FT firefighters a consideration for the future

Times Reporter     

 

With the town continuing to slowly grow, the question of whether or not fulltime firefighters are needed has risen. Currently the Strathmore Fire Department (SFD) is fully volunteer-based, as is the case with many rural fire departments. The SFD is equipped to respond to many situations, including water rescue. 

“In the future we definitely want full-time firefighters, as the town grows we will need firefighters. As of right now we can’t afford it,” said Chief Administrative Officer for the Town Dwight Stanford. 

“In the future if the town started growing fast and we need it, then council would have to make a decision if they would do it. Right now we have talked about it a few times and basically the town feels that we can get by the way we are going for the time being, but would it be nice to have them? Of course it would.”

The cost alone to having a full-time fire department is a hard pill to swallow. You need a minimum of four firefighters to man each truck and theoretically could need to pay a minimum of 12 members to cover a 24-hour time frame. Vacation time and sick leave would also need to be considered, as well as future raises for the members. 

“When we go to full-time firemen it will be well over $2 million a year,” said Stanford. 

Municipal taxes for one year are approximately $10 million, said Strathmore’s Director of Corporate Services Mel Tiede, so if an increase of $2,000,000 in taxable spending was necessary that would raise taxes by 20 per cent. SFD Chief Muir Furzer said he concurs with what Stanford had to say on the situation.