Nipawin Fire Chief Brain Starkell ,right, presents Darcy McKinnon ,left, with the captain's red helmet (Facebook/Nipawin Fire).

By Aaron Schulze

Nipawin Fire Captain

Nipawin Fire Department promotes Darcy McKinnon to fire captain

Aug 2, 2019 | 5:00 PM

One of Nipawin’s longest service firefighters has been promoted within the department.

Darcy McKinnon, a firefighter for the Nipawin Fire Department since October 2001, was officially given the rank of captain on Wednesday, July 31.

Fire Chief Brain Starkell said it was an honour to promote McKinnon to the rank of captain as he graduated from the Nipawin Fire Department’s first fire school.

“He’s been through just about everything you could throw at him in the fire department,” Starkell told northeastNOW. “From small grass fires, large structural fires, motor vehicle collisions, to everything in between – including volunteering in our fire department through public education. He’s just been a very hard working firefighter and valuable asset to our department and community.”

A fire captain, also known as a company officer, is a similar role to being a supervisor in the corporate world. Some fire departments organize themselves in a platoon system with different shifts or groups within, and each group has a company officer such as a captain that firefighters respond to.

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Starkell said McKinnon was a perfect fit to be a captain since other firefighters look up to him.

“The other firefighters and officers all look for Darcy’s assistance and he always helps us out,” he said. “He’s self-employed and knowledgeable in mechanical areas. Darcy also does a lot of handyman carpentry work, so we look towards him for information on automotive and motor vehicle collision.

“We look towards Darcy for that commitment that he does at keeping our firefighters and community safe.”

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aaron.schulze@jpbg.ca

On Twitter: @SchulzePANow