ATHABASCA – Volunteer firefighters in Athabasca County’s six fire departments are going to be getting paid on a per call basis now thanks to a new policy implemented earlier this month.
While the departments will still remain volunteer-based, regional fire chief Travis Shalapay said it was only fair that the municipality compensate the men and women who deal with everything from house fires to medical emergencies.
“This would ultimately provide for our members a greater recognition through compensation. As we move forwards with regionalization and trying to formalize the fire service here in the county, we’re asking our volunteers to give more. Let’s be frank, it’s not fair to ask for more without giving more compensation,” said Shalapay.
Councillors unanimously passed the proposed policy during their June 10 regular council meeting after asking Shalapay a few questions. Effective July 1, the volunteer first responders will be receiving fiscal compensation for their efforts, although the exact amounts still need to be ironed out at the June 26 council meeting.
“We have consulted all our neighbouring municipalities as part of a Paid-Per-Call [PPC] salary survey and there is a fairly consistent range amongst all our neighbours. Typically, PPC programs are on a grid tied to service time, experience, and training. We are looking at market average for our program,” said Shalapay in a follow-up email June 20.
The new policy, Policy 9005, replaces three existing firefighter related polices that dealt with expenses, insurance, cost recovery and payments. Many of the councillors questions were technical, relating to wording within the document, but there were some broader policy concerns addressed as well.
Shalapay said paying the volunteers for their time was the natural evolution for rural fire services, and was a step neighbouring municipalities had already taken. When looking for comparisons across the province, Athabasca County learned it was in the minority of municipalities that hadn’t already implemented a similar feature.
The policy also lays out the groundwork for how the firefighters will be compensated, including requirements, a baseline standard of expectations
“Our district fire departments have had significant input into this, specifically in the membership requirements and maintaining membership,” said Shalapay.
“We’ve had some very healthy discussion around that between different departments; some of our departments felt the minimum requirements were too low. For us though, looking at the region as a whole, we can’t just hurt ourselves to aspire to do better.”
In order to qualify for membership with a county fire department, applicants must pass a criminal record check, provide their driver’s abstract, pass a medical clearance, and go through an interview process, although there’s no guarantee of acceptance even if the requirements are all met.
“Kudos to administration. I think this policy aligns very well with council’s strategic intent and the way we’ve been talking about moving with the fire services,” said Coun. Ashtin Anderson.
