N. Westside not at risk as firefighters defy travel warning, says director
A remote Okanagan community has good fire protection despite a decision by two department leaders to vacation in Mexico, the area’s political representative says.
Wayne Carson says he’s “disappointed” in the decision of North Westside Fire Department acting deputy fire chiefs Graeme Headley and Shawn Barnes to visit Mexico despite public health advisories against non-essential travel because of the COVID19 pandemic.
But Carson says that because Headley and Barnes are not full-time employees of the Central Okanagan Regional District, instead being paid on an on-call basis, they didn’t have to seek permission for their winter vacation.
“I’m kind of disappointed in anybody who does any travelling at this stage of the pandemic,” Carson said Tuesday. “But as paid on-call employees, they don’t fit into the normal employee model at the regional district.”
With the two deputy chiefs away on vacation, the North Westside Fire Department is being overseen by a paid on-call firefighter captain, regional district spokesman Bruce Smith says.
“A trained and certified captain who is also the department training officer with six years’ experience is providing interim leadership and is supported by the other department officers and the Regional District of Central Okanagan fire services manager,” Smith wrote in an email.
“There currently is a full complement of 27 paidon-call department members in the North Westside fire service area, the most we’ve had in some time,” Smith said. “They are available to respond to any fire and first medical response calls that come from their North Westside neighbours.”
Carson, who was the North Westside Fire Chief from the early 1990s until 2013 before winning election as the area’s regional director, says he’s confident the department can respond quickly and efficiently to all emergency calls.
“I have absolute confidence in the fire department that they’re going to do the job when they’re needed,” Carson said.
“The young fellow that’s in charge there, he’s got lots of training, and we’ve got good volunteers, so I’m not thinking that this is something that’s going to impact the community in any way.”
Carson said he hasn’t been contacted directly by any of his 1,400 constituents expressing concern about the current state of fire protection in the North Westside communities, which include Fintry, Westshore Estates, La Casa, and Valley of the Sun.
“There’s not upset or concern within the community about responses from the fire department,” Carson said. “Most of them, actually, are pretty defensive of the guys down south, saying, ‘’Well, hey, everybody needs a break.’”
After several years of turmoil in the ranks of the North Westside Fire Department, Headley and Barnes, both long-time volunteers, were named paid on-call interim deputy fire chiefs by the regional district in 2020.
The department has two halls, one in Killiney Beach and the other in Short’s Creek. It serves an area of 900 square kilometres with 2,500 properties.
While there are about 1,400 year-round residents in the North Westside communities, Carson estimates another 5,000 people come to stay at the area in the summer in vacation homes.
Collectively, North Westside property owners pay about $2.1 million in taxes to the regional district, Carson says. He expects a full-time fire chief will eventually be named for the area, but doesn’t know when that might happen.
When Headley and Barnes return from Mexico, Smith notes, they will have to quarantine for 14 days before they can respond to any calls.