Jess McDiarmid
Northern News Services
Published Friday, November 16, 2007

YELLOWKNIFE - More firefighters slated to beef up the city's emergency response capabilities in 2008 have been bumped in this year's draft budget.

In the 2007 budget, an additional two full-time firefighters were slotted to start in July next year, which would bring the total number to 22, not including the chief and three deputy chiefs.

The Yellowknife fire department battled this house fire on Latham Island in June. The city has increased fire department staff 20 per cent in the past five years. - NNSL file photo

The 2008 draft budget, which went online Nov. 14, calls for one more position in both 2009 and 2010.

"The two positions (in 2008) would have been of limited help but at least it was something," said Craig Halifax, president of the International Association of Fire Fighters local 2890. "But now they've been bumped again, which is of obvious concern for the membership."

According to the city, the positions slated for 2007 were moved back to meet personnel requirements of other city departments and to achieve balanced growth. The response time for the fire department is five minutes 90 per cent of the time, which is the city's target.

The city also increased its paid on-call staff from 14 to 20 in 2007.

But the local union has looked at staffing and call levels in comparable cities and found Yellowknife is one of the busiest fire halls in Canada, said Halifax.

Yellowknife firefighters responded to about 3,500 calls with 20 firefighters last year, said Halifax, while Strathcona, Alta., handled roughly 4,600 emergency calls with 80 members.

Turnover has increased over the past decade, said Halifax. In 2007 to date, four firefighters have left, representing 20 per cent turnover, and in 2006, there was 25 per cent turnover.

"With that type of call volume, burnout is an issue," he said. The absence of a contract and the many opportunities elsewhere also factor into firefighters leaving, he said.

Arbitration on a new contract is scheduled for next week. The previous contract expired in December 2005.

While he said he believes the fire department provides quality service, too few firefighters is a safety risk. When a platoon gets called out, more firefighters will be called but that can slow response times, said Halifax, especially at night.

"You're talking doubling, or more, on response times," he said. "That additional time could really mean a life and death situation."

Fire prevention and public education initiatives have fallen to the wayside due to lack of staff, he said.

The union president said a long-term plan for increasing staff is needed. He'd like to see eight to 12 new positions, he said.

A consultant's 2002 operational review of the fire department found it was providing adequate emergency response but was under-staffed and lacking dispatch services for a city of Yellowknife's size.

That report recommended 28 full-time firefighters for Yellowknife, or seven per shift. The following year, the city added four firefighting positions, bolstering the number to 20. But that only happened after the union stepped in and presented to council - a measure it may take again.

That staff increase is being done over time in balance with other city staffing requirements, according to the city. It began with the four new positions in 2003, a deputy chief position added in October 2006 and the two planned for 2009 and 2010; the rest will be added in the future. The city said that staff levels in the fire division have grown 20 per cent in the past five years.

Improvements to the department over the past couple years include training the division in rapid intervention, adding a deputy fire chief of employee safety and training, a complete revision of operating guidelines and increasing the size of portable water tanks.

Since 2004, an average of roughly $60,000 has been spent on training (not including overtime). In 2007, $120,000 went for training.

Halifax said on Wednesday the union hadn't had time to discuss actions it would take but going to city council was a possibility.

"With the 2008 draft budget out and the changes that have been made, it does push us a little more to that as a reality."

The union will have a clearer idea of what it will do next week, said Halifax.

No new positions for municipal enforcement are included in the draft budget. Several councillors called for another officer in response to concerns about crime and safety in the downtown.

Coun. Paul Falvo said both fire and municipal enforcement need more bodies, adding the fire department is "really under-resourced."

"We've got to catch up on that."

The draft budget adds five new full-time positions including a human resources officer, a booking clerk for community services, an equipment operator, an assistant supervisor for the arena and a facilities trades person.