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Chiefs honoured by peers for dedication

Long before departments from across Quebec responded to the Lac-Megantic train derailment, Fire Chief Daniel Brazeau had been working with the province to secure funding for training for the province's 18,000 part-time firefighters.

In December 2014, Brazeau's work – and that of many others – paid off; $19 million over five years.

Brazeau, the full-time chief of the career department in D'Autray (which includes nine departments) was honoured in September by his peers at the Canadian Association of Fire Chiefs conference in Victoria for his myriad achievements as a long-time fire chief and two-time president of the Association des chefs en securite due Quebec.

Brazeau and Chief Ted Bryan of the 82-member volunteer Ontanabee-South Monaghan Fire Department in Ontario were recognized for their passion and commitment to their departments, to fire fighting and, also, to training.

Bryan takes a hands-on approach: he is a certified master trainer and lead instructor with the Eastern Ontario Emergency Training Academy in Norwood.

Brazeau has worked with municipalities in Quebec and encouraged investment in firefighter training and better regional response and coverage. Brazeau's department was the first in Quebec in which all firefighters completed 375 hours of training to receive a fire-safety diploma.

Brazeau joined the fire service in 1980 and became chief in the Town of Lanoraie in 1985. In 1996 he became chief in Lavaltrie, and in 2004 was made chief in D'Autray; there, he amalgamated nine departments in the county municipality into a regional fire service with 135 firefighters.

Brazeau sits on several provincial committees, is the emergency co-ordinator and an instructor and examiner for the National School of Quebec Firefighters.

Chief Bryan joined the fire service in 1975 and became chief in 1998.

November 17, 2015 
By Laura King

Fire Chief Ted Bryan and Fire Chief Daniel Brazeau received awards of excellence from the CAFC in September.