BARRHEAD-It has been something at least two successive fire chiefs have been working towards, a full-roster of firefighters — and for the first time in recent memory, they have it.
The Barrhead Regional Fire Services (BRFS) now has 40 regular members.
Or rather they have 41 until the end of January, fire chief Gary Hove told County of Barrhead councillors during their Dec. 1 meeting, they have one extra member. The maximum number of firefighters the department can have is 40.
For the past five years, the department's membership has hovered in the low to mid-20s. However, in the last two years, BRFS' ranks have been steadily on the rise.
Hove said having a full roster gives the department more options when they respond to a call.
Like most small communities, the BRFS is a volunteer paid-on-call fire service, which means the vast majority of firefighters have another job in which they receive the bulk of their income. This means the number of available firefighters available at any given moment varies depending on their job restrictions.
Reeve Doug Drozd asked how many members came from each of the Barrhead municipalities.
"It is pretty close to 50/50," Hove said, noting there were slightly more members from the county.
For most call-outs, firefighters from the town start the response, he said, adding that if needed, they are joined by additional members that live or work in the county.
"How we have it set up, is that if you live in the county and the emergency is on your side of the county, you go directly to the scene. If you live on the other side or have to go through town, they go directly to the fire hall," Hove said.
Members who live or work in the county are requested to have their bunker gear close at hand.
If a firefighter who responds directly arrives on the scene of an emergency, they generally take an observatory role until the main fire crew arrives.
"We ask them to stay in their vehicle and assess the situation because even on a medical call a single person without support could be put in harm's way," Hove said.
He added that they often respond to calls where the RCMP have to clear or ensure the scene is safe before other emergency agencies are allowed in.
"This is especially true in a report of a suicide or possible suicide attempt," Hove said. "The RCMP will go in first, talk to the individual and make sure it is safe to give them medical care."
Third-quarter report
From July to September the BRFS responded to 65 calls, split almost evenly between the Barrhead municipalities. The department responded to 34 calls in the county for a total response time of 2,753 minutes.
Firefighters also responded to 31 calls in the Town of Barrhead, for a total response time of 891 minutes.
Hove noted it isn't uncommon for the total number of minutes or person-hours spent in the county to be noticeably larger than the town because of the distances involved and added travel time.
The category firefighters responded to the most in both municipalities were medical or ambulance assists at 15 apiece. In the county wildland or grass fires was the next largest category with nine responses, followed by fire response (structure and vehicle fires) at five, and motor vehicle collisions and alarm investigations at two. For the town, the second largest category was alarm investigations at seven, followed by fire response (structure and vehicle fires) and wildland or grass fires at five and two respectively.
Hove noted the department recently took delivery of their new wildland attack vehicle. BRFS expects to take delivery of a new fire engine to replace Engine 3 before the New Year.
"Construction is coming along nicely," he said, adding he doesn't know the exact completion date but it should be in the next few weeks.
Hove's bigger concern is due to coronavirus restrictions it might be difficult to inspect the vehicle before taking final delivery.
"I don't know what the restrictions will be in Manitoba at the time it is completed. Right now their restrictions are more stringent than Alberta's and are allowing only essential shopping," he said.
Barry Kerton, TownandCountryToday.com
