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Regional district operates on 'halfway measures' |
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Written by -- Mike Waite (fire chief, retired)
Prince George
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Wednesday, 21 May 2008 |
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It is indeed true that any specific protection area must have a minimum level of manpower and apparatus available within that area. However, additional equipment can be moved into mutual aid scenarios without jeopardizing that protection. Decisions to assist outside an area, as with a mutual aid agreement, can only be enacted upon when the manpower and apparatus requirements within that area are met. If they are not, then assistance is not available.
That provision forms a part of a mutual aid agreement.
All that aside, the directors seem to have lost track of the fact that all the outlying departments are under the jurisdiction of the regional district and that ultimately the liabilities fall on the directors. Think of the liability if life safety is involved and something could have been done, but wasn’t.
A little research would no doubt show that the number of times that more than one of the district fire departments has been involved in a fire response at the same time is minimal. Mutual aid was also enacted by the provincial government for the wildfires a few years ago and equipment was moved from all over the province to address the need in the one area. During this emergency no department, including Prince George, could refuse to assist a neighbouring department if called upon.
This district has consistently operated on halfway measures. While it is a good start to have a fire services co-ordinator, something that took years of work to get, it would have been better, more efficient and more cost-effective to regionalize the area fire service. I know there’s opposition the at idea but I believe in it. Then the mutual aid question would be a moot point. This is not a new concept and has already been done in this province. I’m sure it will be pointed out that there are problems doing this but then there are problems not doing it also.
Having been involved in the formation of two of the areas fire departments, Buckhorn (1969) and Beaverly (1984), and served as chief of both of them, I can attest to the frustration of dealing with the regional district.
-- Mike Waite (fire chief, retired)
Prince George
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Last Updated ( Wednesday, 21 May 2008 )
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