Dawn Ostrem
Northern News Services

Yellowknife (Nov 21/01) - Clem St. Croix has taken on a new post at the Yellowknife fire department, trading in his seat on a fire engine for an office chair facing a computer screen.

Clem St. Croix goes from the fire department's frontline to the public's. - Dawn Ostrem/NNSL photo

St. Croix admits he thought long and hard before moving upstairs from the garage to the office of the deputy fire chief, life safety and public education.

Fire Chief Mick Beauchamp explains why St. Croix got the job.

"Because he is a Newfie -- that should explain everything," Beauchamp said jokingly, before adding, "His service record to date has been excellent."

Beauchamp said one of the biggest reasons St. Croix was chosen for the post was his experience in a supervisory role.

"It speaks well for an organization that can hire people internally rather than go south," he said.

St. Croix took over the position on Nov. 2, shortly after Mike Lowing returned to active fire duty. St. Croix, who started with the department around the same time as Lowing, first signed on as a volunteer in 1984 and became a full-time firefighter in 1986.

"We have both been pretty involved in what the fire department has been doing as far as programs," St. Croix said.

The switch from a four-day-on and four-day-off shift has been an adjustment for the active outdoorsman but St. Croix said he is looking forward to spending more time with his two kids on weekends.

"I am a hunting and fishing kind of guy and now I have to battle with the best of the weekend warriors," he said.

St. Croix said he doesn't intend to make too many changes, just carry on with speaking to the media and promoting fire safety education in schools and to the public.

"It is very important because we work for the public," he said.

"We are responsible to them and to provide feedback and sound direction."a