Sarnia’s new fire chief making a retirement comeback

After leading an eastern Ontario city’s fire department, Jeff Weber says he thought it would be interesting to look west.

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The former Cornwall chief, and deputy chief in Burlington, Barrie and Kitchener, where he first rose through the ranks, has been announced as Sarnia’s new chief.

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“It seems like an interesting city to work for,” said the native of the New Dundee area, near Kitchener.

He retired from firefighting in 2022, after 30 years in the profession, but decided to return after seeing the Sarnia posting, he said. chief Bryan Van Gaver is retiring at the end of March.

“The more I kind of looked at the organization, the more it kind of appealed to me,” Weber said. “Especially, kind of the location in the province.”

In a little more than a year since he retired, he and his wife have whittled some things off their to-do list, he said.

But “we’re kind of back into a mode where we want to be a little more (involved). I still want to contribute,” said the 57-year-old.

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“I’m young. There’s no reason why I shouldn’t,” he said, adding “I’d still like to contribute to the public safety of a community.”

Sarnia is also interesting to him given the presence of the Chemical Valley, the relatively sprawling city and that it’s closest neighboring fire department is across the border, in Port Huron, Mich., he said.

“I think there’s some opportunity there, too, with a fantastic organization like Sarnia, to help build my career again too,” he said.

Weber starts Feb. 1, giving some overlap before Van Gaver’s departure.

Van Gaver said he’s excited to welcome Weber.

“His track record speaks for itself and it is good to know the service will be in good hands,” Van Gaver said in a news release, noting Weber has good experience in emergency management, fire prevention, suppression, support and communications.

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“I have no doubt (Weber) will be a great contributor to the department,” Van Gaver said.

Weber said he doesn’t have any top priorities yet for when he takes the reins.

“I need to get my feet on the ground … before I kind of commit to a full answer on that,” he said, noting he’s aware of the city’s fire master plan that includes recommendations to move the location of a city fire station, and to hire more firefighters.

“Of course we would head in that direction and continue in that direction,” he said. “And as we go, we’ll tweak along the way and make sure we’re heading in the right direction for public safety.”

There’s no plan for how long he’ll stay in the role, he said, but committed to at least three years “to make sure the fire department is well on its way under my leadership, and to build the next layer of leadership along the way.”

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