He was just a face in the crowd watching Wednesday night’s massive downtown fire. But he also was responsible for Ontario’s disaster and emergency planning and he is normally a doer – not a watcher.
Solicitor General Roy McMurtry, accompanied by his daughter Janet and several aides, was out for a stroll following dinner at a downtown restaurant when the group came across the flames and fire reels about 11 p.m.
For more than an hour the pinstripe-suited McMurtry stood in one-degree temperatures just like hundreds of other rubberneckers. And the man who has been in charge of such operations as the evacuation that followed the Mississauga train derailment was impressed.
“These guys are a lot of courageous gentlemen. What they’re doing certainly brings home the need to assure the public they have the resources to fight fires,” he said, turning from onlooker to politician for a reporter who spotted him. “From what I’ve seen, I’m very impressed.”
McMurtry is in London today for speaking engagements.
Told of the words of praise for his men, platoon chief George Gibbs could only remark: “You’re kidding.”
