Job cuts, longer response times plague cash-strapped fire service
The peanut butter on the Calgary fire department’s toast is spread thin.
That’s the analogy fire Chief Steve Dongworth used to describe what he said was a challenging year for the service, in light of budget cuts that resulted in the loss of four medical response units, a cancelled summer recruit class and an uncertain future.
“It’s like spreading peanut butter on your toast. The less peanut butter you have, you spread it thinner and you hope you can cover the whole toast,” said Dongworth. “We’re at the place now where when we do that, inevitably, there are a few bare patches where we just can’t cover everything.”
In July, city council chopped $7.6 million from the Calgary fire department’s budget as part of its $60-million cuts package to prop up businesses affected by the downtown tax shift. That was in addition to a $1.4-million reduction earlier in 2019.
The 2020 city budget, approved in November, threatened a further cut but ultimately left the fire service untouched, other than deferring a fire station the city said isn’t immediately needed due to slower-than-expected growth.
Budget cuts have affected response times, said Dongworth, who said the fire service is averaging 13 minutes compared to an 11-minute target — something he expects will worsen as new communities crop up in Calgary.
He said this is a huge concern for public and firefighter safety, but with an “unprecedented” economic climate in Calgary, they have to adapt to the “new normal.”
“The city is struggling. The economy is certainly struggling and we are part of the city. We have to step up to the plate to help reduce the tax burden on residential and non-residential taxpayers. We get that. We’ve done that. But it’s something where the continuation of reductions over the years is starting to have a bit of a compounding effect and will certainly challenge us in the future,” said Dongworth.
Another challenge for the fire service in the past year were opioid overdose calls, which hit record numbers in July, and have since remained stable. However, he said the use of Narcan, an antidote administered to reverse the effects of an overdose, has declined as calls remain steady.
This could be a result of less-serious circumstances for patients or that Alberta Health Services had already administered the drug, Dongworth said. However, front-line emergency responders are starting to see more meth use, for which no “miracle antidote” such as Narcan can be given. The fire department received about 1,351 opioid-related calls up until November, compared with about 1,400 the previous year.
He said the biggest concern facing the department is how to plan for the new year amid funding uncertainty. While he said there is no indication there will be another budget reduction, it’s a possibility they would be foolish to overlook.
“My gut tells me something could come down the pipe that way, based on the fact the tax increase is slated to be the same next year as it is this year and I’m not seeing any signs the economy is going to improve significantly,” he said.
Part of the fire department’s new proactive, rather than reactive, approach will take the possibility of future cuts into account when it comes to hiring new recruits, for example. Dongworth said they want to have a 2020 class but are considering the possibility that they might be laid off if another budget reduction occurs.
In September, the service redistributed its entire fleet in light of the cuts, to ensure all portions of the city were being covered. It also did substantial work to increase diversity and train for potential issues such as mass shootings and a worsening of the opioid crisis.
As for the current roster, the fire chief said the province’s introduction of Bill 30 in 2018, which focuses on the protection of working Albertans, has doubled the amount of training needed for staff.
“We don’t have the capacity to get all that training done,” said Dongworth, who added they may have to consider closing stations to cover other stations whose firefighters are being trained.
“That’s disturbing because we have a model already that when a station is out, we will generally send a ladder truck or a rescue to cover that station ... but we are going to get to a place, and back to the peanut butter analogy, where we won’t have enough trucks to even do that and we’re going to have to brown out,” said Dongworth, meaning leaving stations unstaffed.
The city’s fire department has also effectively scrapped overtime, which further adds to issues.
“It’s going to be challenging making it all work,” said Dongworth.