Westlock Volunteer Fire Department captain William Smith has been on the job for 40 years and was recognized by Lt. -Gov Lois Mitchell at a recent ceremony honouring firefighters from across the province.
Smith received the Fire Services Exemplary Medal May 27 in Edmonton, along with his first and second bar to recognize 30 and 40 years of service as a firefighter in the province of Alberta.
Smith was a military firefighter for 15 years to start his career and later moved on to work for Suncor as a firefighter EMT in Fort McMurray in 1989 before becoming a volunteer with Westlock Fire Services in 2010.
He said it’s “awesome” to be recognized. “I wasn’t expecting it. I didn’t join for the medals,” he said. “It’s great to be recognized I have to admit. My wife is very happy about it.”
He said he was quite surprised as well to see how many people received the award at the May ceremony in Edmonton.
Smith was also recognized by Barrhead-Morinville-Westlock MLA Glenn van Dijken, fire chief Stuart Koflick and Westlock town council.
van Dijken was on hand at council’s June 11 meeting along with Koflick and several firefighters to publicly recognize Smith for his years of service. van Dijken gave a short speech outlining Smith’s career and the importance of volunteer firefighters to the community.
“It’s very important that we recognize individuals that have given a lot of service back to their community ... Volunteer firefighters have played a critical role in our communities throughout Alberta, especially in rural Alberta. When we look at volunteer firefighter we recognize that many of them are neighbours helping neighbours and a lot of rural Alberta was built on that very spirit of helping each other out,” said van Dijken.
Koflick also offered words of praise for Smith along with deputy mayor Murtaza Jamaly.
“It’s an interesting thing to say volunteer firefighter because we don’t have any other group of volunteers in our community that lay down their lives to serve and protect individuals. I honestly don’t believe the word volunteer fits in there that well. The fact that you do what you don out of the goodness of your heart is really inspiring to others in the community,” said Jamaly.
