Fire collaboration works wonders

Sharon McLeay

Times Contributor  

 

Dalum Fire Chief Albert Jensen is proud of a Fire Service Collaboration agreement negotiated between Dalum, Cluny, Rosebud and Rockyford Fire Services. It was initiated in December of 2012. 

Jensen developed the concept through a successful mutual aid agreement with Hussar. For 10 years, Hussar and Dalum receive fire alarms together, and send out both departments to all calls. (Dalum has also developed a good working agreement with the Drumheller Fire department.)

“Last winter we gained the agreement. Previously, departments had trouble coordinating services. After many meetings, we made this thing work. We broke so many barriers, it was crazy. Fire departments on their own, they love their own little areas. We overcame that,” said Jensen. “Our number one philosophy is that we work towards a common goal with one another.”

Jensen said it has improved relationships away from the job too. He said it increases the pool of talent that can be drawn from and it improves their chances of accomplishing goals.

This agreement is different from the regular fire mutual aid agreements, which all the Wheatland County Fire departments have with each other. Normally, services respond to fire callouts, assess the scene and call in extra crews under the mutual aid agreement as needed. Jensen said the collaborative agreement has all the areas in the agreement called out to structure fires at the same time, arriving shortly one after the other.

“Not everyone in the beginning was for it. Then everyone bought into it and it is getting better and better. Other services won’t call until they get on scene, and by that time, it (the fire fight) could be lost,” said Jensen.

He gave the example of a shop fire near Beiseker that happened last fall during harvest.

“Rockyford was first on scene and by the time Rockyford was out of water, Rosebud was rolling in. We were there on the edge of the County in 35 minutes. Most farmers are truckers; the county is not very wide, so an hour will get you anywhere. If you have a lot of stuff coming, you don’t have to be there in the first five minutes. That is the great part,” said Jensen.

They had an unscheduled practise in the Dalum area with five departments responding. Jensen said there were 15 trucks on scene in 15 to 28 minutes. He said it works out really well in actual situations too. They have responded to the edge of the Beiseker area three times last year. The Wheatland area is large and Jensen thinks the areas farther from population centres deserve just as good a service as those close in. The agreement has helped facilitate good service to all areas, increasing efficiency and safety.

They recently sent the Dalum pumper tanker back to Winnipeg for a refit, equipping it with a 5 inch discharge system, so that it can pump out of a dugout or canal.

“All of us we carry about 1600 feet each of 5 inch discharge hose, so between us we cover about a mile and can pump from anywhere now. We could do it because of the agreement with the other crews. We have gone from having limited water, to being able to pump up to a mile from a reservoir. We can flow about 1250 gal a minute over a mile. It takes about an hour to set up,” said Jensen. “You always hear about rural fire departments running out of water, so we addressed that too. So when there is call, immediately we all go out and now have 15,000 gallons of water on scene. 

Dalum’s rescue command truck, equipped with scene lighting, medical, rescue equipment and room to rest workers, also served the joint collaboration.

“In the last year Dalum and other services have been on scene over 24 hours. We did an all-nighter during harvest and we did another all-nighter this fall. Between Rockyford and us, these light up like a football field, we can see anywhere,” said Jensen about the strobe lights on the truck. 

Jensen believes the funding equalization and the 60/40 funding split, initiated five years ago by the County, has helped associations and departments develop.

“We equalize the funding between departments in the Capital funding. That has been a great help. There is a truck capital fund with $500,000 per year for a new vehicle. It made us all feel equal. It was the start of making things better. Previously, we have all been knocking on doors for memberships. On the truck side, anyone can come forward for a proposal,” said Jensen. “We have come far in the last five years.” 

Jensen said every area is proud of their individual halls and their ability to raise the money for their equipment. He feels fund raising gives the departments pride. He thinks services work best when they are community based and it increases their ability to fundraise. The existing service would cost a County-run service more. 

Jensen thinks there are lots of ideas out there to improve the system. For example, he would like to see an equipment exchange agreement, where County Fire Associations would have first rights to trade or bid on fire equipment up for replacement. He would also like to see all the trucks equipped with simple, standardized electronic recording and monitoring equipment, to help with record keeping, so the data would be entered on scene. Jensen believes that through cooperation, area fire services can find solutions to any problem, work together to achieve common goals, develop strong Associations and provide excellent care for Wheatland County residents.