Administration and History
Meet the Fire Chief
F
ire Chief Stephen Gamble entered the fire service in 1978 as a volunteer firefighter with the City of Port Coquitlam where he was hired as a full-time career firefighter in 1980. He was promoted to Assistant Fire Chief of Operations and Emergency Preparedness Coordinator in 1996, Acting Fire Chief for the Department in 2001, and the full-time Fire Chief/Emergency Coordinator for the City of Port Coquitlam in 2003. In January 2011, he assumed his current position as the Fire Chief for the Township of Langley.
Fire Chief Stephen Gamble has over 12 years of experience as an adjunct instructor with the Justice Institute of British Columbia. He holds a certificate in Municipal Management from Capilano University, a Bachelor’s Degree in Justice and Public Leadership from Simon Fraser University, and retains two designations – Chief Fire Officer (CFO) with the Canadian Association of Fire Chiefs and Fellow (FIFireE) with the Institute of Fire Engineers.
He also served as the President of the Fire Chiefs’ Association of British Columbia from 2007 to 2011, and Chair of the Provincial Fire Service Liaison Committee (FSLG) from 2007 to 2011. In 2017, he received the Fire Chiefs' Association of British Columbia’s Meritorious Achievement Award.
In 2012, Fire Chief Stephen Gamble became the first BC Fire Chief in 20 years to be elected president of the Canadian Association of Fire Chiefs (CAFC), only the fourth Fire Chief from British Columbia to hold the position in the organization’s century-long history. He served in that role until 2015 and received in 2016 the distinction of CAFC Full-time Fire Chief of the Year Award.
In February 2017, the Justice Institute of British Columbia (JIBC) presented a Doctor of Laws degree, honoris causa to Fire Chief Stephen Gamble.
Organization
The Fire Department operates under the direction of the Fire Chief who is responsible to the Mayor and Council through the Township Administrator.
The Township of Langley Fire Department responds to over 6,000 emergency calls per year, ranging from structure fires to grass fires, auto extrication and backup for the BC emergency health services (BCEHS). The department also responds to approximately 300 complaints per year, ranging from burning complaints to reports of hazardous materials incidents.
In order to deliver the services needed to accomplish the department’s mission, the Fire Department is organized into three major divisions:
Operations/training
Responsible for the delivery of emergency services for fire and rescue, as well as backup emergency medical services. Also responsible for achieving and maintaining training so that the skills and expertise to accomplish the department’s stated mission are met.
Fire prevention/public education
Responsible for public education, inspections, pre-incident planning, building plan reviews, permits and investigations.
Administration
Responsible for maintaining the day-to-day activities and records of the department.
Our History
There have been active fire departments in Langley since 1929. The current Fire Department evolved from seven local community fire departments that were established between 1929 and 1977. The halls were numbered consecutively based on the date of their establishment. The seven areas served over those years were:
- 1929 – Hall 1 – Langley Prairie (now Langley City Fire Rescue Services)
- 1942 – Hall 2 – Fort Langley
- 1942 – Hall 3 – Aldergrove
- 1944 – Hall 4 – Willoughby
- 1953 – Hall 5 – Brookswood
- 1959 – Hall 6 – Murrayville
- 1977 – Hall 7 – Otter
- 1988 – Hall 8 – Walnut Grove
1963 marked the beginning of our modern fire department with the merging of Fire Halls 2 to 6 into a single fire area for the Township of Langley as well as creating a mutual aid agreement with the City of Langley. In 1981, the six fire departments in the Township were amalgamated under the Department’s first Fire Chief, Gord Yerkie. Since then, the Department has expanded with the addition of Fire Hall 8 in Walnut Grove and full-time suppression firefighters in 2006. Today, the Department consists of seven fire halls with 81 full-time suppression firefighters, 100 paid-call firefighters, as well as 16 prevention, training, management and support staff.
Paid-call firefighter opportunities