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Gary Bridge
Assistant Deputy Chief

Assistant Deputy Chief Gary Bridge is the person who proves that you don’t need fancy footwork to make a difference—you just need a passion for helping others.. After earning his Undergraduate Degree and Master in Occupational Therapy at Western University, he dedicated several years to working as an Occupational Therapist. His career then transitioned into various leadership roles within the City of London’s. Driven by his commitment to helping others and his interest in the Fire Service, Gary joined the London Fire Department, where he initially led the Fire Prevention Division as the Deputy Chief and also served as a Firefighter in Middlesex Centre. Currently, Gary holds the position of Assistant Deputy Chief for the London Fire Department, focusing on Health, Wellness, and Promotion. In this role, he has been instrumental in implementing numerous initiatives aimed at mitigating the hazards faced by fire service personnel. Chief Bridge is deeply committed to ensuring that all first responders return home safely to their families and that everyone knows they are not alone. Dancing is not his passion, but helping others is so… lets see how this goes!

Christy Bruinink
​Med Lab

Christy Bruinink is the widow of the late Captain Chris Bruinink who passed away on November
13th, 2023 due to Colon Cancer that he acquired from repeated exposures throughout his 25-
year career with the London Fire Department. Chris was also a previous contestant of
DWTS911 back in 2018.
She is the Director of Education at Anderson College and has a passion for supporting students
throughout their educational journey and is incredibly thankful to work with such an amazing
team of individuals who have been exemplary in their support over this past year. She is a
proud mom of her amazing 3 children Miranda, Jordan and Carson and her very special fur
baby Sofie.
This event falls just shy of the first anniversary of Chris’s line of duty passing. For Christy, this
event is to not only honour the legacy of Chris but also her dad Gerry who she lost suddenly 7
months after Chris’s passing on June 14th this year. She wishes to not be defined by what she
has lost but rather to be defined by the unwavering commitment to focus on the positive, show
kindness to others, do good and find all the joys that life has to offer as this exemplifies Chris’s
legacy and what he asked of all of us.
It is not about focusing on our losses this year, but all the good that the LFD and all other first
responders continue to do for our community each and every day. The events that have been
held throughout this year to not only honour Chris but to simply do good have been remarkable
and have made a huge impact on the London community.
A special thank you to the Dave Mounsey Fund for all the good you continue to do, Anderson
College (My work family!), my friends, family and all my Mavericks! We are excited to be a part
of such a great and important fundraising event and to share the dance floor with some amazing
individuals! Here we go Gary and all other dancers, let the pulled muscles and fun begin!