SUPERIOR NORTH – New qualifications proposed for firefighters are being met with opposition from some leaders in communities served by volunteer firefighters.
The concerns are twofold, the costs associated with providing training and the amount of training equates to that of a full-time job.
Almost all the communities across the Northwest rely entirely upon volunteer firefighters to keep residents and the motoring public safe, but a proposal that will see and alignment with the National Fire Protection Association, or NFPA professional standards, doesn't sit well with some north shore region leaders.
They believe the new qualifications don’t work for volunteer fire departments in smaller communities.
Schreiber Mayor Kevin Mullins said while he agrees with the concept in principle, he is concerned those requirements could drive down recruitment.
“If you are a small volunteer fire department, you already have a small group of people to draw from,” Mullins said.
“If the volunteers see that they are going to join the fire department, but they are going to spend their life training, then maybe they’re not going to want to join the fire department, because they already have to train if they are working somewhere else.”
In Greenstone, the concerns over costs are fueling doubt over the sustainability of its fire department, which consists of four stations in four communities with at a minimum 15 firefighters stationed in each. A personal equivalent of Orangeville which has six times the population of Greenstone and the tax base to fund it.
Deputy mayor of Greenstone Jamie McPherson says help is needed.
“We need to have some help in making that happen if that’s the desire of the province. Small communities can’t afford this,” McPherson said.
Nipigon Mayor Richard Harvey added another predicament these new requirements pose revolves around the personal lives of volunteer firefighters.
He says the increased service requirements such as entering burning buildings to fight fires, something Nipigon doesn't do, would mean increased time of training which can take up to several weeks of a volunteer's year.
“You have someone who is volunteering, taking time away from his or her family to be there for the community and then you are telling them they have to take holiday time from their full-time day job, they have to take that holiday time instead of spending time with their family going on vacation, they have to then go to training, so they can volunteer,” Harvey said. “That is totally not sustainable for volunteer fire departments.”
A letter from the Northwestern Ontario Municipal Association to Ontario's Solicitor General says while it supports the creation of the firefighter standards, the province should create standards specific to Ontario, and that they be cognisant of the needs of volunteer fire departments, requesting that funding for certification requirements be made available for communities that will face financial burdens and that training deadlines be extended until 2026 for 100 per cent volunteer fire departments.
Adam Riley, Northwest Newsweek
