Collingwood’s fire chief will be heading into retirement this summer after a career spanning 38 years at the Orillia and Collingwood departments.
Chief Ross Parr is retiring on June 30 with pride in the department and the team he was part of, and confidence the team will go on being great.
“I’m not worried about leaving because the department will be in great hands,” said Parr in an interview with CollingwoodToday. “That’s a joy to me. That’s an accomplishment and one of the biggest things someone can say, and I believe it.”
Parr began his career in fire service in Orillia in 1984, when he was 21 years old. It was an idea planted by neighbours and friends in the service, and continued to grow into a successful career thanks to mentorship and support from Parr’s peers, superiors and friends.
Parr worked through the ranks in Orillia as a firefighter, lieutenant, then captain, and joined the Collingwood Fire Department as deputy chief in January 2009 under former fire chief Trent Elyea. Parr became fire chief on Jan. 1, 2017.
From 1984 to 2022, the biggest changes the soon-to-be-retired chief has seen have been in equipment and training.
In his early days in the service, Parr wore a long coat and tall rubber boots that went above his knees, but that didn’t last long as bunker gear got overhauled in the 1980s to resemble what firefighters wear today.
“The breathing apparatus, from what I started with to what we have today, is just phenomenal,” said Parr. “The trucks themselves – the standards everything is built to – all improved over the years. Every time something new comes in here, I’m blown away.”
Hydraulic tools like the jaws of life are now run on batteries, and thermal imaging cameras that used to be cumbersome and oversized are attached to drones weighing just a few hundred grams.
“The advancement of the technology kills me every day,” said Parr.
Improvement of firefighting tools also means more protections for firefighters, and that’s an important factor for the chief.
“I want to be able to, when I’m 90 years old, have a beer with every one of them at the Legion,” said Parr. “I worry about them on every call … they may think I harp on them, but I do it because I’m just concerned about them. I worry about them not because I think they can’t do their job, but what else is coming that we don’t know about that is bad for us?”
With the evolution of equipment and more understanding of the risks firefighters face, from mental health to toxins, also came upgrades to firefighter training and a more professional certification program.
“It’s more professional employment, not just the good old boys club of years before,” said Parr, noting he’s supportive of the change and pending government legislation to set standards for firefighter training.
Parr is glad to see a more formalized process. He said training has been a strong focus in Collingwood and the department is in good shape to be able to meet whatever certification requirements become legislative.
During Parr’s 13 years at the Collingwood Fire Department, the local service began its official tiered response for medical calls, and added defibrillators, epinephrine, and naloxone to the trucks.
“That’s a big win for medical response,” said Parr. “To me, the fire service is about customer service, whether that’s a medical call or a senior who can’t climb a ladder to change a battery on a smoke alarm. That’s what we’re here for. We’ll help anybody.”
As deputy chief and then chief, Parr said it was always his goal for his staff – the whole team – to succeed.
“It was to set them up so if they want to do this job, they can,” said Parr. “My whole goal was to develop the strengths we have in this department.”
He credits his deputy, Dan Thurman, with helping create a peer support network in the department, using a town-built mobile app to increase the efficiency of the fire department’s smoke alarm program and many other accomplishments.
“I couldn’t do this job without him,” said Parr. “It’s so important for there to be a relationship between us. That’s what drives this whole department.”
The relationships and excitement of the job have kept Parr inspired and in fire service.
“It’s just a joy to walk in here and see people who are invested in the job,” he said. “This department has so much talent.”
Though he might miss the “good mornings” every day at the station, Parr said it’s a good time for him to retire.
“I just appreciate all the people that I’ve worked for and that have worked for me,” said Parr. “It’s a team; you can’t do this by yourself. Everything here has been driven by a team, and we have a good team here.”
In retirement, Parr is looking forward to spending more time with his grandchildren, on the golf course, and away at a camp up north.
