MELFORT — The City of Melfort is searching for a new fire chief and director of protective services, following Jason Everitt giving notice of his departure from the role.
“I’ve accepted an opportunity with the City of Whitehorse, as their fire chief and I start up there January 13th,” Everitt said.
“The Yukon has been on our bucket list for some time and things worked out this way so my wife and I are heading up there.”
Everitt said he has been to Whitehorse a few times in the past number of years, and always admired the beauty of the area.
“Just the area itself, and like I said I had the opportunity to spend time in Whitehorse and north of Whitehorse into the Yukon, and my wife hasn’t seen it. We’ve talked for years about we would like to go up there and call it home for a period of time.”
He said his decision to leave the role in Melfort has nothing to do with any behind the scenes tension, and praised the quality of the department.
“Our members are here because they want to and the service they provide is phenomenal, and I really need the community to know the quality of personnel here. It’s extremely important,” Everitt said.
“There are no negatives on behalf of the City of Melfort. Melfort is a great community and it is one place we were looking at settling down and this opportunity came up.”
Applications to fill the role are due Nov. 15.
Everitt said he’s looking forward to the new challenges in Yukon and opportunities of his new role.
“I never want to live a life of regret and I’m going to miss Melfort and the city here. The people are amazing and the fire department is top notch, but these opportunities only come by so often so we have to take advantage of these. So we’re moving.”
He assured the City of Melfort will work hard to make sure the next fire chief is “bigger and better” than he was.
“We’re going to make sure we get the right person in there.”
