CLYDE - Village of Clyde councillors are on track to defining the community’s fire protection needs, with a new document which outlinesthe minimum level of service requirements.
At their Dec. 9 meeting, councillors were presented with a support document prepared by Transitional Solutions Inc. which states that emergency response should include a minimum of three appropriately trained staff responding in the mini-pumper within 30 minutes of a call, 85 per cent of the time.
“It is designed as an absolute minimum required level of service that the fire department should attempt to meet or exceed,” reads the draft, further clarifying that it is a starting point only.
The level of service information is part of a general review of the village’s fire services and was requested by council at the Nov. 4 meeting, when Coun. Doug Nyal wanted to know how the village could know what it needed in terms of fire services and provide that information to a potential contractor.
The document is currently in the hands of fire chief James Hoetmer and deputy fire chief Perry Lumayko for review, and council refrained from taking any action until they hear from them at the Dec. 16 committee of the whole meeting.
Village CAO Ron Cust explained that the document only covers the village’s needs and was designed with that specific community in mind. One of the backend pieces of research was the Alberta Fire Chiefs Association risk assessment tool, which determined that overall, the village is considered a moderate risk in part because of occupancies like Eastview Manor, Eleanor Hall School and the District Agricultural Society Hall — all are high-density buildings.
The level of service was also based on Occupational Health and Safety Standards, National Fire Protection Association standards and best practices.
Within the 30 minute time-frame for response are included time to evaluate the call, time to dispatch the call, time to report to the fire station, time to dress in the equipment and respond with apparatus, and time to travel to the fire or event.
Accompanying the recommendation is an explanation (industry-standard) of the progression of a fire in a structure without fire sprinklers. It shows that between minutes three and five after the detection of a fire, there is an event called flashover, when the fire grows exponentially, and after which it is unrestricted.
Listed in the appendix are the compulsory events to which the village’s fire services must respond to, including a minimum staff requirement and the required skills.
Exterior fires on common structures require a minimum of three trained firefighters, although the optimal number would be four or more.
In light of the Dec. 8 trailer fire which left one man dead, administration and council had actual numbers to compare to the recommendations made in the level of service document.
Cust told councillors that the level of service in the document matches what happened that day. Including retired firefighters, 23 people responded to the scene within the time frame outlined in the document. At the time, chief Hoetmer said the fire department received the call around 9:30 a.m. and were on scene within 15 minutes.
With assistance from the Busby and Pickardville fire departments, two command vehicles were on scene, as well as the village’s mini-pumper, three other pumpers (including Westlock County’s), and a tender truck.
“We had the fire pumps that were turned on to support, not for the waterflow of the fire, we have sufficient to do that, but to support the rest of the community as they’re fighting the fire and not impact them,” added Cust.
Wildland or grassland fires are also included, with the same minimum requirements, since there are significant grass areas within the village.
Response to fire and carbon monoxide alarms is similar to exterior structure fires, but there was a concern regarding false alarms.
“If you have a fire alarm and it goes off, or a smoke detector that’s failed … when you start responding on a regular basis to the same place, we’ve got to deal with it,” said Cust, referencing a bylaw which allows for billing people in those scenarios for the services provided.
When it comes to motor vehicle collisions, the village does have a stretch of highway within its boundaries and firefighters are typically the first to respond. In this scenario, the staff requirement is also three.
However, the likelihood of a substantial accident within the village’s jurisdiction is small, said Cust. Their assistance might be required in adjacent areas as support crews, doing traffic for example — this is listed as an optional service.
Firefighters also provide medical co-assistance; in these events, no less than two staff should respond.
Initial training for recruits, apparatus operations (like staff’s competency in using equipment, testing and inspection of that equipment), and a clearly defined leadership structure, with appropriate training, are all listed as compulsory services.
Interior structural fire suppression, vehicle extrication, vehicle firefighting, traffic control and public education are all listed as optional services.
Cust clarified that in the case of an MVC that requires extrication, a village firefighter might be required to provide medical support in the form of attending to the patient while other crews arrive on scene.
The level of service document, while part of a larger review of fire services as they exist in the Village of Clyde, will also inform council, should they pass it at their next meeting, as they move forward in intermunicipal collaboration framework discussions with Westlock County.
