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Marshall takes over as fire chief CYNTHIA GAMBLE Staff Writer Former Halton Region Chief Administrative Officer (CAO) Brent Marshall has been named the new Town of Halton Hills Fire Chief and Director of Fire Protection and Prevention Services. Marshall replaces Bob Meads, who resigned last fall to pursue a public sector job. Marshall, a lifelong Acton resident, had resigned his job as the longtime Halton Region Chief Administrative Officer in September to run for the Halton Chair's job in the fall 2006 municipal election. "I am very pleased and appreciative of the support that council has shown me," Marshall told The Independent & Free Press Tuesday. BRENT He starts his new job on MARSHALL February 19. Marshall, who will celebrate his 35th year as a firefighter this year, rose through the part-time ranks to the level of District Fire Chief for Acton. He says he has all the qualifications of a full-time professional fire chief including being a graduate of both the Ontario Fire College and the Canadian Emergency Preparedness College, not to mention his managerial training during his service with Halton Region. He said the fire service has always been "a love of mine" and this position was just the "next logical step" to continue his contributions to his other love-- his hometown community. Marshall said he would follow in the footsteps of his three predecessors, Mick Holmes, Bill Cunningham and Meads (all of whom also came through the Halton Hills firefighter ranks), in maintaining the tradition of a fine composite (full and part-time) firefighting force. He looks forwards to the building of the new fire station headquarters on Maple Ave. and the satellite station in Georgetown South. See MARSHALL, pg. 4 The ice men cometh Tony Hayward and son Mark, both of Georgetown, will be part of a team of skaters who will skate 300 miles around Brampton's Gage Park this weekend in hopes of raising $10,000 for a children's charity. Members, from left, are Darren Pennock, Tony Hayward, Mark Hayward, Aldo Campitelli, Tim Fielding and Michael Gillham. For details see story page 9. Photo by Bryon Johnson Deep freeze expected to last until Friday Halton Hills residents can expect to shiver under a region-wide extreme cold weather alert for another couple days. Halton Region's Health Department issued an alert Sunday, and according to Environment Canada, temperatures aren't expected to rise until Friday. An alert is issued when temperatures are expected to fall below -15C (without windchill), or when weather conditions are severe enough to warrant alerting the community to the risks involved with prolonged exposure. The alert is in effect until temperatures rise above -15C (without wind-chill) and this week's forecast calls for high temperatures between -6C and -9C but lows not climbing above -15C until Friday evening (13C). For more information contact the Region at 905-825-6000, toll free 1-866-4HALTON (1-866-442-5866), TTY 905-827-9833 or visit www.halton.ca.