After spending two and a half years on flat land, Peter Ensor has finally made it back to the lakes and mountains where he can once again enjoy his outdoor lifestyle of snowboarding and fishing.

As Hinton’s new fire chief, Ensor had his first day on the new job Monday (Jan. 4), where he met some of his co-workers and began his exploration of what the town has to offer.

Ensor’s decision to move from the County of Grande Prairie to Hinton was both a career move as much as a lifestyle move. Ensor is from Victoria, BC, where there are mountains and water – something he said Grande Prairie lacked.

“I’ve been through Hinton several times on my way up to Grande Prairie from the coast, but now I’m busy exploring it, and being pleasantly surprised,” he said.

While Ensor has twenty years working in emergency services along with business management and certified accounting training, there are some types of calls that Hinton takes that he hasn’t done in his past.

When Ensor worked on Vancouver Island, there was no major highway, so highway truck and trailer incidents are different for him and a learning opportunity. He says those incidents are inevitable.

“If you don’t go out and seek out new experience, you’re never going to get it, are you?” he said. “And then there are some things that I’ve done that they necessarily haven’t done here, so hopefully the learning goes both ways.”

Ensor will be joined by his wife once their house in Grande Prairie is sold, as his children have moved out. As for joining his new firefighting team, Ensor hadn’t had a chance to meet them all one on one when he talked to the Fitzhugh on his second day in town, but he said he’s looking forward to working with the town and the department and getting to know everyone on his long list of staff.

“It’s going to take me a while to become familiar with folks, but all in due course,” he said. In the meantime, he’ll be enjoying his new outdoor playground of Hinton and getting to know his new neighbours.