The Ontario Association Of Fire Chiefs Has Hired Mark Macdonald As Its New Executive Director

Jan 17, 2024

“I am excited to work with staff and the OAFC Board to provide value-added service to our OAFC members,” said MacDonald. “Working with our valued stakeholders, we strive to continuously enhance fire and life safety in the province of Ontario to protect our responders and the citizens we serve.”

MacDonald began his fire service career in 1987 as a volunteer firefighter in Kingston, Ont. He joined the Belleville Fire Department in 1992 and became the fire chief in 2012, serving at the helm until his retirement in 2021.

But Central Frontenac residents and fire crews alike will remember his 8 years as fire chief in Central Frontenac, a post that he held while working as a full-time firefighter in Belleville. He left the Central Frontenac department when he was promoted in his home department in Belleville. During his time in Central Frontenac, he worked on modernising the department’s infrastructure but also on unifying the volunteer crews, some of whom were veterans from pre-amalgamation times when there were four independent fire departments in what became Frontenac County in 1998.

One of the major elements of his work during those years was the replacement of the fire halls in both Sharbot Lake and Mountain Grove. Chief MacDonald received flak for committing to the Mountain Grove build, only to change course and contract out the Sharbot Lake build first, after the existing Sharbot Lake building was condemned.

However, within two years both projects were completed, at prices that may have seemed high at the time, but would not be enough to build a single-family dwelling in 2024 dollars.

Chief MacDonald came out of retirement early in 2021 to serve as fire chief of Cramahe Township until 2023.

Most recently, MacDonald served as the OAFC’s fire service liaison where he addressed member concerns and advocated for the association’s government relations priorities. He also served as president of the OAFC for the 2020 to 2021 term.