Headlines News
Phil Eagleson wins fellowship to study at Harvard

May 9, 2013, Toronto – Phil Eagleson, the fire chief in Saugeen Shores, Ont., has won a fellowship to attend Harvard University’s senior executives in state and local government program this summer.

Eagleson is one of four fellowship recipients and the only Canadian.

Saugeen Shores Fire Chief Phil Eagleson, left, has been awarded a fellowship by the U.S. Fire Administration to study at Harvard University this summer. Eagleson, shown here in October with OAFC past president Kevin Foster at a mock disaster exercise, received the 2010 VFIS award for recruitment and retention.  Photo by Laura King

The U.S. Fire Administration announced the awards Wednesday. The 19-day program focuses on relationships between citizens and government, analyzing policy options and examining the ethical and professional responsibilities of exercising leadership.

Eagleson was the recipient in 2011 of the Ontario Association of Fire Chiefs recruitment and retention award. Saugeen Shores improved its volunteer retention rate to 100 per cent in 2010 after struggling to recruit and keep firefighters. A junior firefighter program and other initiatives implemented by Eagleson and others had improved morale and boosted interest in the department.

Last year, Eagleson played a key role in a mock-disaster exercise involving the Bruce Power Nuclear Generating Station and numerous agencies and responders.

Other recipients of the 2013 fellowship are Deputy Chief Joel Baker of the Atlanta Fire-Rescue Department, assistant chief Michael Romas of the Milwaukee Fire Department, and deputy commissioner Derrick Sawyer of the Philadelphia Fire Department.