Darby Allen, Fort McMurray regional fire chief, takes a step back

After battling the wildfire he dubbed"the beast" and becoming the closest thing Alberta has to a modern-day folk hero, Darby Allen is taking a step back.

TheFort McMurrayregionalfire chiefannounced Thursdaythat after working on the front linesince Day 1,he is handing the reins as director of emergency management for thewildfire toretiredRCMPSuperintendentBob Couture.

"I'm OK at putting out fires and getting people out, but the next phase is not mine," said Allen, standing at hisfamiliar post on the outskirts south of Fort McMurray to delivera daily fire update."It is impossible for me to thank everybody, so I just want to thank each and every person that was here and helped us fight this ring of fire."

Human face of the wildfire fight

It's been over a week sinceAllen began fighting the huge wildfirein Wood Buffalo.

Over a fewdays, the firetore across thebrushand bore down on his city,forcing 94,000 to leave, the biggest evacuation in Alberta history.

The fire destroyed 2,432 structuresand damaged over 500 more. Nightly, Allen would take to the Wood Buffalo Twitter account to update all those forced from their homes. Over time, he began to refer to the fire as a living, breathing creature"the beast" and it's a nickname that stuck.

He took thebattle personallythis "animal of a fire" was his foe.

"It's been the worst day of my career," Allen said through tearsthe day the fire hit Fort McMurray."It's a nasty, ugly fire and it hasn't shown any forgiveness."

Now, eight days after saying those words, Allen admits that the fire took a heavytoll, not only on him but the community.

"It was traumatic, it was terrible and ourcommunity was affected," he said. "We fought hard and saved much of it.We should beproud ofourselves."

Throughout the fight, Allen downplayed his role, although some viewed him as a hero."This isn't about Darby Allen and the fire," he said more than once.

Butthrough his nightly updates, Allen became the voiceof the hundredsbattling the fire. For many fearing the worst, he became the face of hope.

"What will stay with me for the longest amount of time is that we evacuated people in a timely fashion," said Allen."If we hadn't taken the course of action that we did, Ibelieve that we might have had dire circumstances."

'I'll be back in a week or so'

But after a week of battling "the beast,"Allen showed thateven folk heroes need a break.

"I want to tell my sons that I love them," said Allen, his voice breaking with emotion."And I want to tell a lady called Maria, who has been married to me for 36 years, that I love her very much and I'll see her soon."

Fort McMurray fire chief takes step back to spend time with family

8 years ago

Duration 0:43

Darby Allen, the fire chief of Fort McMurray, announced Thursday he is taking a step back as the director of emergency management.

Allen is going south for some rest. He thankedeveryone for their kind wishes, but said most importantly, he wantedto thank his family.

"I've been here for a fair amount of time. I'll be honest, I need a break," said Allen."I'm going to spend time with my family, we're going to hug alot and I'm going to have a couple of beers.

"I'll rejuvenate myself and I'll be back in a week or so. I'll get on withbeing a fire chief again."