Waltham officially appointed a new fire chief last week, announcing at a Feb. 11 council meeting that Waltham firefighter Michelle Vanasse would fill the role. 

Vanasse has served with the fire department for 20 years. She is a native of Chapeau but moved to Waltham as a teenager. She joined the Waltham Fire Department at 18 years old, working her way up to the rank of lieutenant. Professionally, she works as a manager at Mansfield’s Manoir Sacre-Coeur, recently being promoted from a nurse position.  

Vanasse said she decided to put her name forward for the position when she heard last year that longtime chief Larry Perry would be retiring from the service. Vanasse said she felt that her extensive experience in the department made her a good candidate. 

“I saw the lack of somebody willing to step forward and I thought that I would take the leap and do it,” she said.

Vanasse said as she steps into the role, there are administrative tasks she hasn’t mastered yet. She said Perry will stick around to help where needed, while the rest of her crew will also be there to provide support when needed. 

“I plan to allow [Perry] to shadow me and assist me as much as he’s going to offer. I plan to take whatever courses or invest my time in learning as much as possible [ . . . ] I also have my deputy chief Jason [Pilon] that I can rely on,” she said. 

Vanasse said she wants to continue having monthly meetings with all firefighters to inform them of the calls the department responded to throughout the month. She also said she would like to implement a few changes, including having more practices with neighbouring fire services. 

“I would probably like to see more practical training being done [ . . . ] with other fire departments on a regular basis, just so that we all work together well, we communicate together well, we intermingle,” she said. 

She said she is fully bilingual, and she believes that will serve her well when filling out government paperwork, or in coordinating with other emergency services.

“I think it’s a pretty big asset. Communicating with other emergency services, police services, paramedic services,” she said. 

According to the Great Canadian Fire Census of 2025, only 12 per cent of firefighters in the country are women. Vanasse is the Pontiac’s only female fire chief. While she said there is a certain added pressure in the role as a woman, she said her work speaks for itself. 

“There’s a lot of nerves towards it. It’s a career centred around men, there’s a high ratio of men in this field, so I don’t want to let the women down who are in this field,” she said. “I think already sitting where I’m sitting proves that I was capable because I wouldn’t be sitting in this seat of fire chief if I wasn’t capable.”

Perry, who founded the department 50 years ago, said Vanasse has been a quality firefighter in her 20 years with the department.

“I would highly recommend her for the position. She’s been a dedicated and skilled officer,” he said, adding that he is saddened to be leaving the department, but is happy to stick around as long as his help or assistance is needed. 

Waltham council recently approved a 40 per cent increase in its fire protection budget, including a communications project that could see the department purchase new radios (see our Feb. 4 issue). Vanasse said she believes the project is worth the cost. 

“We’re talking about people’s lives, the security of people. It’s a one-time investment, and once these radios are purchased, we own them. [ . . . ] and it’s something we still would have, whether we amalgamate or not,” she said. 

Waltham council has been deliberating on whether or not to pursue some sort of fire service amalgamation with one of its neighbours, as it is one of only a handful of municipalities with its own department. Vanasse said she’s not “totally opposed” to some form of amalgamation, but that public safety must remain the first priority.

“I would like to be an independent fire department for ourselves and work together in some aspect with the other departments [ . . . ] It shouldn’t be about the numbers, it shouldn’t be about the money. It should be about the safety of the residents, the communities, the firefighters,” she said.