Strathmore transitions 911 fire dispatch away from WADEMSA

By John Watson Local Journalism Initiative Reporter

The Town of Strathmore has voted to end their relationship with WADEMSA for the provision of local 911 fire dispatch services.

In a vote of 5-2 in favour, the town will be initiating the transition to Calgary 911 as their new provider.

“Wheatland County has since approved a resolution to transition its 911 dispatch service to Calgary 911 at their April 21 meeting, and Siksika Nation was consulted as part of this follow up work,” said Dave Sturgeon, Strathmore fire chief. “The next steps would be negotiations, legal and operational review and development of an implementation plan with partners and fire leadership.”

Prior to presenting a recommendation to council, information requested from potential providers included department service numbers, service area populations, daily on shift staff, and knowledge of employees in the local service area.

Calgary 911 currently dispatches for over 60 stations, serving a total population of over 1.7 million people.

Coun. Claude Brown spoke against the recommendation to transition, citing concern for the loss of local jobs.

“It is a very difficult decision for me. I cannot help but think of the jobs lost and I had hoped that we could delay things a little bit longer to sort of work out any risks that may be there,” he said. “In the absence of that delay, I still feel too strongly for the job losses. That is a lot of people.”

Coun. Richard Wegener suggested deferring the vote to the June 3 meeting, a motion which was ultimately defeated, which would have allowed WADEMSA to meet prior to Strathmore making its decision to separate.

Making the switch from WADEMSA, which is currently charging the town $172,000 annually for the service contract. Calgary 911 will contract with the town for approximately $68,000 annually.

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Should WADEMSA’s dispatch service fold entirely prior to the date given by the town for the cessation of their agreement, there would be no local capacity to answer 911 calls or have fire dispatch.

In such an event, contingency plans would have to be enacted in order to create a viable solution while the transition to Calgary 911 completes.

The ultimate goal for the town is to create as seamless of a transition between services as possible.

“I have full confidence in our fire chief and our CAO and I take their professional opinions very seriously considering I am a layman,” said Mayor Pat Fule. “I think there are opportunities for staff to apply for other positions that we discussed in camera … I think risk is the thing that is on my mind at the most.”

The transition is anticipated to take several months to take full effect in order to be as seamless as possible.