The city of North Battleford has announced the departure of Albert Headrick as its Director of Protective Services/Fire Chief.
In a news release Friday afternoon the city announced they have “come to a mutual agreement” with Headrick, and he has left his employment.
The City has publicly thanked Headrick for “his four years of service since August 2013 as the Director of Protective Services/Fire Chief and wish him well in his future endeavors.”
During his time as Fire Chief, Headrick presided over major changes to the fire department. Those included presiding over the introduction of the Community Safety Officer program, as well as the introduction of emergency services responder training involving students from the area’s high schools.
In speaking with the News-Optimist Friday afternoon, Mayor Ryan Bater confirmed that Headrick had left his position. But the mayor did not go into specifics about the reasons why.
"It was just determined that it was in the best interests of the city to have new leadership at this time," said Bater.
The process for finding a replacement will begin immediately, the mayor said.
"This is one of the most senior positions within the civic government," said Bater.
"And so we want to have somebody in that position as soon as reasonably possible. However, we don't want to rush into any hire, either. We want to have the right person in the role. This is not just the Fire Chief, this is also the Director of Protective Services and so they are also responsible for the CSO program. This is a big job, and so we want to get the right person in this position."
In the interim, the deputy fire chief will handle the duties of leading the department while the search for a replacement goes on.
