Fire Chief approves service goals

As Lethbridge’s population and infrastructure continue to grow, Lethbridge Fire and Emergency Services wants to ensure they can get to an emergency call quickly and with enough resources. Which is why Fire Chief Richard Hildebrand came before city council on March 27 to approve two benchmark service level goals, recommended in their recently completed Fire Master Plan.

The first is a service level of a 10-minute total emergency response time, 90 per cent of the time. That response time is currently being met by Fire and EMS, said Hildebrand.

“That becomes very important for us to ensure that we are able to get to most of these emergencies in a timely fashion and help manage them,” said Hildebrand. “The sooner we get there, the sooner we’re able to help manage emergencies.”

The second recommendation is a depth of response service level of 12-14 firefighters for a residential house fire. A minimum of four firefighters would be deployed to low-risk occupancies, with 24 firefighters responding to high-risk situations.

Hildebrand said it’s essential to get the right amount of resources on site fast enough to do the job they need to do.

“For us in the fire industry, our goal would be to stop a fire for the most part where we found it,” he said. “In order for us to do that, we need to not only get there quickly, we need to be able to get there with the right number of people and the right equipment to be able to deal with any of those situations.”

These two benchmarks reflect the National Fire Protection Association 1710 Standard. City council approved both of those service level goals.

The Fire Master Plan outlines a total of 32 recommendations, and approving these two is only the beginning, said Hildebrand.

In order to maintain those levels, additional stations and staffing will be required in the future.

“That Master Plan did make recommendations for a six station model within the city,” said Hildebrand. “That will ensure we’re able to meet that 10-minute response time in the future.”

This would include building two new fire stations — one on the south end of the westside as well as one on the north side of the city, and then either moving or replacing the aging Fire Station No. 3 on 16 Avenue South. It also includes relocating the current westside station a little further north.

The city currently has four fire stations — No. 1 on 4 Avenue South, No. 2 on Whoop-Up Drive West, No. 3 on 16 Avenue South and No. 4 on 5 Avenue North. The four-station model was developed between 1964-1980. In 2011, the No. 1 Station was replaced for a second time, moving from its old headquarters on 6 Avenue South.

Since 1980, there have been no additional fire stations, firefighting trucks or staff added, yet the city’s population has nearly doubled.

In January, Fire and EMS put forward a request for two projects to be considered for funding in the 2018-2027 Capital Improvement Program.

They include building a second westside station in 2020-22, and the replacement of Station No. 3 in 2018-21. Should it be approved, the Fire Master Plan suggests the existing building could be used instead as a backup 911 call centre and radio shop.

Finance Committee will deliberate the CIP budget in May, with final approval expected in June.