Yellowknife (May 05/03) - Nunavut Nunavut Fire Marshal Gerald Pickett is turning up the heat on fire departments in the territory and he's not pulling any punches.

"Fire protection services in Nunavut are below par with Third World countries. Most of the fire departments in the communities don't have the capabilities to respond to a fire," said Pickett.

Examples such as the Co-op in Gjoa Haven and the hamlet office in Repulse Bay being destroyed by fire show deficiencies in the ability of departments to respond.

"The Co-op in Gjoa Haven should have never been destroyed," said Pickett.

Nunavut communities are being faced with tremendous loss of infrastructure and human life is at risk because of what Pickett has identified as a severe lack of training, manpower and resources.

Those losses have pushed insurance rates through the roof.

A report Pickett delivered to the Nunavut Association for Municipalities during its recent annual general meeting showed insurance rates have tripled since 1999 and more than quintupled since 1994.

No department up to par

The information has sparked the development of a five-year strategy to bring fire protection services to a point Pickett said he will feel comfortable with.

"There isn't one fire department, including Iqaluit, I feel comfortable with right now," he said.

The plan will address training, staffing, enforcement, public safety and improving fire protection infrastructure.

"The ultimate goal is to minimize fire loss, first. Second, hope to have fire departments that can respond at an offensive level rather than a defensive level. And third, increase the number and calibre of maintenance inspections," said Pickett.

In the past, fire training has been conducted only once a year in most hamlets mostly due to lack of resources and distance between communities.

Pickett said they will be working with Southern fire training services to provide more frequent fire training.

Ideally, he said, the departments should be training every two weeks.

Level of skill in some places is so low that most training has to go right back to the basics, he said.

"Down to loading the hoses on the truck," he said.

For the plan to work, Pickett said, it will have to be a team effort between the hamlets, the fire departments, the territory and the federal government.

Part of that co-operation will be increased funding as the current formula funding for fire protection in Nunavut is inadequate.

The strategy is being put into place immediately and Pickett expects to see results.

"I hope I can be proud of everyone of them," he said.