Even though he’s been taking on this role since June, Thompson city council formally recognized Mike Bourgon as the head of Thompson Fire & Emergency Services during their July 16 regular meeting.
Not only did council unanimously pass a resolution to appoint Bourgon the director of fire and public safety as of Aug. 13, but they also took the time to praise his overall ability, leadership skills and commitment to the community as a whole.
Councillor Penny Byer also mentioned that Bourgon has been working closely with retiring fire chief John Maskerine for the last six years as his deputy fire chief, which will make for a smooth transition heading into the second half of 2018 and beyond.
In a follow up conversation with the Thompson Citizen on July 17, Bourgon describes how he’s been fighting fires in the Hub of the North since the fall of 2007 and has become familiar with every inch of the department in the intervening 11 years.
“Starting at the bottom and working my way to the top … you really gain an appreciation for every member of this department and every role that they do, from the dispatchers to the front line firefighters to the officers.”
Throughout this period, Bourgon has also made time to prepare for the managerial side of the job, having receiving a certificate in fire service administration and fire service leadership from Dalhousie University.
However, moving into this new role as fire chief, Bourgon will be taking on a whole new spectrum of responsibilities, especially when it comes to the area of public safety.
“The biggest change is the addition of the public safety department, so that includes the community safety officers, animal control, license inspector and bylaw inspector,” he said. “It’s just more encompassing. It’s larger. It’s a bigger role.”
Thankfully, Thompson’s newest fire chief says he won’t be shouldering all this responsibility by himself, since he’ll be backed up by, in his opinion, the “best trained, most well-rounded, highest skilled, most respected fire department in the country” that is already used to handling “big city calls”.
“Our firefighters and the capabilities of them to answer every single call, every single day, 24/7 … you can’t explain how proud you are to be able to lead a department like that,” he said, referencing the fact that the department has already answered around 7,000 calls so far this year.
“Every day we’re improving, and you’ll look at this department and you’ll say ‘you can’t be more proud of these men and women.’ And what do they do? They turn around and they prove that they can accomplish even more.”
Bourgon also talked about how garnering the support of city council is his department’s other big key to success, and that he is looking forward to working with the newly formed local government following October’s municipal election.
“When we have the support of council to give us the training that we need, to give us the resources that we need, to give us the equipment that we need and to give us the facilities that we need … when they give us those pieces of the puzzle, we have the best trained firefighters in the country.”
Thompson’s new fire chief also took the time on Tuesday to praise his predecessor John Maskerine, who has been fighting fires in Northern Manitoba for the last half century and recently received the Mary Beth Dolin Meritorious Fire Service Award for his years of hard work.
“To put it bluntly I don’t think that anybody will be able to fill out John Maskerine’s shoes. That’s going to be impossible,” he said. “He’s left a legacy in this department that no one is every going to be able to match.”
However, Bourgon is still looking to push his fire department in new and interesting directions, with a renewed emphasis on community initiatives like promoting wildfire safety and public education programs.
“I don’t want to be a status quo chief. I don’t want to just live in the norm,” he said. “I want to take Thompson to the next level. I want to ensure that we’re progressing. And not only do I want to see this department as the best department in Canada, I want it to be recognized nationally as the best department in Canada.”
