Sarnia fire chief bowing out after 36-year career

Becoming chief wasn’t part of the plan when Brian Van Gaver went to work 36 years ago as a Sarnia firefighter.

But the chief’s office at Sarnia Fire Rescue is where he will end his civic career when he retires next March.

Van Gaver announced his retirement date this month. He became chief in 2020 after serving as deputy chief.

“I had never really envisioned myself going the management route at all,” he said. “I was just always going to be a firefighter – a fire officer.”

Originally, he was getting ready to retire as a platoon chief when he accepted the job of interim deputy chief, followed by a full appointment to the post.

“Things changed,” Van Gaver said. “It was a really good decision.”

Van Gaver said he appreciated the mental challenge of navigating his way through tasks he hadn’t faced before.

“I had a lot of support along the way,” including “great minds at city hall whenever I needed opinions on something – labor relations, purchasing, budgets,” he said. “I’m very fortunate, that way.”

He also appreciates the camaraderie of working shifts as a city firefighter in past years.

“It really is a second family,” Van Gaver said.

Thinking back on some of those early experiences also “makes me chuckle,” he said.

“I’m thinking about riding the back of truck” to calls, something that’s a long-since-forgotten practice, Van Gaver said.

“You knew every pothole in the city.”

He also thinks about advancements made in equipment, including the city’s fleet of fire trucks.

“Really early on, we were going to a call and the gas tank fell off the truck,” he said. “Another truck, the axle fell off.”

“We’re in a much better position now,” he said about the trucks and protective gear firefighters use.

Van Gaver said he looks forward to seeing the new fire station on Colborne Road in operation before he retires. Construction of the $6.7-million station is expected to be completed later this year.

“I had considered retiring before this, but that fire hall has been a passion of mine, something I’ve worked towards for a number of years,” Van Gaver said. “I really wanted to be around when that ribbon-cutting happens.”

The existing station is nearly 70 years old.

“Even when I was working there as a firefighter or a captain, the place was really run-down, very dated,” he said.

“I really do give the current firefighters kudos for working in that station. It’s just a dilapidated old mess.”

The larger new station will include space for a ladder truck in a new drive-thru bay, a diesel exhaust-capturing system, a bunker gear extraction and drying system, a standby generator and more living space for firefighters.

Sarnia’s fire service is “top-notch,” Van Gaver said.

“Teamwork is key,” he said. “When they respond, it all comes together and they do a fantastic job.”

A recent example was a large fire at the Fairwinds Lodge retirement building early this year where firefighters did a “fabulous job” battling the blaze without fatalities or injuries, Van Gaver said.

Born and raised in Sarnia, he stayed in the city all through his career.

“I never had the desire to leave,” he said.

“It has been an honor to spend the last 36-plus years” offering “my services to protect the citizens of Sarnia,” Van Gaver said.

While retirement is months away, he already has a few plans.

One of his sons recently moved to Victoria, BC

“I’ll be checking that out in the near future,” Van Gaver said.

“My wife and I are avid boaters, so we plan on spending a lot more time out on the water,” he added.

City hall said recruitment of a new fire chief will begin in the fall, with plans to have the candidate start work in a transition before Van Gaver retires.

“Bryan’s leadership and wealth of experience will be missed, but we are excited for him to be entering this well-deserved part of his life,” Chris Carter, Sarnia’s chief administrative officer, said.

“He has been a tremendous leader for our fire team, and a driving force behind ongoing improvements.”