The Gates Fire District would like to announce the retirement of Battalion Chief Ron Poness, Jr. after 30 plus years of dedicated service to this community. Ron joined the Gates-Chili Fire Department in May of 1989. He was then hired as a Firefighter for the Gates Fire District in April of 1993. BC Poness is also a Veteran of the Iraq War in which he was actively deployed to in 2003. In February of 2009 he was promoted to the position of Lieutenant of 4530 and then promoted to Captain of Group 2 in January of 2014. Ron was then promoted to the rank of Battalion Chief in August of 2020 and has commanded Group 2 since his promotion to Captain. Ron has been awarded multiple Emergency Medical Service Awards and Unit Commendations and has been involved in running our EMS program for over a decade.
Ron, we will miss all the Fridays on a Mondays, being referred to by the wrong first names, and all the Perrier water in the fridge. From all of us here at GFD, we wish you a great Gates Fire District retirement!