TIMMINS - At his final council meeting, retiring Timmins Fire Chief Berny Stansa did something different.
"Curiosity got the best of me and (I) decided to put in my hearing aids," he joked, getting the appropriate laugh from the room.
At Tuesday's Timmins council meeting, Scott Atkinson was officially named the new fire chief and community emergency management co-ordinator. It's effective April 1.
"He was an outstanding deputy chief, no doubt will be an even more outstanding chief. So I'm leaving you, in my opinion, (in) better hands," Stansa told council.
Atkinson started with the Timmins department in 2002. He was promoted to lieutenant in 2021 and has been deputy chief since 2022. With the Timmins Professional Fire Fighters' Association (TPFFA), he's held the positions of president, vice-president and grienvance chair.
Stansa, who was appointed Timmins Fire Department Chief in 2022, is retiring on March 31.
He's been on the job for over 27 years. He started with the fire department as a volunteer in Schumacher in the early 1990s before being hired as a full-time firefighter. Before assuming the top job, he was acting deputy chief.
Going through the ranks, Coun. Bill Gvozdanovic said Stansa advocated for his men and pushed the fire service.
"And I think right now this run, this will end the run of Schumacher boys running the department," he said, giving a nod to Mike (Spike) Pintar and Tom Laughren, who are two of the past three chiefs before Stansa.
One of the duties of the fire chief is attending council meetings.
Before taking the top job, Stansa admitted he didn't follow a lot of council meetings.
"When I came here, I had a real eye-opener. And I never realized the amount of work and collaboration at all different levels that goes into getting things done around here," he said, thanking staff and councillors for their support.