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Caledon deputy chief passes away after battling cancer

May 23, 2013, Caledon, Ont. – Tony Lippers, Caledon's Deputy Fire Chief since 2006, has passed away after battling cancer.

Before Caledon, he was the Assistant Fire Chief in Chatham Kent for four years and had worked with the Orillia Fire Department as a Chief Fire Prevention Officer. Lippers started his career as a volunteer firefighter with the Ajax Fire Department in 1985.

The Chatham Kent Fire Department sent thoughts and prayers to Lippers' family through its Twitter page Wednesday evening.

In the magazine Fire Fighting in Canada, Lippers shared his struggle after being diagnosed with esophagus cancer and undergoing surgery, chemotherapy and radiation treatment.

"In the fire industry, one in three firefighting personnel, whether volunteer or career, will succumb to some sort of cancer, directly," Lippers is quoted in the magazine's cover story 'Fired Up'. "Some will be more severe than others. Each one of us has a different makeup, so it will affect us differently, but it’s one in three."

Lippers had plans to create something that would make the process easier for others in the fire fighting industry who become sick and want to learn the next steps.

"… My interest was to design a workshop in which you would get what the expectations are if you have cancer, and of course, in Ontario, the rules that go along with that, as well as the health-care side – what you can expect from a surgeon, a hospital, the business," he told the magazine, encouraging others in the firefighting field to get tested once a year for cancers related to the line of work.

“Tony was a dedicated Deputy Fire Chief with Caledon Fire and Emergency Services, and a contributor to a number of fire service organizations across Ontario,” said Caledon Chief Terry Irwin. “He will be sadly missed by many.”

Lippers will be buried in a full fire service Line of Duty Death funeral in Caledon. Details of the funeral have yet to be finalized.

This article was originally published in The Caledon Enterprise.