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Innovative ideas supplement |
Comment: Keeping up the good work
By Laura King
When we started looking six months ago for a theme for our annual September supplement we had some ideas but wanted input from our readers. We turned to our editorial advisory board, a group of 13 fire-service leaders from coast to coast including chiefs from full-time and volunteer departments, for their expertise and insight. As is often the case when great minds meet, a lively and entertaining debate ensued.
We considered profiling fire-service heroes – those who have successfully implemented change or blazed trails – but several organizations already honour those folks and we didn’t want to limit the selection to high-ranking fire-service personnel. We wanted grassroots.
After hearing from most of our editorial board members – some multiple times! – we opted to offer innovations, understanding that while some full-time fire departments are likely to remain well funded no matter what happens to the economy, many volunteer and paid on-call departments constantly struggle to find money to replace aging apparatus or fund public education programs.
Borrowing from the title of our old and much admired do-it-yourself column by longtime Fire Fighting in Canada contributor Lorne Ulley, we titled the section Innovative Ideas. We put out a call on our website for your stories and asked provincial fire chiefs’ associations to send e-mails to all their members offering an opportunity to be featured in our magazine.
Our search for stories coincided with the Fire Chiefs Association of British Columbia conference in early June and B.C.’s departments responded resoundingly. Maybe the west-coast folks just like to brag, or maybe they have better ideas than the rest of us! (Or maybe FCABC communications guru and Hope, B.C. Fire Chief Tom DeSorcy worked his magic!) Regardless, the items from Comox, Hope, Thetis Island, Pender Island and Surrey, B.C., are a testament to the creative thinking, ingenuity and determination that fire departments need to meet the demands of ever-increasing safety standards, public expectations and recruitment/retention challenges.
Our stories from St. Catharines and Simcoe County, Ont., and Redwood Meadows, Atla., offer solutions to problems and issues that could challenge any department, full-time or volunteer, anywhere in Canada.
Lastly, our Flashpoint columnist Peter Sells took a different approach (what else is new?) and wrote a tribute to fire-service legend and mentor Alan Brunacini, whose mission to find solutions to fire-service problems, issues, challenges and concerns is a lesson for us all.
One thing that stuck in my mind as we put this issue together was the obvious understanding that many, if not most, volunteer departments in Canada are under funded. Our national survey of Canadian fire departments late last year (published in our March 2009 issue) made it clear that many departments use old apparatus and bunker gear that don’t meet NFPA standards, don’t have radios that communicate with other emergency agencies, don’t have access to consistent training and have little or no money for public education programs.
The familiar refrain that Canadian fire departments do their best with what they’re given has mixed connotations. Some fear that the very ingenuity and creativity we’re promoting in this issue could jeopardize the lobby for increased funding for the fire service because all the great ideas and do-it-yourself projects might allow politicians to claim that departments do just fine with the present budget allotments.
As the Canadian Governmental Committee, which is made up of manufacturers, fire chiefs and other fire-service stakeholders, takes its campaign for increased federal funding for the fire service to a new level with national advertisements in Fire Fighting in Canada, it’s time to look at the big picture. Governments across the country have increased funding to police services and, in many cases, changed the way ambulance service is delivered, while ignoring the fire service. It’s like our mothers used to say – it’s all fun and games until someone puts an eye out. In this case, it’s all fine and dandy until someone gets hurt (or worse) wearing decades-old turnout gear or an aging apparatus fails to make it to a scene.
Keeping up the good work is what you do – it’s in the blood of every firefighter in Canada to work hard, serve the community and find solutions to daily challenges. The next step is to educate the public about the increasing needs of the fire service to meet standards and stay safe. Let’s use this innovative ideas section as a stepping stone to that end.
(To view our editorial board members’ bios visit www.firefightingincanada.com and click on About Us.)
Pender Island, B.C.
Community spirit
Chief enlists local experts to boost numbers and morale
By Brian Kieran
Pender Island, B.C. – In the early part of 2005 there weren’t a lot of defining moments at Pender Island Fire Rescue (PIFR) that folks were rushing to capture for posterity in the fire-hall scrapbook.
Some of the department’s volunteers and some members of this Gulf Islands community were conflicted about the future of the department. The ranks of dedicated volunteers were thin and these who remained were becoming emotionally and physically exhausted. Morale was drifting.
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Pender Island’s youngest firefighter,
Matt Kordyback, 19, becomes a fire prevention ambassador every Saturday
at the farmers’ market. Youngsters, particularly those visiting from
urban centres like Vancouver, just have fun while their parents get the
message.
Photo by Brian Kieran
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When Chief Charlie Boyte returned to lead the department in late 2005 it was obvious he had some huge challenges. He recalls: “Most articles I read said increasing call volumes, service demands and demands to meet health, safety and training requirements were overwhelming volunteer fire departments and that these demands were not sustainable in a changing demographic.”
Talk about a changing demographic. Pender Island could write the book. The pool of young, fit adults in this community of 2,500 was very shallow and those who would traditionally be potential firefighters were raising young families and making a living in a small and relatively isolated setting. And, it seemed as if most of the new blood moving onto the island was, in fact, old blood . . . retirees and mature professionals looking to kick back and enjoy the fruits of lifelong labours.
Chief Boyte was not prepared to let these challenges compromise the department’s ability to provide effective, comprehensive service. He had some ideas and was chomping at the bit to try them out.
First things first. The volunteer force had dwindled to 14 active members while service demands continued to grow. Determined to get PIFR back on track, Chief Boyte launched a three-pronged strategy starting with a 360 assessment.
“I needed a process to identify the issues affecting morale in the core group so I designed an evaluation and then sat down with the group and had each member evaluate each member, including myself. To be truthful, I did not know this process was called a 360 assessment. It just seemed like the right thing to do.”
The assessment confirmed that PIFR’s core group was values-based. These values included community mindedness, honesty, integrity, commitment, empathy, concern, care and compassion. It was clear to Chief Boyte that a strategy to build a sustainable organization had to be true to the values that kept the core intact.
With some exceptional help from a volunteer HR professional, Chief Boyte set out to re-focus the core and establish a common mission. The result of this work was a renewed commitment. Best of all, core members trusted management to support them.
“As well, we were able to regain the commitment of eight members who had drifted away and, with a new core group of 22 we set out to build the department,” Chief Boyte says.
The second prong of the strategy was redesigning the management team to capitalize on the skill sets of officers.
“We needed to put our leaders in positions that complemented their skill sets and empowered them to be successful in their work.”
The appointment of Deputy Chief Mike Dine was key to the management restructuring. He was an entrepreneur and businessman who offered superior organizational skills, great recruiting and interview skills and a clear understanding of values-based hiring.
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Pender Island Fire Rescue Chief Charlie
Boyte returned in 2005 to lead the B.C. department, which at the time
had just 14 active members.
Photo by Brian Kieran
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“We needed to find a new way to do business and Deputy Chief Dine’s skill set allowed us to recruit more people, avoid conflict and achieve sustainability. The values of these recruits had to be consistent with those of the core group. Anything less would result in conflicts and dishonour the commitment of the core group,” the chief says.
“We realized we were sitting on a community full of experienced people from diverse backgrounds and we knew their skills would help us achieve a robust sustainable volunteer force.”
The final step was to analyze the complicated jobs members were being asked to perform and to look for opportunities to job share or job split. This would allow PIFR to implement a program of task-specific recruiting and tap into the broad range of skills available in the changing community.
With the stage set, Chief Boyte focused the management team on:
- Taking the load off the dedicated core of volunteer firefighters and first responders by recruiting support from a broad range of skills and talents in the community;
- Recruiting new task-specific firefighters and responders;
- And identifying a new spectrum of potential firefighters from the changing demographic.
Deputy Chief Dine assumed personnel and training responsibilities and enjoyed great success recruiting volunteers to perform tasks that had been onerous for responders. And, with three fire halls spread across North and South Pender, 10 pieces of apparatus to maintain and more than 200 call-outs annually, it was not an insignificant challenge.
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Because of the Gulf Islands’ steep
terrain and ocean-side cliffs, rope rescue is a priority for Pender
Island Fire Rescue. Firefighters (left to right) Rob Chatfield, Valerie
Smith and Ikey McPhee perform technical high-angle rope rescue training on the bluffs above Medicine Beach.
Photo by Nathan Hanson
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Hall maintenance, truck washing, inventory control, records keeping, meal prep, website development, public and media relations, grant application writing . . . the list of chores was long, but talented individuals in the community answered the call in significant numbers.
“We were recruiting a completely new type of volunteer . . . professionals and skilled retirees,” Chief Boyte says. “These people were talented, organized and offered insights that come with life experience.
“With their help we were educating a much broader cross-section of the community about the complexities of running a volunteer fire department and we were building community support.”
PIFR’s success in recruiting created a new dynamic. The core group, re-focused on delivering service excellence, was pressing management for training to support their goals.
“Quite frankly, volunteer training regimes in B.C. were forever shifting underneath us. The programs offered were not accredited and the validity of training was constantly being challenged.
“This left our volunteers feeling like their time was being wasted. We needed a training program that was robust, internationally accredited and based on standards that could not be reasonably challenged. So we formed partnerships with the surrounding departments and set out to deliver the NFPA 1001 level 2 Pro Board and IFSAC accredited program.
“By delivering training in a modular format, we were able to customize it to meet the needs of task-specific responders, get new recruits on the ground quicker and offer younger members the opportunity to achieve training valid almost everywhere in North America. The program met professional pre-employment standards and attracted recruits wishing to pursue a career in fire fighting,” the chief says.
Recruiting from the changing demographic created a new pool of volunteers outside the typical 18 to 40 recruiting envelope. These were physically fit people – male and female, younger and older. To integrate this diverse new group of volunteers the applicant screening process was revamped to a “values-based” hiring system.
“PIFR’s enhanced hiring criteria included typical screening processes such as criminal records checks, drivers’ abstracts, interviews and reference checks. Added to this was a new focus on values and ethics. Conduct expectations were now clearly stated and each new member was required to sign an oath to honour PIFR’s standards,” the chief says.
“In small communities across Canada the only affordable way to provide comprehensive fire and rescue serviced is with a volunteer force. And, the best way to make it sustainable is to build it on a values-based foundation.”
Today, PIFR has 84 volunteers – men and women, from all walks of life, 16 to 60, working together with minimal conflict, embracing change. On the frontline where the need was greatest, the number of active, pager-carrying responders has jumped to 47 from 14 in 2005.
“Best of all, now we are able to provide a broader range of services to our community,” Boyte says, ”including fire prevention education, fire suppression, rope rescue, vehicle extraction and first response in medical emergencies. And, we are doing it with a renewed sense of purpose, pride and honour.”
Brian Kieran is a PIFR volunteer assisting with community and media relations. For more information about PIFR go to: www.penderfire.ca
Midland, Ont.
Partners in prevention
Municipalities band together to reduce costs
By Kevin Foster, Fire chief, Midland, Ont.
Something that originally seems to be a problem can turn into a challenge and, ultimately, an opportunity. That was the case in the late 1990s when municipal restructuring occurred in Simcoe County, Ont.
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Firefighters from several Simcoe County departments participate in joint recruit training.
Photo courtesy Kevin Foster
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Partnerships among departments have led to shared training and other initiatives that have saved time and money. Photo courtesy Kevin Foster
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The Township of Tiny Fire Department had used a local shopping centre for delivery of its public fire education and life-safety information programs. When municipal boundaries changed, the shopping centre was no longer part of the municipality and options had to be considered. Members of the fire department prevention divisions from Midland, Penetanguishene, Tiny and Tay began to discuss the need for a united and common message to be delivered to all residents.
The Town of Midland is primarily an urban community with a composite department; Penetanguishene is a mix of urban and rural and is primarily serviced by volunteer firefighters; the townships of Georgian Bay (which joined in 2004), Tay and Tiny are primarily rural-type municipalities with many seasonal residents, each with predominantly volunteer fire services.
During the discussions it was suggested that the departments could work together at public education to ensure all residents receive the same fire safety messages; this also would allow departments that didn’t have appropriate venues through which to provide public education an opportunity to get the
message out.
The group, led by then-Tiny Township Fire Chief Paul Ryan, approached the other chiefs about the potential to work collectively in this area and with the support of all, Partners in Prevention was born.
During Fire Prevention Week in 1997 the partners worked together at public events and shared media coverage and staff to work at the events. The first year proved very successful and it was decided to work together on public education in the future.
Over the next several years the group expanded its role and its resources. In 2000-2001 the partners embarked on an ambitious plan to buy a fire-safety house. With the support of the municipal councils and various community organizations, the group raised sufficient funds to unveil the fire-safety house during Fire Prevention Week in 2001, followed in 2003 by a vehicle to move the fire-safety house and in which to store educational materials and other supplies.
This year, Tay Township co-ordinated the purchase of a digital fire extinguisher training system on behalf of Partners in Prevention. The partners have also expanded the scope of the group to include the public education aspects of the municipal emergency management programs.
Each year the group has a booth at an annual spring home show in Midland and shares the staffing of the booth. The Township of Georgian Bay took the lead on that project this year and designed a backdrop and a sample emergency preparedness kit. Fire safety and emergency preparedness information is distributed to the public and there is a free raffle for prizes associated with both topics.
The year 2003 was important for a number of reasons; not only did the group buy the public education vehicle, it also introduced a SAFE Baby program and a new initiative dubbed Operation Co-operation to look at other opportunities to work collectively.
The very successful SAFE Baby program provides families with babies born at Huronia District Hospital with a smoke alarm for the baby’s nursery and fire-safety educational material. Partners in Prevention received support from the hospital; an early years challenge fund grant through the Ministry of Community, Family and Children’s Services; generous donations from Management and Training Corporation (operator of the local corrections facility); and a purchasing arrangement with American Sensors fire alarms. In addition, when families need help to install the smoke alarms, the local fire department does so.
Operation Co-Operation started as an invitation from Chief Ryan (who has since become chief in Penetanguishene) to chiefs of the Partners in Prevention departments to a networking opportunity (and lunch) to discuss common issues and challenges. The group now meets about every six weeks and discusses labour relations matters, recruitment, training, equipment needs, apparatus and equipment maintenance and other issues. Training and recruitment have been the focus for the last several years. Some departments were just completing volunteer firefighter recruitment and decided to jointly conduct their recruit training programs. The initial program proved successful and at subsequent meetings the group developed a complete volunteer firefighter joint recruitment program and, ultimately, a volunteer firefighter recruit training program that now involves all five departments.
Chief Randy Smith from Tiny Township co-ordinated the recruitment program. It consists of a recruitment guide and newspaper advertising, an orientation session, written and physical evaluations conducted collectively before interviews, and a final selection process. This approach has saved significant time and money for each department.
The recruit training program has been a key success story. After a delivery of the initial recruit training program the administration and management portions were overhauled. Now the program is co-co-ordinated by Chief Ryan and Midland Fire Department Capt. Mike Gagnon. Each member department provides instructors and support personnel for training who are assigned responsibility for specific portions of the program. The program has provided the initial training for about 100 volunteer firefighters over the last four years and each training program culminates with a day of live fire training at the Ontario Fire College. The program has enhanced the quality of the recruit volunteer firefighter and resulted in significant time and cost savings for each of the municipalities. Training initiatives also include live fire training for experienced firefighters, ice/water rescue, pump operations, firefighter survival and rapid intervention teams.
Although the volunteer firefighter recruitment and training programs are the primary successes of this group there have been initiatives in equipment maintenance, testing and purchasing. For example, no one in the group uses much foam but it was recognized that there are significant risks in each of the communities where a larger supply of foam could be beneficial, so the group bought a stockpile of foam to be housed in a central, accessible location. As each department only uses one or two pails annually, this is a cost-effective means of regular stock rotation. The departments have recently bulk purchased PPE to save some money and are exploring the joint purchase of SCBA and spare cylinders.
The departments share the scheduling and organization of annual apparatus pump testing, ladder testing and vehicle rustproofing. One department takes one item and schedules it for all the departments, again saving time and money.
It’s unlikely that these concepts are unique to this group. Considering the economic times, it is important to show the political and senior administrative levels that as the fire-service leaders we are cognizant of the fiscal realities and are an example for other municipal groups to follow.
Redwood Meadows, Alta.
Innovative invention
Necessity led to creation of do-it-yourself power siphon
By Rob Evans
Nestled in the foothills of the Rocky Mountains, 20 kilometres west of Calgary is the Townsite of Redwood Meadows. The Townsite is protected by a crew of 25 paid on-call firefighters, led since its inception in 1978 by Fire Chief Ed Bowen.
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Redwood Meadows firefighter Russ Innes watches over a siphon during a tanker shuttle training exercise.
Photo by Jason Low
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| Two siphons can be made in just over an hour. This angle shows the 38-millimetre outlet side. Photo by Rob Evans |
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This angle shows the power
part of the siphon’s 38-millimetre inlet.
Photo by Rob Evans |
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A closer view of the 150-millimetre inlet along
with the 38-millimetre power part of the siphon showing
the L bracket used for
additional strength.
Photo by Rob Evans
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The department serves an area about of 160 square kilometres including part of the Trans-Canada Highway and three busy provincial highways. The area is mostly a rural, bedroom community with a small amount of commercial development and a steady population of about 5,000. The population triples on weekends and holidays with tourist traffic.
The department provides fire, rescue and a BLS first-response service throughout the district that includes the Townsite of Redwood Meadows, part of the Municipal District of Rocky View #44, the Kananaskis Improvement District and the Tsuu T’ina First Nation. More than half of the members are cross-trained as either EMRs or EMTs.
The department responds with a 2009 Kenworth Pierce Contender 1050-gallon-per-minute/1,000-gallon/30 Class A, a 1992 International Navistar 1050-gallon-per-minute/1,000-gallon pumper, a 1976 Hendrickson 1250-gallon-per-minute/700-gallon/54-foot Squirt pumper, a 1981 Ford 500-gallon-per-minute/2,500-gallon tanker, a 2009 250-gallon-per-minute/300-gallon rapid response truck, a 1996 Ford ambulance converted to hold the department’s hydraulic rescue tools and a 1997 GMC pickup.
The department responded to 302 calls in 2008. Due to regional dispatch from Calgary, many of the calls involve joint responses with Calgary, the municipal district of Rocky View or the Tsuu T’ina Nation with the computer-aided dispatch system recommending the closest, most appropriate apparatus for response.
Since 2002 Redwood Meadows Emergency Services (RMES) has attempted to host a yearly tanker shuttle training exercises involving its mutual-aid partners from all over the Calgary area. This full-day of training allows fire crews to interact with each other, learning different techniques involving transporting water under a controlled non-emergency environment. Unfortunately, due to flooding emergencies and other uncontrollable conflicts, the exercise has been cancelled a couple of times in the past four years. The importance of the training is not lost on the department’s training officer.
Deputy Chief George Low, training officer for RMES says, “Because a significant portion of our response area lacks hydrants, water supply is a serious concern. We train regularly on rural water supply strategies and conduct a tanker shuttle exercise where our mutual-aid partners train with us to maximize our efficiency.”
During training in 2002, Low saw a need for a simplified means of transferring water from one portable tank to another.
Low explains, “We learned quickly that a key to minimizing tanker waiting time and congestion at the location of the fire is the use of multiple portable tanks.
“A skilled pump operator can, through the use of power siphons, continuously flow a large amount of water while drafting from one main tank.”
However, it was apparent that large, 125-millimetre suction hoses used as power siphons were cumbersome with limited personnel. During a water-supply crisis there are few lengths of hard suction available for such use. There was a second problem, as well. While RMES uses rigid metal-framed portable tanks, some of its mutual aid partners use soft-sided tanks with floating collars.
“We found that a length of hard suction, when feeding from one tank to the other, caused the self-supporting tanks’ walls to collapse. We tried a number of methods to prop up the hard suction to prevent this. While some methods worked better than others, all took time and manpower to implement,” says Low.
DC Low and Lt. Jim Evans (retired) came up with a simple and relatively inexpensive version of a power siphon using 150-millimetre (six-inch) PVC piping.
All that is needed to build a siphon is about 2.5 metres of straight pipe, three 150-millimetre 90-degree elbows, one 38-millimetre 45-degree elbow with NPT end, one 38-millimetre 90-degree elbow, a short (about 60 centimetres) piece of 38-millimetre PVC pipe and a NPT-to-fire-hose thread adapter. Of course, the necessary glue for the PVC is required also. Building one siphon should come in just under $125 and could be less if your public works department has any leftover PVC that you can use for the project.
First determine the distance you will require between the tanks and cut a straight piece of pipe that will go between two of the elbows. RMES used a 30-centimetre piece of pipe, which gives lots of room between the tanks when they are set up in a diamond formation.
Then, measure the depth of your tank and cut the outlet part of the siphon. RMES’s three portable tanks are all 80 centimetres deep so we used a length of 60 centimetres for the straight-down part.
When cutting the pipe for the inlet side of the siphon remember that the elbow adds 15 centimetres of total depth that brings the siphon to the top of the tank.
Now, you should have a horseshoe of PVC pipe, with the outlet being slightly longer than the inlet side.
Prepare the inlet 150-millimetre elbow for the 38-millimetre power part of the siphon. Cut a 38-millimetre hole in the side of the elbow and then insert the short piece of 38-millimetre pipe (about 10 centimetres). Once this is glued in place with half inside the 150-millimetre pipe and half outside, position the 90-degree elbow and glue in place so the water flow will go “up” the siphon. When this is complete glue the 45-degree elbow with the NPT end to the outside of the pipe and attach the NPT-to-fire-hose thread adapter. To prevent turning of the 38-millimetre inlet a small L-bracket can be screwed into the 150-millimetre elbow and attached to the 38-millimetre for extra strength.
Finish the siphon by attaching the prepared 150-millimetre inlet to the inlet side of the horseshoe. RMES let the siphon sit until the next day before testing.
Low says, “They are inexpensive to build and are lightweight and effective.
“Two are stored on the top deck of our tanker, and a number of others are kept at the fire hall for quick deployment during a water shuttle. Because they are rigid, they don’t cause the soft-sided tanks to collapse. They are dedicated to this purpose and free up the hard suction for its intended use (at the draft location).”
For more information on the siphons contact Deputy Chief George Low at 403-949-2012 or
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or Deputy Chief Rob Evans at 403-949-2178 or
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Also look for more photos at www.rmesfire.org .
Thetis Island, B.C.
Tanker tale
Thinking way outside the box gets department an ideal truck
By Jeanine Caldbeck, Fire chief, Thetis Island, B.C.
Thetis Island, B.C. – Back in 2006, our 1972 Dodge Fargo ex-fuel tanker (split shift, no power steering) was more than 35 years old and was touchy to drive, overweight on our 18 per cent grades and easy to roll over.
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Before: The original Ryder truck with the GMC T6500 chassis that the Thetis Island Volunteer Fire Department bought and transformed into a water tender.
Photo by Graeme Shelford
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After: The water tender, which meets NFPA standards and features an automatic transmission, power steering and excellent sight lines, cost $40,000 including the trip to Maryland to pick it up.
Photos by Graeme Shelford
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We were having trouble getting parts for the tanker and sought funding from our improvement district for a replacement. We have a very small tax base and two other apparatus were also overdue for replacement so funding was limited.
Eventually, in late 2006 the Thetis Island Volunteer Fire Department was allotted $35,000 for a replacement, after we successfully argued that we could not do much with the initial amount offered. (Our community is very conservative and will not borrow money.)
A fire-department committee was formed to come up with a plan that would suit taxpayers and fulfil the needs of the department, one of which was that the truck had to be driveable by anyone, including senior citizens. This meant that it had to have automatic power steering, hydraulic brakes and a low centre of gravity.
After much research and creative thinking we opted to buy a suitable, used chassis and have a tank built to our specifications.
Deputy Chief Graeme Shelford researched the proper chassis for our needs. A GMC T6500, which provided the bonus of good driver visibility, was eventually found near Baltimore, Md. It was being used as a Ryder truck rental.
We contacted the Laurel Volunteer Fire Department down the road from the Ryder used truck sales lot, and asked if anyone was willing to go and kick the tires before we committed to the purchase. Not only did a Laurel captain kick the tires, he test drove the vehicle, crawled under it and thoroughly checked out the engine. On his recommendation that it was a solid truck for the asking price, two Thetis Island members (Capt. D. Tarris and myself) flew to Baltimore in mid-December 2006 and purchased the 2000 GMC T6500 (Caterpillar engine).
More than 5,000 kilometres later, through snow and hail storms, many turnpikes, much bad coffee and fast food, and unbelievable red tape, the truck arrived on Thetis Island in late January 2007.
We had contacted a local retired aluminum fabricator, Geoff Howard in Duncan, B.C., who had years of experience building coastal aluminum water craft, and he was excited to build the tender for us in his workshop in his yard. We agreed on a price and delivery date with a handshake to seal the deal.
The overall design was our own, and Howard designed the tank to keep the lowest profile possible, with NFPA standards as the template.
Howard bought the truck box from us and reduced the price accordingly. He shortened the chassis and when the baffled, 1,000-imperial-gallon tank was fabricated and mounted he built the deck in front of it to store the drop tanks and other equipment.
He also built four storage lockers for two portable pumps, a portable lighting generator, and flat three-inch and four-inch hoses for water transfer, which were hung below the tank in front of the tires, keeping the profile of the vehicle low for great visibility to the rear.
We scrounged dusty cupboards of the fire departments in Popkum and Sahtlam, B.C., for old equipment including lights and a siren. An aluminum storage box was purchased on sale from Costco and mounted on the deck to store our manifold and other sundries. With funds low, we fabricated wooden stakes for the sides of the deck. We are probably the only fire department to have an operational fire truck with wooden sides!
We purchased an off-the-rack Ziamatic dump valve for the rear and had Howard make a chute so that we can dump the water to either side as well as to the rear.
To give us pump-and-roll capabilities we purchased a cranberry bog high-volume pump and plumbed it into the bottom of the tank so we can tandem pump as well as dump.
Although the end result looks more like a live shrimp transporter than a fire truck, we are extremely happy with the vehicle.
Safety was our foremost concern and this apparatus has met all our requirements of a low centre of gravity, an automatic transmission and hydraulic brakes, as well as the bonus of having excellent 360-degree visibility for the driver.
We were able to sell the old tender to a consortium of volunteer departments near Prince George as a stand-by tanker for wildfire, which also reduced our costs.
The new tender was put in operation in July 2007 and came in under $40,000 all in, including the airfare and bad coffee.
Comox, B.C.
Composite and creative
Department focuses on paid on-call staff to maintain morale
BY Gord Schreiner, Fire chief, Comox, B.C.
Comox Fire Rescue on Vancouver Island, B.C., serves a population of about 20,000. The department has evolved into a unique, innovative and dynamic emergency service organization that places a high emphasis on fire prevention and the safety and training of its members. It responded to more than 600 emergencies in 2008, about half of which were medical calls.
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Comox Fire Rescue on Vancouver Island focuses on training and holds lots of social events to keep members engaged, active and interested.
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Having a training centre including a live burn building has increased morale and operational readiness for the Comox Fire Rescue. Photos courtesy of ComoX Fire Rescue
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Comox works closely with the Justice Institute of BC’s fire and safety divisions and operates a regional training centre at the station. The training centre is staffed by a combination of full- and part-time members and is regularly used by other departments, including some from neighbouring Alberta.
Comox Fire Rescue has five full-time staff and 40 paid on-call staff. The full-time staff work a creative schedule that includes evenings and weekends when access to training is in demand by the paid on-call and volunteer firefighters who typically use the centre.
Comox has been heavily involved in training for many years and boasts some impressive numbers. Forty-two of its 45 members are certified to NFPA 1001 Level I with most having Level II. Thirty members are certified fire-service instructors. Twenty members are enrolled in the Justice Institute’s fire officer program, with two of those members completing fire officer IV and another two soon to complete this final level. Comox has several instructors who can deliver a variety of courses.
“The fact that we operate a training centre, which includes a live burn building, not only increases our own level of training but it has greatly increased our team’s morale and operational readiness,” says Chief Gord Schreiner.
“In addition to this, because we offer so much training here, our members have convenient access to this training and can upgrade their training much easier than in other departments. I try not to limit the level of training our members get. We do all this with a fairly modest budget.”
Comox’s success is evidenced by the fact that two of its paid on-call captains have recently left to take on full-time chief officer positions in other, larger departments. These vacancies were quickly filled by two very capable lieutenants who were promoted within the department.
Comox has developed several programs and initiatives to keep its paid on-call firefighters happy and productive. Several times a year the department has social functions (many of these funded through the operating budget) designed to include families and support the firefighters. These include an annual banquet, a Mother’s Day breakfast, a Valentine’s dinner (a big hit) and a family day. It also has a monthly crew dinner and regular prize draws in which firefighters receive appreciation gifts from the department. A range of corporate clothing is given to the firefighters including dress and station uniforms, track suits, golf shirts, hats, jackets and hoodies. Firefighters and their significant others are given free annual fitness passes. As part of their comprehensive training schedule, each crew is scheduled to go to the fitness centre once a month for an hour.
“We spend a lot of time ensuring we are meeting the needs of our paid on-call staff in terms of the training they require or want,” Schreiner says. “We give them above-average equipment and we ensure we have staff here, when they are, to deal with any little problems they might have. Our full-time staff is here to not only meet the needs of our citizens but to ensure our paid on-call firefighters are happy, healthy and have the skills and tools they need to do their jobs.”
Comox Fire Rescue boasts many other successes including managing five, five-day firefighter youth camps over the past few years. It has developed an outstanding training area that includes a seven-room, concrete live-fire building, two training towers, several natural gas props, a pumper test pit and a host of other props.
Several of Comox’s members work as part-time instructors for the Justice Institute’s fire and safety division.
Comox Fire Rescue has done a lot of work in the area of firefighter rehab and medical assessments. All firefighters visiting the training centre must meet acceptable medical standards that include blood pressure, pulse, temperature and O2/CO level before they can participate in physical training exercises.
“While we haven’t figured out a way to train our firefighters any quicker yet (it takes about two years to achieve firefighter certification) we are pleased that we typically have a waiting list of solid individuals who are interested in joining us,” Schreiner says.
“That is much different than the current trend where smaller departments like us are constantly looking for new members. I believe this is largely because we care so much about our firefighters and treat them accordingly.”
For more information contact Chief Gord Schreiner at
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Surrey, B.C.
Move ups
Department leverages technology to manage response costs
By Karin Mark
When the City of Surrey, B.C., ordered across-the-board cuts this year to help defray a $7.5-million deficit, Surrey Fire Chief Len Garis already had a valuable tool in his arsenal.
British Columbia’s largest composite fire department, Surrey Fire Service, has been using an automated planning tool since 2007 that enables move-ups – the practice of temporarily moving resources to provide emergency coverage when and where it is required.
It’s a different approach than the costly tradition of providing full standby fire coverage for all areas at all times and backfilling stations even when the chance of a call is minimal.
“Move-ups are about placing your resources in the right place at the right time,” Chief Garis said. “As I’ve said before, it’s like Gretzky’s approach – being where the puck is, instead of chasing the puck.”
The Live Move-Up Module (LiveMUM), developed by Deccan International (www.deccanintl.com/), uses real-time and historical data to calculate the probability of emergency calls in a particular area at a particular time.
The benefits for SFS have been two-fold. First, LiveMUM enables the department to dynamically manage its career resources and maintain a high level of coverage while minimizing downtime.
The department has also been able to achieve significant costs savings for callback of volunteer firefighters. Analysis of static data showed that in 2002, prior to LiveMUM, volunteers on callback were used just 48 per cent of the time. Using real-time data from LiveMUM, SFS was able to increase the use rate of volunteers on callback to 87 per cent in 2008 – a 39 per cent increase.
“We can make these strategic decisions because we have the tools, and we can have some confidence in those decisions due to Bayesian probability,” Garis noted.
■ How LiveMUM works
LiveMUM interacts with the city’s Computer-Aided Dispatch system in real time to determine when and where move-ups are necessary. For example, when the closest units to a particular neighbourhood will not be available for a significant period of time, a move-up is recommended.
At the same time, LiveMUM’s risk-assessment tool helps to ensure that any relocated resources will actually be put to use.
This critical component uses historical data to calculate the probability of a second call occurring in an area when units are already in use. Factors such as location, time of day and day of the week are part of this calculation. As a result, a move-up into a particular area would be recommended at times/on days when the area’s call volume is typically high but not at times/on days when it is typically low.
The system employs the Bayesian approach to probability – a simple mathematical formula that determines the probability of an event occurring based on past incidences of the event.
An example of this approach is a gas station owner who operates a convenience store and a car wash but has just one employee to work at the two sites. At different times of the day, the owner wants the employee to be at the location where the demand is greatest.
He decides it is worthwhile to post the employee at the car wash only if there is at least a 50 per cent chance of having four car wash sales per hour. Using historical demand at other similar car wash operations, he can use the Bayesian calculation to determine the probability of a certain number of car wash sales per hour – zero, one, two, three, four or more – at different times of the day and then place the employee accordingly.
LiveMUM applies this same approach, recommending a move-up if the probability of a call occurring is above the threshold determined by Surrey Fire Service.
Colour-coded maps allow users to see the various levels of move-up necessity for different types of apparatus in various areas. For example, if two adjacent fire halls respond to a call, a red colour on the map indicates where a move-up of a pumper, ladder or rescue truck is required, based on the probability of a call occurring while the units are in use elsewhere. Orange indicates if a move-up is not necessary due to historical call infrequency at that time.
Colour-coding also shows where the level of coverage is acceptable (yellow) and optimal (green) throughout the service area. As well, fire stations on the map are colour coded to show if they have units available, no units available or no units assigned. Detailed station-by-station unit information is also available, as is on-screen monitoring of a move-up in progress.
The system accommodates multiple concurrent scenarios – an important feature for a department the size of SFS, which has 17 fire stations covering a service area of 317.4 square kilometres and a population of more than 450,000.
Also key is that LiveMUM continues to update the historical data it uses to calculate probabilities as new calls come in, ensuring its move-up recommendations remain accurate and can be trusted.
Garis noted that tools like LiveMUM are becoming increasingly valuable in light of the economic downturn, which is forcing the fire service to find more efficient and better ways of delivering services.
“When further cuts are needed in the future, this tool will allow us to make decisions without affecting service levels.”
Opinion
Mentorship 101
By Peter Sells
When I was first assigned as an acting training officer, I tried to learn as much as I could from the others who were senior to me. As a firefighter on the floor I had had essentially no exposure to any of the fire-service literature that was out there, beyond the departmental training manual that had been issued to me as a recruit. My new peers, on the other hand, had been working in a different environment for several years and were familiar with the Fire Chiefs’ Handbook, the Essentials of Firefighting and other mysterious tomes. One book with which several of them seemed particularly enamoured with was Fire Command. I did not understand what was so fascinating about how they did things in Phoenix.
As I started to get out and around the province to instructors’ association meetings I heard regular references to this book. Like most academic references, sometimes people would refer to the book by its title and sometimes they would refer to the author specifically. So Tthis is how I first heard aboutof Alan Brunacini.
Then, one of my comrades showed us a videotape of a talk that Brunacini had recently given at a provincial conference. Here was a fire chief who clearly had a solid base of experience, had a great firehall sense of humour and who had taken the time to analyze and codify the flow of command responsibility at a fire scene. With opening sentences like “It is 3 o’clock in the morning, you are on the scene of a raging structure fire after having just been awakened from a deep sleep, and you have to urinate very badly”, it was clear that he could simultaneously take the situation seriously and himself less so.
I had the opportunity to see Brunacini speak at the Fire Department Instructors’ Conference in Cincinnati and later in Indianapolis. Whether delivering a solo talk on fire command or in his now-famous east-versus-west armchair discussions with Tom Brennan, his engaging personality, empathy for the public we serve and insight into the mind processes of the incident commander came through loud and clear.
Brunacini has long preached value for the customers or the taxpayer. In today’s leaner fire service these are lessons that will help us gain public trust, boost morale within the station and search for and institute best practices that will benefit Mrs. Smith and our own fire service personnel.
In 1996 I had obtained a copy of his Essentials of Fire Department Customer Service and read it cover to cover. I took five or six excerpts from the book in which Brunacini described situations in which Phoenix firefighters had gone beyond the basic call of duty to deliver excellent service to the customer. An example: when a contractor finishing a concrete driveway collapsed with a possible heart attack, the IC called a couple of firefighters who worked in that trade to the scene in order to finish the concrete before it set. Most of the examples were like that – they didn’t have to do the things they did, they could have just walked away. But the things they did mattered big time to the customer and reflected very positively on the fire department and the city.
I took those excerpts and built an exercise out of them for a captain’s course. I had the students work in teams – each team was assigned one of Brunacini’s anecdotes. They were required to discuss, given the same situations, whether our department could or would deliver that same level of service. The next time I saw Brunacini speak, I approached him afterwards and told him how I used his book. “I probably shouldn’t tell you this, chief, since I likely violated your copyright.” His reply was an enthusiastic and genuine “No, by all means use the book.” He was more concerned that the information and philosophy be shared than that a few sales were generated.
I continued to see him periodically at conferences or IFSTA committee meetings. Always the same smile, the trademark Hawaiian shirts and the little Bruno-isms; “All fires go out eventually” or “very little will burn when submerged.” Then came FDIC 2002. In the wake of the fire service’s darkest day, we were all asked to break with tradition and wear dress uniform that year. During the opening address, several FDNY survivors of 9/11 gave incredibly moving and passionate memorials of their brethren. Then Brunacini took the stage, the first and only time I have seen him in uniform.
Chief Brunacini gave an equally moving memorial of firefighter/paramedic Brett Tarver, who had died in a supermarket fire in Phoenix that past year. Tarver’s death caused PFD to re-examine all of its procedures for mayday, search and rescue and rapid intervention. In the ensuing months and years, Phoenix did an exhaustive analysis of what went wrong. Scientifically valid studies of firefighter movement were conducted dozens of times to analyze the validity and effectiveness of existing RIT procedures. The assumptions that were shattered through this research caused ripples around the fire service world. Several senior members of PFD toured all of the regional fire conferences with a presentation called Rapid Intervention Isn’t Rapid.
But back to Brunacini on that stage in 2002. He promised Brett Tarver that his death was not in vain and praised him for his leadership in showing the need for change. That stuck in my head like few things I have ever heard.
Later that week, I happened to be at the publisher’s booth just as Brunacini was setting up to do a book signing of the second edition of Fire Command. I told him that I was taken a bit by surprise by his reference to Brett Tarver’s leadership. The chief told me that through his selfless act (and let’s face it – every firefighter line-of-duty death is a selfless act) Brett Tarver was able to show that change was needed. Without his sacrifice, things would have gone on as before and a dysfunctional system would not have been recognized as such.
As we had our short discussion, unbeknownst to me, a crowd of about 50 people had gathered behind me, not just waiting for the book signing but hanging on every word of our conversation (OK, at least hanging on Brunacini’s every word). But I finally got the point. Recognizing Brett Tarver as the inspiration for the transformational changes that the Phoenix Fire Department instituted under Alan Brunacini’s command was a selfless and inspirational act that will not only save firefighters’ lives, but will serve as a lasting tribute to a brave man who did not go home that day.
Retired District Chief Peter Sells writes, speaks and consults on fire service management and professional development across North America and internationally. He holds a B.Sc. from the University of Toronto and an MBA from the University of Windsor. He sits on the advisory council of the Institution of Fire Engineers,
Canada branch.
St Catharines, Ont.
Up to standard
Department finds way to manage NFPA 1710 during recession
By Mark Mehlenbacher, Fire chief, St. Catharines, Ont.
The City of St. Catharines, in the Niagara Region of Southern Ontario, is the largest of the 12 municipalities that make up the region. The city is home to more that 132,000 residents with a mostly urban population. St. Catharines supports several industries including two General Motors plants and manufacturer TRW Automotive Parts, and is home to Brock University and a regional hospital centre.
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The City of St. Catharines Fire and Emergency Services Department took two apparatus out of service in order to meet NFAP 1710.
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The Niagara Escarpment and Welland Canal shipping route, including a section of the Lake Ontario shoreline, are part of the approximately 100 square kilometres the city encompasses. The original city started in the late 19th century as the first canal was built and eventually amalgamated with four boroughs to make it what it is today.
St. Catharines has a mix of very old commercial structures, modern residential areas and big box stores.
The fire station locations protecting the city are based on a hub design, with the headquarters stationed in the centre and five stations surrounding it. Frontline apparatus consists of seven pumpers, two 100-foot platforms and one command/platoon chief vehicle. Minimum on-duty staffing is set at 27 personnel.
■ Department background
In January a master fire plan was presented to council that identified a number of issues. As fire chief, I felt that the most important issue was the potential liability of the city’s staffing practice of having just one officer and two firefighters responding on a pumper truck.
During the MFP process, the city contracted a consulting firm to do station-location scenarios, which included first response and depth-of-response performance measures.
The present station locations allow first-response coverage of four minutes or less 91 per cent of the time but with just three staff on a truck. The second vehicle – usually the platoon chief and his driver – allows us to have four people on scene in fewer than four minutes 61 per cent of the time.
Our depth-of-response coverage is relatively good. With the present station locations and staffing we meet NFAP 1710 – 15 firefighters on scene in eight minutes 90 per cent of the time – 88 per cent of the time.
According to a survey of other fire departments conducted during completion of the MFP, St. Catharines was the only city of its size in all of Ontario that ran just three on a pumper.
The MFP called for the hiring of 20 additional personnel over the next five years, the removal of one pumper from service and the replacement of the pumper with a rescue unit with two personnel. This combination would have placed four staff on each of the six remaining pumpers, plus two aerials each manned by two personnel, a rescue unit with two firefighters and a platoon chief and his FIT. According to the consultant, NFPA first response coverage would increase to 91 per cent and depth of coverage would be 95 per cent. The approximate annual staffing cost once fully implemented would be $2 million.
Just days after the plan was presented to council the city’s largest employer, General Motors, announced it was facing severe financial hardship and was considering filing for bankruptcy protection.
Faced with the deepening financial crisis and the city’s largest employer struggling, council’s options for fire department staffing were limited.
About two weeks after the GM announcement, council gave direction to the chief administrative officer and to me to develop a plan that put four firefighters on the trucks with limited or no cost to the taxpayer.
As a fire chief who had been hired from the outside just one year earlier, I had no history or attachment to how things had run in the past. I believe this helped me develop what I consider a reasonably simple solution which, although not perfect, will provide NFPA 1710 first response coverage of 91 per cent and, by cross-staffing a ladder and pumper in two of our stations, a depth-of-response coverage of better than 80 per cent.
This is not a magic trick; anyone doing the math can see that 27 personnel divided by six stations results in all stations with four-person crews, with two left over for a rescue unit and the platoon chief to command.
To accomplish this, two frontline vehicles needed to come out of service. This did not sit well with the union and some of the staff. Some staff even wanted to continue to run with three firefighters on a pumper and wait for the economy to improve.
History and tradition are like motherhood and apple pie for the fire service and, to a certain extent, need to be respected. Firefighters do hate change and I am no exception; however, as the chief, given the choice of maintaining the tradition of having more vehicles with inadequate staffing or changing to fewer vehicles that are properly staffed and safer for our firefighters and the public, in this case less is the only way to go.
In my report, city councillors were advised that this is an interim solution as cross-staffing two ladders, in my opinion, is not practical for the long haul. The need to fully staff one ladder in the future (which will support the other six pumpers) is a goal that I will work toward.
As I write this, we are working on the what and how of vehicle responses. Our response criteria require changesin our CAD system. Additional equipment is also needed on some of the vehicles, since at least two of the trucks ran only with a second vehicle. Our hope was to have this changed and up and running by August.
This was not an easy decision but this challenge by council needed a solution that was innovative and practical. Our need to provide four personnel on every pumper to ensure the safety of the public and the firefighters was the overriding reason to implement this change. Meeting NFPA 1710 is the bonus that the citizens and firefighters of St. Catharines received.
Hope, B.C.
Finding funds
Department taps local resources to supplement budget
By Tom DeSorcy, Fire chief, Hope, B.C.
When asked if the downturn in the economy was having an effect on our fire department I was quick to respond. The response, however, fell short of blaming a slowed economy for the way we need to do business, or at least the way we attempt to do business.
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| Innovative advertising that benefits the community and the fire department helped the District of Hope Volunteer Department raise $6,000. |
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Innovative advertising that benefits the community and the fire department helped the District of Hope Volunteer Department raise $6,000.
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I say that because I feel that too many people are using the economy as an excuse when it comes to service delivery or the lack thereof.
Let’s be honest; in emergency services, budget cuts mean many have lost the ability to deliver their service and that’s unfortunate. But how about those of us who really had nothing to begin with, the departments in which learning to make do with very little is just a regular part of our work to provide a service for our communities, regardless of the economic climate?
There are fire departments in this country that survive on bake sales and dunk tanks and, in all likelihood – as is common in the fire service – are quite good at it. These departments are used to providing a service on a shoestring and have learned not to complain. Did they blame the economy before? No. Will they blame it now? Not likely.
It’s a well-known paradigm that most composite and volunteer fire departments do the best they can with what they’re given. They understand the limits of their municipal budgets and make do. Some fire-service leaders say this is inappropriate and that firefighters are being asked to put themselves in danger by not having the proper or most up-to-date equipment. Those of us who have never enjoyed the luxury of full funding know we can’t get blood from a stone but, to use another cliché, we can think outside the box.
In 1999, the District of Hope Fire Department was born out of three area fire departments that were amalgamated into one. Three fire departments became three fire halls with a single paid fire chief. The budget at the time for training and equipment alone was around $15,000. Ten years later, the original operating budget has grown minimally, but we still maintain an underfunded, yet efficient operation that continues to serve the customer today much like it did back then, only more often, under stricter rules about training and qualifications, and with a less appreciative public – as may be the case in most other jurisdictions.
In relation to the other municipal operations such as public works and policing, we are a drop in the bucket. So what about all those cuts? Yes, we’ve seen them, but when your public education budget is a whopping $500 a year, how much of that can you really cut and make a difference elsewhere?
The point is that we’ve learned to live with what we’re given. Sure, we could do with more, but I think the smaller departments like ours have learned to do more with less by being frugal and, frankly, creative.
An example of this came a few years back when we leased our command vehicle. It was a basic, run-of-the-mill, three-quarter ton, four-wheel-drive pickup truck. Unfortunately, the budget did not allow for all that was required in the way of emergency equipment, lights and siren, so, to pay for them, we “sold” the back window of the canopy to promote the Dial Before You Dig program called BC One Call and placed energy industry sponsors on that back window in exchange for their donations. We raised $6,000 in that project, received industry coverage on the promotion and further cemented the already excellent working relationship we have with our local energy industry.
This particular project was done out of necessity, not as a result of a budget cut, rather as a result of working with what we’d been given. Other initiatives are the same and done through simple efficiencies. Whenever there’s an opportunity to stretch a budget dollar, we try, like everyone else, to take advantage of it, be it the purchase of a specialized piece of equipment such as a thermal imaging camera or partnering with another agency to acquire unique nozzles or hazmat gear.
Was this done because of the economy at the time? Certainly not. It was done as a result of not having much to begin with – we’re survivors. The way I look at it, it’s just simple, old-fashioned penny pinching. The art of making every dollar go as far as it can and that is the one constant that every fire department in Canada, regardless of the size, knows only too well.
This is not meant to minimize the impact on those who are facing extreme measures and it is true that many fire departments are feeling the effects of the economy with cuts to programs
and services.
I just feel it’s important to draw attention to the fact that this is not new to many Canadian fire departments, especially the volunteer and composite departments.
Where I do see the events of the world affecting all the smaller departments is in personnel. Unfortunately, many volunteer firefighters have to leave their communities to find work and therefore the doing-more-with-less philosophy becomes even more important.
We can’t buy volunteers and stretching the ones we have is getting harder every day, more so than stretching that elusive dollar.
The one thing that is constant, though, is that the public won’t see this: at least we hope they won’t. The emergency call comes in, the customer is served and, at the end of the day, we try to ensure through our training, equipment and good decisions that everyone goes home.
When we start to blame an economic slowdown if this doesn’t happen, then we’re really in trouble.
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