Deputy Fire Chief moving on to join LaSalle Fire Services

Photos submitted by Essex Fire & Rescue. Pictured is Deputy Fire Chief Rick Malott, who will take on the position of Deputy Fire Chief for the Town of LaSalle. 

by Sylene Argent

Essex’s Deputy Fire Chief, Rick Malott, will move on to fill the role of Deputy Fire Chief for LaSalle Fire Services, effective March 15, 2021.

  LaSalle’s current Deputy Fire Chief, Ed Thiessen, will move into the role of Fire Chief upon current Fire Chief, Dave Sutton’s, retirement next month.

  “I greatly enjoyed my time in Essex, and serving, leading, and managing for the fire service in my role. There is a fantastic team here. We worked hard over the years to progress this department. In leaving here, I can do so knowing there is a fantastic group of men and women running the frontlines,” Malott said.

  Malott first suited up as a part-time firefighter in 2002 in Amherstburg. He got onboard with Essex Station #2 in October of 2008. He was promoted from auxiliary to firefighter around five months later. He was appointed Inspector and Public Education Officer in May of 2011, then Deputy Fire Chief in 2014.

  Moving on to LaSalle, he commented, adds another level of diverse, different, and complex challenges, which he was interested in pursuing. “It was an opportunity that presented itself. I am leaving Essex on good terms. I feel like I have made a difference here,” Malott commented. “I am looking forward to mentor in a new municipality.”

  He is also looking forward to working with what he said is another fantastic group of men and women in LaSalle. In the past, he noted, he has had the opportunity to work with LaSalle’s Chief on various projects in the county.

  “The hardest part, is leaving people,” Malott said of the move. “I am confident things will progress. Administration and the frontline team here is one-hundred percent a stand-up group of men and women. They will carry on progress as needed.”

  Malott thanked the current administration from the Town of Essex and Essex Fire & Rescue for their support, in addition to Council for giving firefighters a chance to explain what they do and the progress made as a fire service. The community, he added, has been great to work with as well.

  The process to replace Malott’s position as Deputy Fire Chief, for Essex, is still being worked on.