy has helped to establish in our fire service and continue to move forward on behalf of the residents of HRM."

Mr. English announced that Deputy Chief Bill Mosher has been appointed Acting Director of Fire and Emergency Services.

HRM has an amalgamated fire and emergency service, comprised of the former 39 separate departments. It includes 62 fire stations; 435 career staff; and 800 volunteers. The present service area now encompasses 5160 square kilometres, with a population of approximately 370,000 residents. The service responds to approximately 16,000 emergency calls a year.

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John O’Brien, Manager
Corporate Communications
490-6531