New regional fire chief looking forward to serving Lamont County despite controversy

BY JANA SEMENIUK

Newly hired Lamont County Regional Fire Chief, Broderick ‘Bo’ Moore, said he applied for the position with Lamont County for several reasons, including the county’s reputation for great fire service and the close proximity to Elk Island National Park.

“I applied for Lamont County for multiple reasons: the County has great reputation as a fire service; I truly believe in the Regional Model and Lamont County Emergency Services has done a great job of implementing regionalization.

“We (family) love the area, it has great access to Elk Island National Park for hiking and paddleboarding for my family. I enjoy spending time with the family hiking, paddleboarding and travelling. As well as driving kids to pro- grams, and watching them learn and grow in their activities,” he said.

Moore said he grew up in Leduc and decided on fire fighting as a career after volunteering at an event.

“I started out after assisting with a charity fundraiser for STARS air ambulance — an event that was hosted by Leduc County Fire — and they asked if I would be interested in joining as a volunteer. From there it turned into a career,” he said.

“I had always respected Emergency Services and knew I wanted to do something to help my community, and becoming a firefighter provided that opportunity to the highest levels.”

Moore added that he wants to do his best to serve Lamont County as their regional fire chief.

“My goal as Regional

Fire Chief is to provide assistance and support to our members to ensure fire chief, and two firefighters among a class action lawsuit brought aspects of the case’. they can operate safely, effectively and efficiently as they perform difficult tasks under emergency conditions for their neighbours and visitors to our area,” he said.

Moore comes to Lamont County amidst a cloud of controversy after resigning from the Leduc Fire Department as their deputy fire chief in March.

According to reports, several staff in the Leduc fire department have also resigned over the past year, including the fire chief, another deputy upon the City of Leduc by two former female firefighters.

The lawsuit contained allegations of sexual harassment, discrimination and bullying but has not been proven in court.

Although Moore was not named in the suit, he was named in an external report as having known of the allegations and not acting on them.

Moore nor the County of Lamont would comment on the suit, stating ‘As this matter is before the courts, we cannot comment on it or on

A recent segment on Global News, around Moore’s hiring, elicited differing opinions from those questioned on the street. One woman said she felt that his hiring raised concerns for females, while another said she did not feel it appropriate to judge him as not enough information is known.

Lamont County communication director Jay Zaal said that Lamont County is ‘committed to providing an organization free from violence and harassment, and will continue to work with all employees to provide this’.

In terms of Moore’s hiring, Zaal said he was the best candidate for the position.

“We feel Bo is the best candidate for the role, having conducted a disciplined executive search process using a reputable search firm. His extensive experience includes roles with fire services in High River, Calgary, and Leduc in a diversity of positions with operational accountability for over 100 operational staff,” he said.

“He has education and experience with emergency management, incident command, department administration, operational leadership, and training in both urban and rural settings. The rigorous recruitment process involved interviews; psychometric testing; reference checking, with the result being that we hired the most qualified and best candidate.”

Zaal added that Moore will be meeting more of the staff over the next few weeks as he is being immersed in his role.