Two northwestern Ontario municipalities are hailing a new agreement between them as an example of how communities can work together to cut costs.
The municipalities of Marathon and Manitouwadge — which are 100 km apart — announced Friday that they will begin sharing the position of fire chief effective Jan. 2, 2026.
“This partnership builds on a long history of regional collaboration in northwestern Ontario, reflecting the communities’ commitment to working together for shared success,” reads a joint news release from the municipalities.
“Under this shared model, the Marathon Fire Chief will oversee both departments while working closely with local volunteer firefighters in each community.”
Chief administrative officer for the Town of Marathon, Daryl Skworchinski, says both municipalities have had challenges in recent years attracting and retaining quality individuals in the position.
“They were coming and putting it on their resume and moving on to other things,” Skworchinski told CBC Thunder Bay.
“So, I thought, with our proximity and the great working relationship we had, maybe this was an opportunity for us to come up with a different model that would be more sustainable for both communities.”
Key deputy chiefs in both communities
He does not foresee a problem arising from the distance between the two municipalities, in cases where the fire chief needs to get to a location urgently.
“The way that it's going to work and it has been working is there's obviously key deputy chiefs in both communities on the volunteer side that really cover things off,” he said.
“If the chief isn't there permanently … unless it's a snowstorm the chief is going to be in either community within 45 to 50 minutes.
“Both departments in each community have well trained volunteers, they're well staffed, we have up-to-date equipment, up-to-date fire vehicles, so we're in a position to make sure the fire service gets enacted at the time of an incident in either community, and we've been practising this type of scenario over the last couple years on a temporary basis,” added Skworchinski.
It's hard to find professionals to come up to the north and to establish themselves.- Jim Moffat, Mayor of Manitouwadge
Jim Moffat, Mayor of Manitouwadge, said it’s great that both municipalities are actually “putting our forces together” to help out both communities.
He said part of the fire chief’s goal will be to increase the number of volunteer firefighters in both departments.
“It's hard to find professionals to come up to the north and to establish themselves, and with this fire chief already established [it] was kind of a no-brainer that he likes the area,” Moffat said.
“We're assuming that he's going to be around for quite a while and [it] worked out to be a great fit.”
Moffat said sharing a fire chief “saves both communities substantial amounts of money [by] splitting the expenses in half basically … so we're hoping it's going to work out great, and I do not see any reason why it won't.”
Rick Dumas, Mayor of Marathon, called the agreement a “good” one.
“We're working together, we've always worked together with municipalities within our region to share things and services and understanding,” he said.
“So, this is just another one of those great partnerships and hopefully everything works well over the next year and we both get the opportunity to benefit from a shared fire chief.”