The town of Renfrew is defending its decision to force the fire chief into retirement due to his age .
The town recently passed a mandatory retirement policy at age 60 for its firefighters, putting 61-year-old fire chief Guy Longtin out of his job.
In a news release Monday afternoon, the town backed up its decision by citing an Ontario court ruling that mandatory retirement at age 60 is reasonable, in order to ensure the safety of people who attend fires and manage crews.
The town says the new rule puts the safety of the public first.
Longtin had previously threatened a $1.7M lawsuit if he wasn't reinstated. The town says in the release that it cannot comment further, due to that threatened litigation.
