Sherry Colford becomes St. John’s fire chief
Bringing in new technology one goal for new head of St. John’s Regional Fire Department
In a first for the St. John’s Regional Fire Department, a woman will be fire chief. Sherry Colford was named to the position Monday.
Sherry Colford has been named the first female fire chief in the history of the city of St. John’s.
Colford, whose appointment became effective Monday, says she feels prepared to get to work in the fire department’s top office.
“I have to admit, it’s a pretty proud moment to be the fire female fire chief,” Colford said with an ear-to-ear smile.
She says this moment has been a long time coming.
“When I first came to work for the City of St. John’s and St. John’s Regional Fire Department, I always said that this is the job I’d like to have,” she said.
“When I came into the fire department, I came in as a trained firefighter. I started to take on
roles within the fire department that got me a little closer to the fire chief’s position and the type of work that they were doing.”
Colford served as the manager for communications for 911 services since 2010, responsible
for operations of the St. John’s Regional Fire Department’s 911 communications centre.
She graduated from Memorial University in 1996 with a bachelor’s degree in business administration and Russian language. She got her initial firefighter certification in 2002.
Colford says she will look for ways to modernize fire services at the department.
“There’s always changes that you want to make in a department,” she said.
“Technology is rapid and there’s some ideas that we have that we would like to be able to bring into the department.”
As chief of the fire department, she’ll earn a salary of $154,755, according to the 2016 compensation disclosure from city hall.
Colford takes over from outgoing chief Jerry Peach, who announced his retirement from the department two months ago.
Sonia Williams was the first woman to be named a fire chief in the province, in 2006. She stepped down from the Harbour Grace Fire Depart- ment in 2012 and is currently the town’s deputy mayor. Williams told The Telegram Monday she was delighted to hear Colford was named fire chief.
“I was honoured to serve as fire chief. I enjoyed it immensely. I think it’s awesome for (Colford) to be appointed as chief. She deserves that position and I wish her well,” Williams said. “There is a job to be done and she is quite capable. I hope she enjoys every moment as she serves.” Williams’ advice to Colford would be to always support and respect her membership.
“It is a very important position with much responsibility, but you’re only as strong as your membership,” Williams said. “Respect her members and her members will respect her.”