EVANSVILLE—The new fire chief for the Burpee-Mills volunteer fire department visited Manitoulin last year to help his son with his move to the Island, and fell in love with the community and the Island. Rick Graham has already immersed himself in the community.
“I love it up here,” stated Mr. Graham. “Everyone here has a beautiful spirit and is very polite, nice and will do anything to help you. There is no b.s. around here, they tell you like it is.”
He explained, “I moved up here in June. I had been living in southern Ontario but came up to the Island to see my kids and grandchildren. I moved up here mostly because I miss my kids. My son’s mother, my ex-wife Kim, moved up here a few years ago, my son helped her with the move and fell in love with the Island. He moved up to Evansville six months later. Rob is a mechanic at JK Automotive in Kagawong.”
“Then I came up with a camper over the summer and fixed my son’s basement and have been here since,” said Mr. Graham. “I had a great job in Stayner but I missed my kids.”
In Stayner Mr. Graham “Ran a mobile truck, fixing heavy equipment like crushers and farm equipment.”
A firefighter for about 30 years Mr. Graham has been a member of various fire departments in Creemore, Stayner and Everett, all on a volunteer basis.
“I made it as far as a captain rank and worked at becoming a fire training facilitator, helping to give courses in Gravenhurst,” said Mr. Graham. “I have taught first aid, CPR, specialized outfit and other programs. We would host huge mock disaster fires and accidents with mass casualties, and involve schools, businesses, scouts and brownies, firefighters, paramedics and hospitals who would do triage training.” He also took part in team competitions in auto extrication in Stayner.
“Once a firefighter you are always a firefighter,” stated Mr. Graham, who said, “I heard through a neighbour (in Evansville where he lives) that the township was considering closing down their local fire department and getting Gore Bay to provide firefighting services,” said Mr. Graham. “The response time to fires would have been considerably longer if this took place. So, when the job posting came out for a fire chief for the township I applied for the position. It is important to keep the fire department here.”
“Currently what we are doing is trying to build back up the training for all our firefighters. The Ontario Fire Marshall has mandated that all firefighters have to attain a certain standard level of training. We started training for that this month,” continued Mr. Graham.
Along with providing fire protection services, Mr. Graham said the fire department will be helping to host its first community event, for Family Day February 20. There will be games for kids and adults. There will also be hot dogs, hot chocolate, coffee and tea available. “We are hoping everyone in the community will come out to participate.”
“My ex-wife owns Ravens Roost Medleys and I called her when I decided I was going to move up here. She said the Island can’t take you yet,” he quipped. “She is like my best friend in the world, she stood behind everything I did. She is a wonderful woman.”
Ken Noland, Reeve of Burpee-Mills said, “Rick has been a member of fire departments pretty near all his adult life. It is good to have a fire chief again and have someone who has lots of experience.”
