Kelowna fire chief retiring

After a 42-year career, including six years as Kelowna fire chief, Jeff Carlisle is retiring.

“I can’t believe how fast time goes upon looking back,” Carlisle said. “I’ve had the great fortune to be a firefighter and work with awesome people.”

“The city has an extraordinary team of professionals in the (Kelowna Fire Department). I will miss them dearly.”

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Carlisle also held the reins as fire chief in Vernon, the Regional Municipality of Wood Buffalo and as deputy fire chief in Fort McMurray. Before that, he served as a firefighter in the armed forces for 24 years.

WATCH BELOW: Fire chief Jeff Carlisle reacts to the Fort McMurray fire storm, where he formerly worked as deputy fire chief. Kelly Hayes reports. 

2:36 Kelowna Fire Chief has strong connections to Fort McMurray

“We wish Jeff all the best in his retirement and we want to thank him for his dedicated work to maintain the fire department’s exemplary reputation in emergencies and in the areas of public education and fire prevention,” Kelowna mayor Basran said.

Some of the highlights during Carlisle’s time as Kelowna fire chief include overseeing the establishment of an enhanced Emergency Management Program and creating a revenue-generating dispatch centre at the Kelowna Fire Department that other municipalities use as a contracted service.

“In our 2015 Citizen Survey, 96 per cent of residents said they were satisfied with Fire Services… and 75 per cent of those said were very satisfied with Kelowna Fire Department performance,” Basran said. “That’s a credit to Jeff’s leadership in maintaining high standards of service.”

“Finishing my career in Kelowna couldn’t have been better,” Carlisle said.

The city is now in the process of recruiting a new fire chief. An interim chief will be appointed internally until the new chief has been selected.