Wheatland County council grilled over draft fire services bylaw

By Sharon McLeay Times Contributor

After extensive work done through FireWise Consulting Ltd.’s Fire Service Review, residents and fire-fighters turned out in force to object to Wheatland County’s fire services bylaw that was up for second reading on Aug. 14.
Those in attendance said the bylaw negated positive work done in the review to repair tensions and renew faith in the county’s dealings with the various rural fire associations and departments.
“To be honest I am a little bit miffed at the fact that all of a sudden this bylaw was presented to us,” said Rockyford Mayor Darcy Burke.
The bylaw was drafted to set minimal service provisions and cover liability, safety, resource and training changes that are needed to keep the services consistent and sustainable. Some parts of the bylaw were mandated by new government guidelines.
Most of those in attendance had no argument with the clauses that protected fire-fighters and provided coverage but were angry about the communication processes.
“You need to sit down with these associations as you did in 2013. Talk to the fire-fighters, not here and not in five minutes, and then you’re going to do the second and third reading. Talk to each of the associations,” said Cheryl Marshman, a local area farmer.
Brenda Kelleman-Tagchuk agreed.
“When you are dealing with volunteers, I think that consultation should be the first route,” said the Rosebud-area resident.
Several in attendance stated they had short notice on the meeting and did not have time to prepare their objections. Those who submitted contributions to the bylaw indicated comments weren’t considered, and many of their objections were labelled as “no action required” in the draft.
“I understand it is the risk of liability the county is facing and that it is a risk that is serious for anyone,” said Elaine Bellamy, a property owner in the county. “However, I don’t think that the fear of the consequences, if you are sued for something, is necessarily the best motivator to come up with best solutions to a situation.”
She and others in the room stated there must be some other solutions to liability concerns.
Powers given to the regional district fire chief were questioned regarding incident oversight, training and discipline. It was considered a way to ensure compliance to regulations that protected the county liability risks. Burke said he would not sign an agreement with the clause in place.
“You know, you got to earn trust and leadership. This is one of the main points with our volunteer firefighters. They are very disgruntled. This section, I’m just putting it out there, this section is just not acceptable,” said Brett Gates, Standard resident and president of the Standard RFA.
Gates said that the move calls into question the leadership and qualifications of those in command of a scene, and he questioned whether volunteer firefighters would consent to relinquish control to an outsider. He added some of the other content in the bylaw seemed to negate recognition for the current compliance to the fire service review measures and contributed to a blow to firefighter morale.
Burke concurred.
“The morale of the fire departments represented here today is horrible,” he said. “When we talk about a lack of respect … absolutely. There has not been the style of respect to these fire-fighters that should have been presented by this council. It isn’t there for the associations.”
Burke added he wouldn’t have stated this prior to reading the draft bylaw. He said the draft bylaw needed more discussion, and there also needed to be a meeting and discussion with the other municipalities in the county. He was disappointed the successes of other partnerships with the county were tarnished by the lack of communication in this instance.
It was questioned whether oversight ensures accountability and responsibility.
“You are operating a fire department currently with fire-fighters that are not properly equipped,” said Burke.
He gave examples of things currently missing in county services. Cluny fire questioned why new equipment was locked in a hall where black mould was detected and whether health concerns of the fire crews were checked. Expired bunker gear, boots and over-reliance on mutual aid contracts were stated. Burke said 29 per cent of the Carseland West calls were redirected to other services.
The regional district fire chief Judy Unsworth indicated she would have to check records to verify numbers of mutual aid responses but confirmed there were significant problems in one hall finding enough volunteer fire-fighters. She said expired gear might have been used in practise sessions but would be terminated going forward, and new boots were bought for all county fire-fighters.
“I am suggesting you clean up your own house before you ask us to clean up our house,” said Gates.
Gates said the new bylaw is too detailed and mandated, and it left nothing to negotiate in fire services agreements. He said oversight almost eliminates the need for rural fire associations and it turns them from contractors into workers. He asked if there was an ulterior agenda in the document, or conspiracies to get rid of the rural fire associations and relocate resources.
Wheatland County Reeve Glenn Koester replied that was not the case and he stated he has fought to keep rural fire associations. He promised equipment would not be moved around to meet call requirements.
Many in attendance said the contributions and fundraising done by community members led to a pride of ownership.
One part of the bylaw states assets purchased, in part or in whole by the county, would be listed with the county as owner. This would be on any equipment purchase after the date of approval on the bylaw. Residents wanted financial contributions by the community and fire associations protected in the bylaw.
“You are dealing with people who have given countless hours of their lives to their communities. You are dealing with people who have donated assets to these communities,” said Kelleman-Tagchuk.
As to the added recording and reporting, it was stated the increase in the amount of documentation and paperwork would need a part-time administrative assistant for each service to comply with the guidelines, whose wages would need to be provided by the county.
“We value the service by the each of the fire-fighters in this room. We want this to work. We also have responsibilities as council, and governing the municipality, to cover off liabilities,” said Councillor Amber Link.
She stated it wasn’t just about money, but fire-fighter safety, protecting the ratepayers and their property, as well as medical response.
“I think we’re talking about two different issues here,” said Councillor Ben Armstrong. “One is the fire service agreement and one is the fire bylaw. There is a fire bylaw currently in place now. If this one is squashed, that fire bylaw would still be in effect. The majority of what we have talked about here is in that bylaw. We have cleaned it up and taken two other bylaws and incorporated them into the same bylaw. So it’s basically the same bylaw, with a few changes, we are already working under. I think the big discussion is the fire service agreement. We have committed that once the bylaw is in place, we will be going out to all the fire associations and sitting down and working on our services with each of our individual fire departments, because you are all different. Each one of you has different training skills. Each has different equipment. We need to know what that is and those fire agreements will dictate what kind of fire service is in those areas. I don’t think there is an issue there. Council has always been willing to do that (discuss issues) and will continue to be willing to do that.”
Second reading was postponed until a meeting can be held with stakeholders to get input into changes to the bylaw and clarify communication.