Fire

Let’s talk about fire. According to the fire chief, our municipality is juggling machetes. Only vastly more and steady funding will save us from being cut to bits. End of discussion. Questions about new trucks are met by accusations Council doesn’t respect its firefighters. Questions about soaring training budgets are countered with allegations the County has neglected its duty over the past nine years.

There is a new fire chief in town and he intends to fix a decade of neglect.

“The good old days have come to an end,” declared Fire Chief Chad Brown during budget deliberations. Council gave him $1.4 million for new trucks and a whopping 43 per cent increase to his operating budget. The fire chief has a lot to clean up. Training has been woefully inadequate, according to the Chief. Provincial certification requirements were raised in 2014. And while 23 County firefighters have received this training since 2014, only 13 were trained here. The other ten were recruited with this training. Last year, the province made this certification mandatory.

“Unfortunately, the County did not fund firefighter training for the past nine years,” said Brown. “Further, the County enabled untrained firefighters to perform job functions they were not trained to perform. As Chief, I do not approve any firefighter performing duties they are not trained to do.”

It gets worse. Some County firefighting vehicles are too old, says the fire chief—or more precisely, they are past their ‘best practice and applicable standards” date. That means risk with a capital R.

Everywhere he looks, Brown sees big-time risk, and he needs Council to know it’s on their heads—that underfunding has led us to such peril that only gobs more money will save us.

“We are all implicated,” warned the Chief. He plans to ask Council to seek a legal opinion to support or refute what he describes as “known outcomes.”

It’s also about morale. According to Chief Brown, he is hobbled in his leadership by the County’s stinginess.

“My job is to get people to come to work, to provide their best in all their ability,” said the Chief. He explained that his chief training officer has only part-time use of a vehicle.

“My ask is to help me encourage people to want to come to work by giving me the resources they need to do the job,” pleaded Brown.

Still, questions linger.

Fires are declining—a lot. Locally and nationally. According to the most recent data provided by the National Fire Database, all categories of fires—structure, vehicle and outdoor—declined 25 per cent over the 10 years between 2005 and 2014. Structure fires—houses and barns—were down 35 per cent. The patterns and trends are consistent across Canada.

Certainly, the data requires updating—but the trends suggest the demand for fire services is waning. Yet costs are rising. The County spent $1.5 million on fire protection in 2004; this year, it will spend $3.1 million—with promises of much higher costs to come.

At council last night (after this newspaper’s deadline), Ameliasburgh councillor Roy Pennell asked to have another look at the fire services budget.

Fire services deserve a closer examination. Council should seize upon the councillor’s request for reconsideration. It should take some time to consider the Chief’s claims and assertions. They need to be tested for accuracy and implications for future budgets.

Is the risk appropriate or unacceptably high? What is the right risk tolerance? Must a shiny well-maintained truck with few kilometres be discarded because of some arbitrary best-before date? Maybe. But it is certainly appropriate to ask these questions. And get clear, fulsome and respectful answers.

Neither Council nor residents are aided by the giveme- want-I-ask-for-or-everything-will-burn-to-theground- and-it-will-all-be-your-fault responses offered during the budget. It is petulant and unbecoming for a public official.

It’s not about decorum; it’s about having a civil and coherent discussion. Make an argument Chief Brown. Don’t assume those who came before were corrupt or incompetent. Fires are down; costs are up. Two new fire halls. A shiny new aerial ladder truck. Explain in a clear way, backed by evidence, why this is insufficient. And then manage within the terms and conditions Council sets.

rick@wellingtontimes.ca