There’s a push on social media to make sure Fort McMurray Fire Chief Darby Allen and his troops get some much-deserved recognition, and it involves the Calgary Stampede.
Nearly a week ago, people started taking to Twitter, suggesting that Allen be made this year’s parade marshal.
Others suggested including all of the first responders involved in battling the wildfire.
People Global News spoke to downtown on Thursday were in favour of the move.
“I think it’s a great idea,” one man said. “I have been watching him on the news quite a bit and he’s taken control of the situation and making great reports to the people and putting his heart into it. This is more than a fire to him.”
“Anyone who does that rises to the top and saves a community like that–putting out fires saving people. He deserves an award and he deserves to be recognized,” said one woman.
In 2013, the Calgary Stampede honoured first responders who battled the Calgary floods; they marched in the parade just weeks after the worst disaster in the city’s history.
In a statement issued Thursday, a Stampede spokesman said they are always listening to the community.
“While we don’t talk about parade marshal until we announce her/him/them/it, I can tell you that that we think it’s pretty awesome that people are thinking about Darby Allen in this way and we certainly join Canadians from coast to coast to coast in recognizing and thanking our first responders for their ongoing and heroic efforts on the wildfires,” Kurt Kadatz said.
A native of Birmingham, England, Allen worked for the Calgary Fire Department between 1992 and 2007. He moved on to the Fort McMurray Fire Service in 2009, becoming chief in January 2013.
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