The City of Waterloo has appointed Sandy van Solm as its new fire chief, making her the first woman to lead Waterloo Fire Rescue. “I’m honoured to be in that role, to be honest,” van Solm said. When city council recognized the retirement of outgoing fire chief Richard Hepditch, they announced van Solm would be stepping into her new role after serving as acting chief since last summer. Van Solm has served as a deputy chief with Waterloo Fire Rescue since 2020 and has more than 25 years of experience in public safety. Her career in emergency services began overseas, where she served as a platoon chief in Amsterdam before moving to Canada in 2010. “I worked at Toronto Pearson Airport as the emergency manager there, and then I moved to the Region of Waterloo as the manager of emergency management during COVID as well,” Van Solm said. Van Solm said her calling in life was simply to help people. Once she entered the fire service, she quickly realized it felt like home. “The fire service is like a family, and that is something that I really wanted to be part of when I was younger as well,” she said. Van Solm highlighted large-scale emergencies, such as the 2020–2021 fire at the Inn of Waterloo that forced 130 guests and staff out of the building and caused $1 million in damage, as key examples of where executive leadership steps in. “So, that’s especially a role that the fire chief can assist in—finding a place together with, in this case, the organization that hosts the residents there, as well as meeting [the] Red Cross,” van Solm said. Van Solm holds a PhD from the University of Waterloo’s School of Public Health and Health Systems. “Chief van Solm is a respected leader in emergency response planning and education, with a particular interest in improving the emergency response for vulnerable populations during emergencies and disasters,” a statement from the city said. City staff echoed that confidence after she was sworn in. “She’s so highly experienced, so highly educated, and so highly respected within the city and beyond,” said Kevin Van Ooteghem, the commissioner of community services with the City of Waterloo. Moving forward Looking ahead, van Solm said she’s ready to take on the new role. “People can expect innovation—do more with less,” van Solm said. “And making this a modern, progressive fire department, from diversity to equipment.” That focus on diversity is already taking shape. Women now make up 10 per cent of the department—a figure that has grown since van Solm joined Waterloo Fire Rescue six years ago. With a woman now holding the top position in the department, van Solm hopes those numbers will continue to rise. “I’m very excited to be a role model for females in the community who might want to look into a career in the fire department,” she said. Hepditch is retiring after more than 31 years with the city, including more than 12 years as fire chief.
