Every firefighter remembers their first major blaze and Remo Faedo’s is a doozy.
The Port Moody fire chief, who will retire in January after close to 28 years on the job, was one of dozens of first responders on the scene when the Port Moody Inn went up in flames in April, 1990.
He had only been volunteering with the department for a few months but “they put me on a hose line and asked me to protect a certain part of the building. I had never done this before and they gave me that responsibility.”
It was around this time that Faedo said he was becoming more interested in taking his career to the next level and becoming a professional firefighter. Three years later, he was hired and slowly began working his way up the ranks.
Five years ago, then deputy chief, he made the final step to chief and began taking on more of the administrative side of the job. These days, he’s just as likely to be hanging out with councillors and city staff than the crew at Fire Hall No. 1.
“Most firefighters are focused on operations,” he said. “But there is so much more than that — fire prevention, emergency management — and administration is a big part of it.”
The next chief is expected to have a bachelors degree in business and needs to be aware of all of the emerging trends in training and technology when it comes to emergency preparedness, Faedo said.
There is also the emerging issues of post-traumatic stress and how departments can work with their firefighters to make sure they are processing some of the issues that can arise in the high-stress environment that comes with being a first responder.
“Fire chiefs have to pay attention to that and look at implementing those types of elements,” he said. “A fire chief has to see the big picture.”
Faedo said he would be around to help with the transition but also noted that he intends to spend more time with his wife, kids and grandchildren as well as his aging parents. He added that he wants to start playing hockey again and will likely get back into fishing.
But he said he will still miss the camaraderie and friendships he has made at the department during his close to three decades at the hall.
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