WOODLANDS - Woodlands County councillors instructed the administration to negotiate with the Town of Whitecourt Fire Department to decide precisely what types of fire responses its aerial pumper truck can respond to within their borders.
If they cannot agree, the issue will go to the Town of Whitecourt/Woodlands County Joint Liaison Committee for discussion.
Woodland County Whitecourt West Coun. John Burrows made the pair of motions during the Jan. 31 council meeting.
Protective services manager Sheldon Schoepp, as part of the Inter-municipal Collaborative Framework (ICF) with the town, the county must provide input on how the vehicle is used within the county's borders by Jan. 1 annually.
He noted that under the agreement, the county could opt to give the Whitecourt Fire Department chief complete discretion on when and how to use the pumper truck when responding to calls in Woodlands County, choose not to allow the truck's use in its borders; or select or preauthorize the types of responses the aerial truck responds to.
ICF agreements are established between neighbouring municipalities on various issues that impact both communities, such as recreation, shared water and sewers, and joint land planning.
These agreements were made mandatory under the province's revised Municipal Government Act (MGA).
In February 2022, after several difficulties coming to an agreement, the municipalities signed off on an arbitrator-reached deal.
If the county does not submit the letter by the deadline, the Whitecourt Whitecourt Fire Department chief will use the pumper truck as he deems required and bill the county for each hour of operation. Currently, the hourly rate for the pumper truck is $630.
Schoepp added that the pumper truck is singled out because it is a highly specialized piece of equipment with limited uses in Woodlands County.
"[We] don't have any residential buildings or structures that are three stories or 35 feet in height," he said, adding the county also doesn't have any fire hydrants with a basic water flow of 3,000 litres per minute. "The unit would sit on the scene with no operational capabilities because it had no water."
Schoepp also said the size and turning capability of the pumper truck also hampered its useability in the county, as the municipality has several one-way-in, one-way-out roads, and that the Woodlands County and Whitecourt fire departments had other equipment and firefighting and rescue methods that could accomplish the same results.
Reeve Dave Kusch agreed with Schoepp's assessment, saying the unit was too large to be of use in the vast majority of responses in the county.
"Even some of the fires the town has responded with [the pumper truck], it is essentially used for putting hours on it and running staff on it ... so I wouldn't be in favour of them having free and using it whenever [they deem in necessary]", he said.
However, Kusch said he had spoken to a few industrial ratepayers who believed they had the necessary water infrastructure, adding that they requested the county make the pumper truck available if there was a fire at their facility.
"Could we limit its use to fires at any two-story commercial fires?" he asked.
Coun. Jeremy Wilhelm agreed, saying that under the arbitrated agreement, it allows the county to limit the responses the pumper truck responds to in Woodlands County, asking if, at the administration level, the municipalities had such discussions.
Schoepp said they had an initial discussion some time ago, saying the town's was that the unit would go to any call the Whitecourt Fire Department deemed necessary.
"[Whitecourt's CAO later followed up] saying they did not want the unit in the county footprint," he said.
Coun. Alan Deane suggested they take the subject to the joint liaison committee, saying the fire chiefs from the Woodlands County and Town of Whitecourt fire departments should be able to develop a list of responses the pumper truck should respond to.
"You would think it should be a cut-and-dry conversation, but if not, I want to know why," he said.
Burrows asked who determined the level of fire service in the county.
Schoepp said that under the arbitrated agreement, it fell to the county in conversation with the Whitecourt fire chief.
"So, it comes from us," he said.
On Dec. 5, the Schoepp sent a letter to the Whitecourt Fire Department chief Brian Wynn stating the county did not want the town to respond to utilize the pumper truck for any responses in its borders in 2024.
Burrows said he was surprised to have seen the letter, adding he had been under the impression the apparatus would be available to respond to industrial sites in the county if required.
Fort Assiniboine/Timeu Coun. Devin Williams, who is also the fire chief for the Hamlet of Fort Assiniboine, interjected that industrial sites would call for any additional resources on their own, bypassing the county.
"Every [industrial site] has a firefighting plan, and none include local firefighters because most are not industrially trained," he said, adding if there were a fire at an industrial plant in Woodlands County, it would be up to the Whitecourt Fire Department, if they respond and with what. "They [Whitecourt] can make a deal to go to that because we don't control industrial sites. Woodlands County fire departments won't respond to an oil well head-on fire. They will stand outside the gates and make sure it doesn't go anywhere, no matter what truck they have."
Williams said the only exception would be the West Fraser Lumber Mill outside of Blue Ridge, noting even then, municipal fire departments would be taking instruction from the company's fire marshal.
However, he suggested that it is a good idea to have that written into any agreement with the town that they need to deal directly with the industrial sites to avoid any confusion.
"And if on the offhanded event that [the pumper truck is needed at an event in the county], perhaps we write it into an agreement that it can be called for as part of a mutual aid agreement."
