Proud to be a role model
Ontario’s first female fire chief leads the way in brigade’s fitness quest
The first female fire chief of a professional service in Ontario makes it crystal clear the people of Vaughan are getting someone fully committed to the job.
Deryn Rizzi says she spends about “90 per cent” of her time on her work life, including nights and weekends.
Rizzi, 43, is intent and serious about her new role and takes her responsibilities as the head of the 341-employee department, which includes 300 fulltime firefighters with the gravity she feels the job demands.
A 17-year veteran of Vaughan Fire, Rizzi was promoted to the job of chief after serving as deputy fire chief since 2013.
She starts each day between 4 and 5 a.m. and heads to the fire department’s gym or goes for a run. A former three-time member of the Canadian triathlon team and the Ontario cycling team, Rizzi is competitive and in top physical shape. She said it’s important that, as chief, she serve as a role model for her officers. “As a leader, if you’re expecting your staff to go through certain testing or criteria, you yourself should be able to do it.”
Rizzi, a divorced mother of two teenage daughters, had her own life-changing experience in the late 1990s when, while teaching with the York Region District School Board, she decided she needed a new career. While swimming with some masters athletes who happened to be firefighters, she heard about firefighter training and openings at Toronto, Markham and Vaughan and applied at all three. She was accepted at Vaughan and the rest is history.
“Sometimes you get into a career and decide this is not what you want to do for the next 30 years of your life,” she said.