by CONNIE TABBERT
Editor
COBDEN — A review of the Whitewater Region fire department will be completed once the mayor strikes a committee.
Prior to discussion at the Protection Services Committee meeting on May 4, Chief Wayne Heubner addressed concerns regarding the number of fire trucks responding to the recent locked door incident in Westmeath.
It must be noted that when Westmeath firefighters are paged out, so are Beachburg firefighters, just in case there are not enough responders from the Westmeath station, he explained.
He also noted there are now only eight trucks within the region, down from 12, which means equipment had to be redistributed among the trucks.
The hydraulic spreader on the Beachburg truck can open a locked door with minimal damage, which respects the taxpayer’s property and financial situation, the Chief said. However, the Westmeath truck has a special carbide cutting saw that can be used to cut through steel doors, he added.
“Depending on the emergency, when minutes can mean the difference between life and death, several trucks may be needed to gain entry for emergency responders,” Chief Heubner said.
When firefighters are dispatched, they have no advanced knowledge of the complexity of the call, he said. While en route to an emergency call such as the recent locked door incident in Westmeath, firefighters must consider if the door is wood or metal and if the resident locked out due to health issues or just needs help to get in. He recalled two recent instances where a mother accidentally locked herself out of the house and her baby was inside and another incident where an elderly resident was locked outside on a cold winter night after the wind slammed the door shut while she was letting her dog outside.
In 2014, Whitewater responded to two locked doors and four in 2015, the chief said.
“It is impossible to predict how many firefighters are within the paging area and are available to answer an incident call with any station, at any time, on any day,” Chief Heubner said. “On rare occasions, where there is minimal daytime coverage and not enough volunteers to safely answer a call, Beachburg, Cobden, Foresters Falls or Haley’s offer additional support.”
Chief Huebner suggested four options for council’s consideration: continue with current service, which also includes cancelling the page as soon as possible by early arriving responders; decrease Whitewater’s level of service; have complaints of service forwarded to the fire chief for action; or hire full time staff for the Westmeath fire station.
To ensure that all residents receive the same level of service within the township, the Chief is recommending the status quo be maintained. He noted the department has proactively taken reasonable steps and fiscal considerations to complete a risk assessment, identify areas of concern and formulate and initiate a safety plan for Westmeath and area, he said.
Councillor Charlene Jackson questioned when the operations of the fire department would be reviewed and if five fire halls are necessary for this township.
“When is that going to be done?” she questioned. “I think it’s important that we take a look at starting to reduce some of the costs of the fire department.
“I would certainly like to see an overview of the fire department done, sooner rather than later,” she added.
While some of the reasons for going to go to a locked door incident are valid, there are other ways of getting into a locked house without calling the fire department, she said.
This council has two-and-a-half more years of sitting and Coun. Jackson would like that evaluation done before the next election.
Chief Heubner has spoken with a firefighter who went through downsizing their fire department and said there was a huge public outcry.
Coun. Jackson agreed there will be a public outcry here, but, “we need to take a look at it. The budgetary numbers for fire is quite high for Whitewater Region. The number of firefighters that we have, to have them trained and outfitted and all of that, is quite high for a population of what we have.”
There could be a geographic reason to keeping the stations open, but a review is required to ensure this is what’s needed, she said.
A public outcry occurs with any change, Coun. Jackson added.
Mayor Hal Johnson thanked the chief and deputy-chief for the report. He said the fire department should always be looking at ways of streamlining.
He said he brought concerns regarding the fire committee up because the committee chairperson is not being kept informed of what the fire department is doing and she needs to be kept knowledgeable of what is happening within it. Councillor Cathy Regier has since told Mayor Johnson that the problem has been rectified.
Chief Heubner said Coun. Regier is the first chair of the Protective Services Committee to visit all the fire halls.
“She’s been very pro-active,” he said.
He said in 2006, a review of the fire department was completed by former firefighter Bill Bowles and it was recommended that because of demographics, all fire stations remain open.
He also noted there are some high-end homes going up along the Ottawa River near Westmeath.
However, Coun. Jackson said that the last review was 10 years ago and it’s important to review again. She was not aware of the review that was completed and she would like to read it.
Councillor Daryl McLaughlin said the review was started in 2004 and completed in 2006. However, he said there was no recommendation brought forward from the completed review.
The report will be forward to council members.
Coun. Regier said forming a committee and reviewing the fire department is a good idea.
“It would definitely be beneficial,” she said. “At the end of the day, maybe nothing will become of it, but at least we’ll know.”
She said there will be a public uproar, but people need to realize this is only a review, nothing has been decided.
Coun. McLaughlin suggested an ad hoc committee be struck, which would mean that it’s not all of council.
Mayor Johnson thought it would be a great idea to have a committee, which may also include people from the public.
“That might avert a public outcry,” he said. “I will need a little bit of time to think about this. The committee has to be well thought out. This is a big subject, especially for people from the far reaching part of the municipality.”
Deputy-Chief Mike Moor noted it’s a 25-minute drive from Haley Station to La Passe. There is a Greenway Drive Committee near La Passe and a seniors’ committee in Westmeath, and possibly someone from there could be invited onto the committee.
In regards to firefighters responding to locked door calls, Coun. Regier said at present, the costs for 2016 total $316.
“We are not talking thousands and thousands of dollars here,” she said. “It is a service provided to the people in our municipality.”
Deputy-Chief Moore noted the total cost for locked doors was $671 in 2015.
Coun. Mackay said, “Two calls in 2014, four calls in 2015, that’s not many calls, and if you save some old people’s lives for six hundred bucks, that’s a good deal.”
Coun. Jackson said she’s not questioning the call issues.
“I’m questioning the fact, do we need all five (stations),” she said. “I’m not convinced in my own mind, just so everyone knows, whether we do or don’t. I would just like to be part of the process to go through the process and understand it all.
“I think it needs to be addressed because the fire department is quite large. I have conflicting thoughts.”
What she wants to know is if Whitewater’s fire department service is comparable to what other municipalities provide or is it too rich of a service. If it’s comparable, then it’s fine, Coun. Jackson said, adding, if the township is offering too rich of a service, we may need to cut back.
As for the chief’s comment that high-end homes are being built near Westmeath, Coun. Jackson said, “It doesn’t matter if a home is large or small, you still have to get there and it doesn’t matter to me if it’s a small home or large home. To say there are high end homes, that’s not to be taken into consideration, because everybody deserves the same service no matter what size of home they have.”
Chief Heubner said what he was referring to was not so much the type of homes being built, but that it’s becoming a built up area with more people moving there.
Coun. Regier said the mayor will strike a committee and the fire department will be reviewed.
