The union representing city fire fighters is making their voice heard on the City’s Strategic Master Fire Plan.
President Dennis Brescacin and Secretary Darren Smallwood of the Thunder Bay Professional Fire Fighters Association (IAFF Local 193) spoke to council Monday night, urging them to hold off on moving forward with the plan presented last week.
Related: Fire Master Plan
The individuals brought forward the IAFF’s GIS Report, which notes there would be a service level reduction if council directs administration to proceed with cuts to Thunder Bay Fire Rescue.
Brescacin points directly to a recommendation in the Master Plan to eliminate the Entry Control Accountability Position.
“That entry control person is taking notes right away. That first truck could be in, putting their masks on and attacking the fire. That designated individual has to start a stopwatch because he has to time how long a crew has been in the fire,” notes Brescacin.
According to statistics, only 3% of the time does the Thunder Bay Fire Department meet the internationally recognized standard of 17 firefighters on scene with 8 minutes.
Smallwood feels council is just ignoring the problem.
“Right now only three per cent of the time do we meet the [provincially recognized] standard, 97 per cent of the time we don’t! Council thinks reducing man power is somehow going to make that number better? It’s only going to make it worse,” stresses Smallwood. “You shouldn’t be looking to cut the [Entry Control Accountability Position] and delegate that to somebody who arrives ‘at some point later’. The [we’ll get to later attitude] is pretty cavalier and nonchalant when it comes to safety.”
Counter Recommendations
- The department should not implement any of the proposed Master Fire Plan station
realignment proposed scenarios - Thunder Bay Fire Rescue should increase the number of staffed apparatus to ensure there are
adequate units staffed and available to respond to incidents as they occur throughout Thunder
Bay’s response area - Thunder Bay Fire Rescue should staff both Ladder 91 and Ladder 92 with a minimum of four
firefighters per shift - The department should stop the practice of cross-staffing
- Thunder Bay Fire Rescue should maintain ongoing assessments of hazards, risks, and demand
to determine appropriate apparatus and staffing levels in the future. A risk assessment and
critical task analysis should be performed. - Thunder Bay Fire Rescue should continue to provide EMS first response
