Fire Rescue union representatives are speaking out against a District of Squamish council decision they say will put volunteer firefighters and public lives at risk.
The final budget adoption held Tuesday (May 12) passed a staff recommendation to eliminate one career firefighter position. The decision will create delays in Fire Rescue response, and limit the rescuers' ability to enter burning buildings, say firefighter representatives. That's because it leaves only four firefighters at the hall available for immediate response, and WCB regulations require four firefighters with airpacks on scene before anyone can enter, said Squamish Fire Rescue firefighter Russ Inouye.
"Our biggest concern is the fact that we have a man that's away sick currently. We have no idea when he's coming back," said Inouye. "If we have to wait for a volunteer to come that means that we're delaying our fire responses by the amount of time that it takes them to get here. And a high percentage of our volunteers work out of town and are unable to respond during the daytime."
Quick response is crucial to getting the fire to a safer, cooler level, and delays of even five minutes can result in firefighters entering the building at precisely the most dangerous time -during flashover.
"Anybody that gets caught in a flashover will almost certainly perish in it," said Inouye.
He said unionized firefighters in Squamish and beyond will band together to form a petition and may even bring their message door-to-door in an attempt to force council to reverse its decision.
Protective Services Committee member, Coun. Corinne Lonsdale said chief administrative officer Kim Anema brought the budget cutback recommendation to council at what councillors believed was the fire department's suggestion.
"It's my opinion as a councillor that certainly he [Anema] had a discussion with [Fire Chief] Ray Saurette, and when they looked at that whole big budget, that was one area where they obviously felt they could do that without impact."
Anema was unavailable for comment throughout the week and Saurette refused to comment on what budget cuts the department recommended.
Inouye said Saurette told him explicitly that the fire department's scaled-back budget did not include the elimination of a current position, but rather cuts to conventions, courses and training, the elimination of a summer relief position and the elimination of a request for an added full time position.
"If council had no idea that - or they're assuming that this came from Ray or our management when in fact it didn't - then I would certainly wonder where that came from," he said.
And to add insult to injury, he said, "it turns out that all those things are actually in the budget, except for the relief and new position."
Now provincial firefighter representatives have stepped to say they're dumbfounded by the municipality's dismissal of safety issues, especially in the wake of two recent fire-related deaths.
According to 6th District Vice President of the International Association of Fire Fighters (IAFF) Lorne West, provincial government reports state fire protection is on average in B.C. 10 per cent of a city budget while Squamish is approximately five per cent.
"You have to question what's the value and where are our ethics are at when we want to keep the fire department budget down to five per cent, half of what everybody else spends, and it makes the job more dangerous for the volunteers.
"I have to question why they would jeopardize firefighter safety and community safety in that way?"
Mike Hurley, president of British Columbia Professional Fire Fighters Association, agreed the cut was a strange one given the already lower-than-average per capita funding.
"It's very surprising given the low priority council seems to put on public safety up there."
Both Hurley and West suggested the timing for the lay-off is interesting given the firefighters' union is in the midst of a drawn-out contract negotiation with the district employer.
"I have to say with a jaundiced eye, it's interesting that we've been attempting to renegotiate a collective agreement up there for two and a half years, we've had no end to the stalls and the delays," said West. "We try to schedule meetings and they get cancelled. And it's just an interesting coincidence that we finally get our first significant scheduled dates of bargaining on the 21 and 22 of May, and the week before they decide they're laying somebody off."
West said there's not much the union can do, but he anticipates that firefighters will file a grievance with their union.
