Calgary fire chief Steve Dongworth retires after 50 years fighting fires

Calgary Fire Chief Steve Dongworth will step down by the end of next year, closing out a half-century in firefighting that began by chance and carried him from England to Canada to the ranks of the city's fire service.

Dongworth, 69, has led Calgary Fire for the past 11 years after joining in 1992. He will not return after 2026 ends. The decision reflects his age and his belief that "organizations need new leadership," he said in an interview.

He carries vivid memories of that first year in Calgary — July 1992, stepping through the char of the 17th Avenue Inn fire where firefighter Morley James died. James had gone into the burning building looking for victims to rescue, found another hose line when his first ran out, kept spraying until his air supply hit critical low. He got disoriented in the smoke, was overcome by heat and fumes, and collapsed. "It was sobering for sure," Dongworth said. "It was an eerie place knowing that one of our people died that night."

Dongworth's path to the job was unlikely. He grew up in England in a military family — his great-grandfather served in the First World War, his parents in the Royal Navy in the Second. He expected the military himself. But as a teen, he worked in a pork abattoir and pig breeding centre. When he turned 19, a family friend suggested the fire department. He went down and firefighters had him carry one of them around the station and complete a couple of tasks on the spot. He passed. "If you wanted a job, it was yours," he said.

By the 1990s, ready for a change of country, he applied to both Calgary and Edmonton fire departments and Edmonton Police Service. He chose Calgary Fire.

Dongworth said he has never had a close call but has lived with haunting cases where children die. "You hug your kids pretty tight when you get home," he said. "It troubles you, but you have to move beyond it."

He said fire service culture — like military and law enforcement culture — has been problematic at times in not welcoming different kinds of people into the organization. More work is needed, he said, but the culture has become more inclusive during his tenure.