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A Pivot Toward Justice and Inclusion
David Shelton, Battalion Chief, City of Montreal Fire Department
David Shelton is a 29-year veteran of the fire service. He presently holds the rank of Battalion Chief for the City of Montreal Fire Departement (Le Service de Sécurité Incendie de Montréal (SIM)). He oversees fire operations for seven of the city’s 67 stations. He also oversees the Departments efforts to increase Inclusion and Diversity. Chief Shelton started his career in 1988 as a firefighter in his native city of Detroit Michigan, where he was recognized for top academic achievement in his class. He was a member of the Black Firefighters association known as the Phoenix organization as well as the Concerned Professional Firefighters of Detroit, a club organized around continuing education and professional development. For a number of personal and professional reasons he left the Detroit Fire Department to pursue his career in Montreal. Hired in May of 1992 he became the first professional firefighter of African descent to be hired in the province of Quebec. He was recognized by the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation as a Local Hero in 1994 for his community involvement and he was featured as a Black History Month Laureate by the Montreal Black History Month Roundtable. He has served in the fire department in numerous capacities including driver, instructor, Lieutenant and Capitaine before earning the rank of Battalion Chief in 2016. He has worked throughout his career to address issues around gender and race in the fire service and in society.
Other past and present organizational affiliations include: NAACP, National Urban League, Alpha Phi Alpha fraternity, NDG Black Community Association, Youth In Motion and HeForShe.