Presented with his white helmet at a Centre Wellington council meeting Monday afternoon, Benn has served as the township's acting fire chief since March. He begins his role today.
"This is an extreme honour," said Benn. "Centre Wellington has always been on my radar to work at and ... I'm really looking forward to the future of continuing in this capacity and working with everybody in the community, staff and council."
The township's previous fire chief, Tom Mulvey, announced his retirement in late January after 33 years with the department.
"(Benn) has a strong reputation of operational excellence, equal-centred leadership and a deep understanding of municipal health, government and governance and community-focused service delivery," said Mayor Shawn Watters, during the meeting.
A firefighter for over 25 years, Benn has worked at several fire departments across the County of Wellington and Perth County, including stints in the Mount Forest and Arthur departments as a volunteer firefighter, and the Puslinch department as the chief fire prevention officer.
Benn also acted as the assistant fire chief for the North Perth Fire Department from 2016 to 2021 before accepting his position in Centre Wellington.
According to his LinkedIn, Benn currently works as the director of the Ontario Association of Fire Educators and Ontario Municipal Fire Prevention Officers Association, outside of his work with the township.