Our fire chief is No. 1 in the country. On Sept. 19, Morgan Hackl was presented with the 2023 National Fire Chief of the Year Award by the Canadian Association of Fire Chiefs. Chief Hackl was recognized for reimagining and expanding the roles of Saskatoon Fire Department (SFD) in non-traditional public safety initiatives through community collaboration and outreach partnerships. By embracing creative solutions and out-of-the box thinking, SFD continually found new ways to support and provide leadership in community safety. “Chief Hackl is a true community leader,” City Manager Jeff Jorgenson said in a news release. “He gained firsthand knowledge of the challenges to the most vulnerable in the community he serves, participating this year in the Sanctum Survivor Challenge, where he spent 36 hours living as if homeless on the streets of Saskatoon.”

“Jorgenson says Chief Hackl recognizes that community challenges are a shared responsibility, and that “Saskatoon Fire plays a key role our community’s most challenging issues.” Jorgenson said Chief Hackl is strong mentor and supporter of Saskatoon Fire Executive Officers. His leadership throughout the COVID-19 pandemic — specifically his team putting in place an Incident Management structure to assist over 50 community agencies working with Saskatoon’s most vulnerable— was exemplary.

Jorgenson also praised Chief Hackl’s ability to forge important relationships, such as his partnership building between Saskatchewan Health Authority and Saskatoon Fire to establish an Overdose Outreach Team comprised of Saskatoon Fire Primary Care Paramedics and SHA Addictions Counsellors as another example of his unique and innovative approach. Jorgenson said Chief Hackl believes in and supports a whole community Emergency Management and Community Risk Reduction approach that engages all partners in problem solving and shared leadership. “It takes vision and courage to lead the way Chief Hackl does and, as an organization, we congratulate him on this much deserved recognition!” Hackl has been a member of the Saskatoon Fire Department for 35 years, starting as a firefighter and moving up to captain. He later served as a battalion chief and assistant chief before being promoted to his current role in 2015.