A full house of colleagues, friends and grateful locals sent Sicamous fire Chief Brett Ogino into retirement Tuesday evening.
At the celebration, held upstairs at the legion on March 19, people said their goodbyes, reminisced and shared memories, of which there were many.
Sean Coubrough, deputy regional fire Chief with the Columbia Shuswap Regional District, recalled how Ogino had actually been his trainer in Live Fire 1, while Sicamous Capt. Kevin Allen remembered playing – and winning – his one and only poker game against the chief, coming away with a whole $4. District Coun. Gord Bushell said that a young Ogino had worked for him at Three Buoys Houseboats back in the day, before moving on to a career with Telus. Among the many well-wishers was local fire rookie Richard Anderson, who said he’s probably the crew’s “newest of the new”, and explained how he joined the department after seeing Ogino put out a fire where he worked, inspiring him to sign up.
When he finally took the mic, Ogino said that he’ll still be around but instead of driving the command truck, he plans to get an e-bike and explore local trails and will be wielding a golf club rather than a fire hose.
“Everyone I’ve talked to says it’s awesome,” he said of retirement. “So I hope they’re not lying.”
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