A long simmering issue broke out into the open again on Friday, as the union representing Prince Rupert fire fighters made a strong suggestion that the city is tempting fate with its staffing levels at the department.
Their concerns were contained in a scathing indictment of the city policy of staffing only three firefighters per shift, a situation that requires waiting for a fourth to be called in before the crews can actively work a fire. A policy that seems rather pointless, as it seems to handcuff the fire department before they can even roll out to the call.
In a blast that should get the attention of the folks on Third Avenue, the union stated that the city could be setting itself up for financial concerns and criminal charges should a fire result in loss of life.
The controversial issue gains front page attention at the same time as the city begins its recruiting campaign for auxiliary firefighters, a project long discussed by the Mayor but one which never seemed to gain much traction until this past week. It has been a controversial plan from the beginning and one that has left no shortage of questions around the community.
The problem is that there has seemingly never been a proper public debate over not only the auxiliary plans but the current staffing situation as well. Far too many people in the city are unaware of the staffing policy or what the impact and long range plan might be for the auxiliary force. A more open dialogue with its residents might help the city to better get its message across.
The first thing they should do is address the flare up of the issue of the staffing situation. The citizens of Prince Rupert deserve to know exactly where they stand in the event of a fire in the community. If indeed lives could be at risk, then clearly the present levels are not correct and need to be amended. Leaving the fire fighters in danger is also clearly not acceptable, nor is a system that could result in disaster for a community that has seen a fair amount of threat from fires, as our history has shown over the years.
The second major initiative should be a complete explanation of their plans for the auxiliary force, what its mandate will be, what its future would be and how it would impact on the current professional force on duty.
If it’s a money issue then the city should state that up front and ask what cuts the city’s population might be willing to make to balance off the need for safety and security.
Last week the mayor suggested that the travel budget items were a legitimate expense and may have to be increased, keeping in mind the need to send representatives out of town to deal with investment opportunities, "no stronger signal than sending your mayor" was a memorable quote at the time.
Possibly a valid point, but in the end city residents might be more inclined to feel safe at home; even if that means making the civic officials stay closer to home more often.
If it comes down to staffing a fire department properly or sending civic officials away on dog and pony shows, one would think that the decision might be rather easy to make. If people want to invest in this town, we’re pretty sure that they can find us when they want to, and no doubt the Economic Development Agency could provide them with all the information they require. Including a segment dealing with how safe and secure their investment might be should they decide to locate here.
The Daily News featured the issue on its front page of Friday, which we provide below. It will be interesting to see how the city responds to the challenge next week and in the weeks to come. One thing seems certain, it won’t be one of those issues for in camera discussion, this one deserves a full and open airing in public chambers, so everyone will be on the same page and get the same story.
FIREFIGHTERS FEAR NEW RULES WILL MEAN NEW TRAGEDIES
Professionals warn that there could be vital delays before they can fight fires
By James Vasallo
The Daily News
Friday, September 22, 2006
Pages One and Seven
The City of Prince Rupert and its managers could be financially and criminally responsible for damages or injuries caused by fire due to a policy adopted two years ago, according to the fire fighters union.
The policy saw the city cut the number of on-shift personnel from four to three, despite WCB rules that mandate four fire fighters are required on scene to enter a burning building. Currently a fourth fire fighter is called to the scene from home, which causes a delay.
“Prince Rupert is clearly in contravention of the Worker’s Compensation Board guidelines, “ said Lorne West., Western Canada vice-president , International Association of Fire Fighters IAFFF). “As well… there can be criminal prosecutions for not following proper safety procedures.”
Fire fighters contend that under Bill C-45, which amended the Criminal Code of Canada in 2004, there is criminal liability “when the actions of those with authority and other employees, taken as a whole demonstrate a lack of care that constitutes criminal negligence.”
The law has already been brought into play in Yellowknife, where two fire fighters died in a building collapse last year. The chief, deputy chief and city have all been charged for failing to provide proper adequate safety protections for fire fighters. Prince Rupert’s three-shift does the same thing, compromising the safety of both fire fighters and the public, and the city is well aware of it,” said West.
“The fire chief in Prince Rupert and the city mayor and council and management know damn well what’s required for safety because they staffed that fire department at the level it should have been for a number of years,” he said. “If we don’t have four fire fighters responding, the chances of us containing the fire, never mind rescuing somebody, are virtually impossible.”
Statistics show fire fighters have the best opportunity to rescue a victim of a fire in the first five to 10 minutes. That chance is only 46 per cent, but the odds drop to less than five percent beyond that time frame. That reality has some people questioning if the policy played a role in the recent death of Rupert’s Michael Gibson, who died from smoke inhalation in a fire two weeks ago.
“Without a doubt, to be fair to the family and a community that has lost somebody, we can never know for certain if we can save somebody,” said West. “But what we do know for certain is if we’re not there on scene within five minutes and we don’t have that window between five and 10 minutes to operate we can’t.
That’s what we know and what our city is suggesting is operating in a 10 to 15 minute window – that’s foolhardy.”
The local IAFF 559 executive echoes the sentiment.
“You don’t know how much more damage was done, but it’s just common sense that more would be when you’ve got three guys doing the work of four and you’ve got that delay,” said the union executive, noting there has been 20 structural fires since the change.
“It’s tough to describe what you feel like when you go to a fire scene with a three man crew. Your heart just sinks to your stomach, you want to puke.
Prince Rupert’s fire chief acknowledged it was a three man shift, however he believes the response was timely.
“We had a fourth man there, who responded from home directly … so entry was made and a search was done as soon as he was on scene,” said Fire Chief Ron Miller. “I don’t know how much delay there was if any.”
Miller said it’s a difficult position but there are budgets and finances involved in running any city department.
“In the perfect world where there was pots of gold under every tree, I’d have a very large department with the capability of having as many people as we wanted on every fire and as much equipment as we wanted on every fire we responded to,” he said. But I guess if it was that perfect world, I’d just stop fires from happening and we wouldn’t need any people – but that’s not going to happen, we won’t live in a perfect world.”
While Mayor Herb Pond was not available for comment, prior to the decision being made, council members had lengthy conversations over the safety impacts of the decision. Coun. Kathy Bedard said “these cuts should have been taken from other areas,” while offering concerns about the effect of only three fire fighters being on staff at a time.
Coun. Nelson Kinney concurred and added that a disaster like a cruise ship fire could cost lives under the new system.
The IAFF warns that their mandate is to protect fire fighters and they will bring litigation forward if they have the opportunity to do so.
“We will assist families in doing that as well, and we will assist the community in doing that if they lose their loved ones,” said West.
“When they’re knowingly scheduling three fire fighters knowingly putting them in harm’s way, the city is without a doubt vulnerable to charges.”
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