SILVER WATER—The Robinson Township community and area packed the Silver Water community hall this past Saturday to recognize the efforts of local fire chief Doug Wismer on his retirement after 44 years of service, the past nine as fire chief.
“Doug Wismer, what all fire chiefs should aspire to emulate,” stated Tim Mackinlay, deputy fire chief for Robinson and host at the retirement and awards presentation in Mr. Wismer’s honour. “Happy, resourceful and always ready to give practical advice and lend a helping held, be it for fixing something, coming out with his tractor to do some digging, snowblowing, grass cutting or just drinking coffee with chit chat.”
“Thank you, Doug, for all your years of service, mentorship and teaching, and making this fire department function,” said Mr. McKinlay. “And a special thank you to Jane (Mr. Wismer’s wife) for helping with all the secretarial duties over that last nine years, helping to run all the behind the scenes work of running the fire department.”
“Welcome to everyone here today, family, friends, inhabitants, fellow fire fighters and everyone else to celebrate and acknowledge fire chief Douglas Wismer’s 44 years of firefighting service for the township of Robinson, the past nine years as fire chief,” said Mr. Mackinlay.
Mr. Mackinlay then read a letter from Michael Addison, fire chief of the Gore Bay Fire Department. “Well, Doug, I think you were the one who told me that fire chiefs never get to retire early, and if I recall correctly, the average age of retirement for fire chiefs in Robinson Township is 80. You still have a way to go my friend.”
“I’m sorry I am not able to be there in person to celebrate your retirement as fire chief of the place where I grew up and still call home,” wrote Mr. Addison. “I am going to miss your surprise visits to check on my smoke alarms at camp within five minutes of me arriving first thing in the spring. I’m not sure if you treat all the summer visitors that well or if I was special as a fellow chief.”
“I’m not going to say I’ll miss our marathon phone calls discussing all things fire because I’m sure we will still share those thoughts and memories long after your duties as fire chief are over,” continued Mr. Addison. “I’m sure Jane and Laurie (Mr. Addison’s wife) thought we were like two crazy kids talking about fires and trucks and oh yes mandatory certification.”
“I think only another fire chief can truly appreciate and understand the time and dedication that you have given to your community,” wrote Mr. Addison. “The countless hours of training to prepare for and manage a fire or accident scene and the stress of being responsible for the health and safety of your team of firefighters as they perform one of the most dangerous jobs out there.”
“And then there is the paperwork,” continued Mr. Addison. “The training records, the monthly reports and all the documentation that is required by a host of government agencies that have no idea what it means to be a volunteer fire chief.”
“As much as I will miss you at the fire chief’s meetings, I know that you have done your part and you deserve a chance to step down and pass the keys on to someone else who will lead the Robinson Fire Department into the future. All the best in your retirement Doug,” wrote Mr. Addison.
Mr. Mackinlay noted, “When we first moved to Silver Water it was not long before the name Wismer popped up. The name Wismer seemed to be from an old saying that loosely translates to ‘Can fix anything.’ So, the day I pinched the chainsaw trying to drop a massive red oak everyone said, ‘Call Doug.’ That was the day, roughly some six years ago, that I first met Doug. When we met for the first time he seemed like a friendly, resourceful, and cunning kind of guy. I use the word cunning because one week later he asked me to fire practice to begin my apprenticeship!”
“Did I tell you about the time Doug got wet? It was at fire practice where we test pumpers to find out what might go wrong before an actual call out,” said Mr. Mackinlay. “I think I was on the pumper that day, Colin (Frame) was nearby, and Doug was, as the chief, directing traffic. We were filling the pumper truck. All of a sudden water was shooting upwards and cascading down over us at 100 gallons a minute. And a proper soaking it was, like a really good hurricane on the east coast. We were dressed in bunker gear. For some reason Doug got the worst of it. I mean he really got a good soaking. Probably blamed me as the new guy. It turned out that the fill pipe, made of cheap plastic, had blown off due to a faulty design and age. So, back at headquarters to assess the damage Doug said, ‘I can fix that.’”
“Well, Doug engineered a new steel pipe and fittings the way it should have been done from the factory,” said Mr. Mackinlay. “Couple of hours later, better than new. And all without the Ontario Fire Marshal (OFM) suspecting that we fixed their truck!”
“Doug the farmer. The calling that gives one so many skill sets,” said Mr. Mackinlay. “And speaking of skill sets, Doug helped to build the new United Church, maintain the community hall, cut all the trees and milled them into lumber for the addition to the fire hall.”
“Doug’s dedication to the fire department is unsurpassed” stated Mr. Mackinlay. “He really was chief, cook and bottle washer. From planning training evenings twice a month, to the vast amount of paperwork, to ordering parts and supplies to run a very good fire department that punched above its weight; a fire department that was safe to work in. In addition, he had to train new recruits every other week until they were ready to be issued a radio and bunker gear and blended into regular training nights.”
Mr. Wismer’s son, Chris, then addressed the gathering. “Both dad and mom have been cornerstones of the community for the last 40 years and have helped to keep the community running. Both have done a lot for the community. This is a very well-deserved celebration today.”
“Dad has done so much for the community,” said Chris Wismer. “He has been a cornerstone of the community and is very deserving to be able to retire. He has done so much to help make this a great, wonderful place.”
Joe Addison, whose father Arthur had been the Robinson fire chief for many years, presented Mr. Wismer something that was very special to his father that he felt should go to Mr. Wismer as fire chief, a statue of a firefighter. “And maybe on the next fire chief’s retirement, he can hand it off to that person. Like the Stanley Cup.”
Carol Hughes, MP for Algoma-Manitoulin-Kapuskasing presented Mr. Wismer with a federal government exemplary service medal for his 44 years of service to Robinson township. “I am very pleased to be here today to help mark this milestone.”
MP Hughes also presented Mr. Wismer with a certificate of congratulations. “Forty-four years of service to the community is unbelievable,” she stated. “I would also like to thank Jane and his family for sharing him with the community. It is not easy at times being a member of the family of a firefighter, police officer or politician as you can’t always be at home with your loved ones at all special occasions. But with the attitude you have, Doug, I know you have made firefighting a lot of fun as well.”
Mr. Mackinlay said behind every fire chief is a spouse who has worked very hard as well. He pointed out there are not usually awards for the spouse but in this case the OFM made an exception, as he presented her with the OFM Maltese Cross.
Mr. Wismer said, “no one knows how much paperwork flows to a fire department. My deputy fire chief Tim said he was looking at his email the other day, there were 1,000 emails. In most cases he and I would pass them back and forth, all of them have to be responded to. This is just one of the roles of a deputy fire chief. When the fire chief is out of town, the deputy fire chief has to take over. The only difference in our jobs is that I get to tell him what to do,” he quipped.
“The work done by the spouse of a fire chief is very important, especially one that can run a computer well,” said Mr. Wismer. “Without Jane no one of this would have happened.”
Mr. Mackinlay presented a plaque to Mr. Wismer on behalf of the Ontario government and the OFM from Jon Pegg, in recognition of his tremendous involvement in the fire service over the past 44 years, to fire and life safety and the leader he has been in the community.
Mr. Wismer was also presented with his 30-, 35- and 40-year service bars from the province.
Service bars were presented to Myra Duncanson, on behalf of Ken Duncanson, who has also been a member of the Robinson fire department for the past 44 years.
Mr. Wismer thanked Mr. Mackinlay for organizing the retirement party, the Silver Water community hall board for preparing the lunch, the members of his family in attendance, the representative of the Tehkummah Fire Department, and friends and members of the community. “It is so great to see all of you. The job of a firefighter and fire chief is not all work. We have a lot of fun as well.” He asked each of the current firefighters and past firefighters to stand up to be recognized.
