Toronto Fire Chief Matthew Pegg has a new award to put on his filled shelf.

Pegg, who is also the General Manager of Emergency Management, has been awarded the prestigious 2020 Fire Chief of the Year Award presented by the Ontario Fire Chiefs.

“I am blessed,” Pegg wrote on Twitter. “Wow. Not often do I feel speechless, but I do today. Thank you so much for this. I accept this honour on behalf of each and every member of the Canadian fire service who is giving their all each day. Thanks to my amazing team.”

Pegg is also leading Toronto’s preparedness and response to Covid-19 as the Incident Commander.

“Thank you for everything you’ve done to keep Toronto and Ontario both Fire and COVID-19 safe,’ the Ontario Fire Chiefs said. “The trophy is in the mail.”

They said that Fire Chiefs are special people in that “we walk into chaos at emergency situations, and what do we do? We create order.”

Chief Pegg has been serving as the fourth and current Chief of Toronto Fire Services (TFS) since May 2016. He is the highest-ranking TFS member.

He was appointed General Manager of the City of Toronto’s Office of Emergency Management in 2018.

In March 2020, Pegg was appointed to lead the City of Toronto’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic.

As the Incident Commander for the COVID-19 pandemic, he led the development and operation of the most complex incident management system in Toronto’s history, including the longest-ever continuous deployment of the Emergency Operations Centre.