Sooke has named Ted Ruiter as its new fire chief.
“It’s a great opportunity and it’s exciting,” Ruiter said. “I’m getting to the later stages of my career, and I can’t think of a better place to sort of wind things down.”
Ruiter, who has 34 years in the fire service, will be coming to Sooke from Fernie, where he has been fire chief for the past eight years.
Sooke chief administrative officer Norm McInnis said Ruiter comes from a long line of firefighters — a legacy that includes his grandfather, father and uncle.
“Most of his 38 years was in southern Ontario,” he said. “He’s worked his way up from a volunteer firefighter through paid on-call to career firefighter to an officer.”
Ruiter, 57, starts in his new position on Nov. 15. He will lead a department that includes seven career firefighters and about 25 paid on-call firefighters.
He replaces Kenn Mount, who is now fire chief of Central Saanich.
