During one of the most challenging times in Vancouver's history, the city announced today (November 20) that the new chief of Vancouver Fire and Rescue Services will be Karen Fry.

The City of Vancouver launched a nationwide search to find a successor to former chief Darrell Reid, who announced in June that he was stepping down. Reid left the position to become chief commissioner of Strathcona County in Alberta.

In March, Reid became the head of the Vancouver COVID-19 Task Force, while Kiran Marohn became the acting fire chief. After Reid’s departure, Vancouver Emergency Management Agency director Daniel Stevens took over to lead the city’s response to the pandemic.

Fry has been the fire chief and public-safety director for the City of Nanaimo since 2017 and also oversaw emergency management, bylaw, and municipal employees supporting the RCMP.

She previously served as a deputy chief with the Surrey Fire Service.

Fry is a vice president of the B.C. Fire Chief’s Association and a member of the Canadian Fire Chiefs.

She will officially begin as the Vancouver’s fire chief on January 4, 2021.