BONNYVILLE – Darren Sandbeck has joined the Bonnyville Regional Fire Authority (BRFA) as the new CAO and has been finding his bearings in the new position for the past month - amid the transition to the new BRFA building.
Sandbeck hails from Airdrie and has almost 40 years of experience working in emergency services in Alberta. Over the last 15 years he has been working in a leadership role.
After leaving Alberta Health Services (AHS) in early 2023, Sandbeck took some time off before hearing about the CAO position in Bonnyville.
“I’ve always kind of kept an eye on the Bonnyville area, and the work that's gone on here with the fire authority. So, when the opportunity came along for a more administrative role here, it really appealed to me,” said Sandbeck.
Sandbeck said he knew a previous Bonnyville Fire Chief who came here in the mid 1990s, and helped build the regional model that currently exists.
“It was quite interesting to me . . . It’s a great regional model that a number of folks have tried to emulate around the province . . . The emergency services world is pretty small and we’re pretty tight, so it was a place I was watching develop. And when the opportunity came, I thought this would be a great place to work,” said Sandbeck.
He said he finds the community of Bonnyville to be very welcoming and friendly.
“I’m originally born and raised in a small town in Alberta, so this is not foreign to me – for me it’s a bit about coming back to that hometown environment,” said Sandbeck.
Getting to know the community - and the BRFA staff - has been a positive experience for Sandbeck.
“The team here is amazing. Such a strong team. They have been extremely welcoming and extremely patient with all the questions I’ve been asking and all the things I’ve been wanting to learn about. It’s really just a great group of people . . . and there’s lots of community support for sure,” said Sandbeck.
When asked about the completion of the new BRFA building, Sandbeck said the completion date has been a bit of a moving target.
“We’re putting some hard dates down . . . that will see administration moving in here in the middle of January.”
Sandbeck said delays with communication systems have been an issue.
Touring the building with Lakeland This Week, Sandbeck showcased the large training and conference rooms that will benefit not only Bonnyville but the surrounding region.
“I think one of the benefits of this space and the opportunities that it brings to us is that we can do a regional approach to training. We can host larger meetings in the spaces that we have. It becomes an opportunity to bring people into the Lakeland and host them in a nice facility for training, regional meetings, and that type of thing. We now have the facilities to do that in,” said Sandbeck.
When asked if it’s been difficult taking the new position amidst such a transition, Sandbeck said he is familiar with large projects like this.
“The building is 90 per cent there, which is often the hardest to get through. But I think there was a lot of really good work done before I got here. It’s really just about finishing things off, get the move done, and get folks in here,” said Sandbeck.
