By Adam Frisk

The late Mike Iles, former Dysart et al fire chief, was honoured in Ottawa last month, having his name added to the Canadian Fallen Firefighters Memorial during a solemn tribute.

​Families and firefighters from across the country gathered at the Canadian Fallen Firefighters Memorial on Sept. 7 to honour those who lost their lives in the line of duty. Iles’ name was among 140 added to the memorial this year.

​”It was humbling,” Chris Iles, son of the late fire chief, said in a telephone interview. “I was very honoured to be there, especially as a firefighter, and to see the hundreds of firefighters and people there, very humbling.”

​For those in the county, the name Mike Iles is synonymous with a legacy of quiet leadership, unwavering commitment, and profound sacrifice. For years, he was known as a dedicated employee at Curry Chevrolet in Haliburton Village, a job his son described as his “true career.”

But the thing he cared about most, and the source of his greatest pride and purpose,was being a volunteer firefighter for the Dysart Fire Department, Chris said. It was a job he eventually rose to the top of, but it’s also, sadly, what ended up taking his life.

​“He died of cancer, but he got that cancer over 15 years of dropping everything he was doing to help his neighbour,” Chris said. “And do it knowing the risks involved and knowing that was a possibility. And then to have someone recognize the significance of his death, it really hits home.”

​Mike began his firefighting career in the early 90s, his son said, recalling his father’s steady and respected rise through the ranks.

​“He worked his way up from, like, just volunteer firefighter to captain,” his son said. “He was very respected, very well liked,” Chris recalled, adding that Mike’s absence is still keenly felt at the department.

​Even while battling cancer, Mike’s dedication never wavered. His son talked about a time during a quite hectic Canada Day, a day of multiple, serious call-outs. The type of day where the pager “did not stop going off,” Chris explained. A structure fire broke out, and the department was stretched thin already due to the long weekend. Knowing his father was off duty and sick with cancer, Chris hesitated at first but made the call.

“I said, ‘Dad, like, we need you. We need you to do the desk. We just need you to run the radio. Are you feeling up to it?’” Chris recalled.

​And without hesitation, Mike replied: “Yeah, absolutely, no problem.”

​As Chris and fellow firefighters got closer to the scene, they heard a familiar voice come on the radio. It was Mike.

​“We just knew everything was going to be okay,” Chris said.

​Chris also described a time when mandatory firefighting training was introduced, something that his father was grandfathered out of due to his time of service. But he did it anyway.

​“He thought, ‘I can’t just ask somebody to do it when I haven’t done it myself,’” his son explained. He even showed up to the training with a yellow helmet, which is the same as a new recruit, because he “didn’t want to be treated differently because he was a chief.”

​The shared service also deepened the father-son relationship. On one memorable call, Mike, acting as commander, had to order his own son into a burning building.

​“It felt different because it wasn’t just the commander asking me,” Chris reflected. “It was my dad, but we had trust in each other. And that was totally fine.”

​The mutual trust allowed them to carry out their duties without a moment’s hesitation, a bond that only the fire department could have forged.

​ “The fire department really made us closer than we ever would have been,” Chris said.

​Mike died of small-cell lung cancer, a disease widely recognized as related to firefighting. His son was candid about the presumptive legislation that links certain cancers to the profession, noting that his father’s cancer was a separate, secondary illness to a previously well-managed prostate cancer. This fact underscored the nature of his father’s sacrifice.

​“He gave his life for this community and protecting people,” Chris said, noting that his dad did so “knowing the risks involved and knowing that that was a possibility.”

​Mike’s sacrifice will forever be remembered by having his name etched in the Canadian Fallen Firefighters Memorial in Ottawa. His name stands as a permanent tribute, not just for his family, but for the entire community he served.

Chris said the experience of attending the memorial and seeing other children who lost their fathers in the line of duty gave him a new perspective on the dangers of the job, especially firefighter-related cancers.

​“It is something that it absolutely weighs on me more than I probably let on to anybody else,” Chris said. “And it’s something that my family definitely knows about.”

The family wishes to express their profound gratitude to both the Minden Hills Fire Department and Algonquin Highlands Fire Services, for spearheading the efforts to have Mike’s name added to the memorial.

Mike died on Nov. 26, 2022. He was 61.