Fire chief concerned about deadlines, costs of new firefighter certifications
Windsor’s fire chief is wary of the timeline for proposed changes being mandated by the province to have firefighters undergo mandatory training and certification. The updates to the Fire Prevention and Protection Act of 1997 would require the 258 firefighters with the Windsor Fire and Rescue Service to undergo training based on U.S. National Fire Protection Association standards, with retesting every five years after. “There’s no mandatory certification for firefighters in the province, and there never has been,” said Windsor fire Chief Stephen Laforet, who authored a report on the issue to give city council a heads-up on the coming changes. “Departments were pretty much on their own to determine how to train their staff.”
Under the proposed legislation, certification would be mandatory for suppression firefighters, pump operators, technical rescuers, fire officers and fire educators. “The proposed legislation was open for comments until March 11, and so we provided comments on the report that went to council,” Laforet said.
“What the final details (will be) and how it shakes out with the province still remains to be determined. And if it goes through, there’s still a number of operational issues that we’ll have to sort through with the Ontario Fire Marshal’s office.”
The new rules are projected to come into effect on Jan. 1, but Laforet said he and many chiefs across the province are asking for more time.
“We’ve had some concerns, I’ve had some concerns, with the regulations as they came out, especially on timelines,” Laforet said. “It’s a rather aggressive schedule that they ’ve set forward. I think the consensus across the province is if we could delay this six months to a year, that would give us a better opportunity to define what the impact will be.”
If the legislation is not passed before the June 7 election, it is unclear if a new government would proceed with it.
The Ministry of Community Safety and Correctional Services, which oversees fire services, said unlike police and emergency medical services, there are no requirements for certification for firefighters.
The costs of training, testing and retesting remain to be determined, and some of the costs might be borne by the province. “What’s new now is this testing and certification piece, which is going to be accomplished through the Ontario Fire Marshal’s office,” Laforet said.
“This will be a partnership between the municipalities and the (marshal), and they’re going to provide some resources relative to the testing component and the online training modules as well. We just don’t have the details yet in terms of how long it will take someone from the Fire Marshal’s (office) to come down here and do the testing or if the bulk of it will
It’s a rather aggressive schedule. … If we could delay this six months to a year, that would giveusabetter opportunity.
be done online.
“These are the details that we are trying to sort through.”
The legislation would also require municipalities to do an annual community risk assessment to identify and prioritize risks to public safety to guide local fire protection services.