Budget 101 - Fire Department

You asked, and we’re ready to answer. Each Thursday, we’ll be looking at some of the themes and specific questions raised in our budget survey, which took place in November.

Today, the Fire Department is our focus. In our budget survey, 11 respondents indicated they were happy with the Fire Department’s budget; two indicated the budget was too low. Those in opposition were concerned or unclear about what kinds of calls the Fire Department responds to. We have responded to this as well as another question about emergency cooperation between local governments. Please note that questions have been edited for clarity.

What emergency co-operation/mutual support agreement do we have with the Regional District of Kitimat-Stikine?

The City of Terrace has emergency mutual aid agreements with the Regional District of Kitimat-Stikine as well as the District of Kitimat. Without these agreements, the City of Terrace Fire Department could end up being double the size it is now, with a much larger budget.

For successful firefighting strategies, it is best practice for a municipality to have a ladder truck whenever they have five or more three-storey buildings or other large buildings—in our case, like the hospital, Walmart, and Skeena Mall, to name a few. However, the City of Terrace has an agreement with the RDKS, which allows us to utilize the ladder truck that the Thornhill Fire Department has.

Our Fire Department is described as a Composite Fire Department—volunteer firefighters work alongside the paid staff during emergency calls. By supplementing the City of Terrace’s paid department, the Terrace volunteer firefighters play an integral role in helping our paid staff with maintaining emergency callout while also keeping the costs lower than a fire department without volunteer firefighters.

One notices Fire Department presence frequently when an ambulance has been called. What aspect of an ambulance call elicits the Fire Department to respond?

In the past, an automatic call system meant the Terrace Fire Department was dispatched to every ambulance call, which meant attending many incidents that did not require our presence. Under the new system, introduced in 2019, the City of Terrace Fire Department responds to all ambulance calls that deal with life-threatening events. We also respond to any call that the ambulance attendants feel that they will need our assistance on. By redefining those emergency calls, the Fire Department has dropped from doing over 900 pre-hospital calls, down to approximately 300 calls a year. This drop in pre-hospital calls has allowed the firefighters to get closer to our commercial inspection goals and other fire prevention activities, as well as our training needs, to make sure we are doing our job safely and within WorkSafe BC guidelines for providing emergency help.

Do you have other questions about this department? Post them below.

Our next installment will be after the holidays. Look for a new post on January 6, 2022.