Ending three-and-a-half years as Fire Chief of Timmins, Tom Laughren is retiring at the end of October.
Prior to becoming chief in 2019, Laughren was a volunteer firefighter for 40 years.
“With all the stuff I’ve done in the past,” he says, “I think it’s time to slow ‘er down a little bit and enjoy time with my wife and travel and grandkids.”
Laughren was a city councillor for ten years, and then mayor from 2006 to 2014. But he dispels any belief that he’s retiring to become involved in politics again.
“I’ve been asked, begged in some cases, but no, I mean Tom has done his service and it’s not something that Tom is looking at, in the next bit, anyway.”
Laughren has a lot to say about his tenure as fire chief and emergency management coordinator. He took on the dual roles just as indigenous communities were being evacuated to Timmins because of fires and floods, and months before the pandemic hit. That and more is all right here, in our complete interview: