Fire Department operations current and future make for themes of note from Budget night

Plans are still in motion towards one day replacing the First Avenue
Fire Hall in downtown Prince Rupert 

Fire fighting in Prince Rupert and where it's done, how it's done and what the local Department needs for equipment made for a portion of the Budget Review and conversation on Monday evening. 

With a number of proposed spending requests for the PRFD among the slide show elements for review from CFO Corinne Bomben.

When it comes to Capital or Special projects there were six items for the PRFD that were included as part of Monday's Budget presentation.  

The funding proposals would be addressed by way of a range of Grants, Borrowing and Reserves that tallied up for a total of 2 million and fifty two dollars in spending requests from the First Avenue West Fire Hall.

The salaries of the Fire Department make for some of the largest amounts from the reporting of the Statement of Financial Income Reports each year,  an accounting which is normally relayed to the public in the Spring.  

Of note from the 2024 overview of the Budget proposals,  Labour costs for the year ahead for all civic workers was noted as making for 3.97% of the 7.7 precent Tax increase proposed.  

Or $930,000 of  the 1.8 million dollar budget deficit.

The services provided by the PRFD made for some interesting commentary from Council and senior staff as part of the discussions on the night. 

The conversation spurred on in part by a question from Councillor Barry Cunningham towards the radio system replacement plans, the  Councillor asking as to how much if any response the City's Fire Department provides for the Port and port and partner related facilities.

"Do we have Service Agreements with Alta Gas and the Port and people like this, where it's pointed out in this capital project request that ... you know Pembina's on our property so we're responsible for them for firefighting and that. But when we get to Trigon and all the Port properties do we have a service agreement with them for our fire fighters.

City Manager Rob Buchan provided some background on the situation that currently exists.

"We do not, we have been in discussions, significant discussions with the Port Authority who has been liaising with their tenants  about enhancing our Fire Department's New Facility and expanded staff so that we can provide the service that is required by them. But at this point our service is very limited. 

We don't have the staff, the equipment, or the training for much of what is required out there.

There may be some office building responses that we could provide in a limited fashion, but at this point in time the answer is largely No. 

We don't provide the service and that's you know, because we don't have the resources"

Mr. Cunningham returned to a theme from council of previous years that a larger response is required by the Prince Rupert Port Authority.

"This is another example of us supplying something to the Port and getting nothing back and I think in this situation we should be talking to the Port about paying some of this expense, that's just my thought on it  ... you know  ... there's a few things that go  on and I know the Port has been working well with us on lots of  other situations.

But this another example of ... if there is a fire in any of these facilities our Fire fighters would be responding and they might not be, you know it could be a Hazmat situation they're not trained for but they're still going to go there"

That offered an opportunity for Mayor Pond to note that the Fire Chief was in attendance at the Budget session, though it was the City Manager who would offer up the response to the line of questions.

Instead the Mayor expanded on how the focus for the fire department has changed over the years and how it won't respond to incidents to which it does not have any training.

"Here's the reality of what has happened in our community, just stepping back right. 

When our fire department was created and as the community grew, we largely had fish plants on the waterfront right.

And we've turned into a very different industrial community, with  you know propane export facilities and Grain, we had the Grain terminals downtown but I'm talking about you know PRG ... the nature of the beast has changed and our fire department would not respond to situations where they're not capable either through apparatus or training"

Mr. Buchan followed up with some additional background on the ongoing nature of discussions with the PRPA, noting of one of the challenges towards those discussions.

"I think I'd like to say that we are in discussions with the PRPA, we have been looking for locations and actually had a location for a facility and so a framework for an agreement for enhanced services. 

But the cost for that particular location came in far greater than we anticipated and it was a non starter for both of us, so we're back to looking for a location. 

And the other thing that has really come up since we started this exploration with the PRPA, is the fact that our financial position, our capacity to borrow, has profoundly diminished.

A) because of interest rates and B) because of the capital that we are having to put into failing infrastructure.

So an enhanced service in the near future with the PRPA and service agreement is not going to be soon unless we find a Senior Government grant that will cover the entire amount, or in combination with PRPA.

It's something that remains important to us, but the financial reality is that we don't have the money to do this"

Returning to the original question on the Radio service program, Mx. Bomben noted that the request was to be funded by a grant.

Councillor Adey had questions related to vehicle purchases for the Fire Service, which would see one aging vehicle replaced and another repurposed towards firefighter transportation services.

One item from the Spending list makes for a nod towards the current infrastructure replacement program with a training program related to trench rescue among the items requested of Council. That a safety issue related to the work that is required in trenches on the work site.

From all of the discussion towards the future plans, there was no follow up towards what that new look for the PRFD might include, what an enhanced service agreement might look like, or what those conversations with the Port may provide towards those apparent goals.

What they did discuss on the night can be reviewed from the video archive starting at the 23 minute mark.

More notes related to the 2024 Budget Presentation can be reviewed from our archive page.