The Citizen, 2012-07-05, Page 25THE CITIZEN, THURSDAY, JULY 5, 2012. PAGE 25. Continued from page 1representing 40 volunteerfirefighters training 50 weeks a yearat two hours per training session at
$26.40 per hour.
“This allows us to meet the
standards,” Long said. “We have to
train every week. We know there are
going to be firefighters who can’t
attend every training session, but by
having sessions every week we’re
giving our firefighters the
opportunity to be available for
training and meet the standard.”
Long outlined the benefits to
buying North Huron’s fire service,
including the fact that the Ontario
Fire Service Curriculum requires 54
hours of fire suppression training
annually and that all 42 volunteers
receive weekly training that meets
that requirement.
He said North Huron endeavours
to keep its equipment up to date by
replacing faulty or old equipment to
ensure the highest level of safety and
stated that was the aim of council
and the fire department; to keep not
only the residents of North Huron
safe but also the firefighters. Long stated that North Huron, in2011, covered 81 per cent, or 46 of57 calls, in Morris-Turnberry with
Howick and Huron East fire
departments covering the remaining
11.
He also stated that the FDNH’s
total call volume in 2010 and 2011
included 46 and 43 calls from
Morris-Turnberry, respectively,
which constituted 35 per cent and 34
per cent of their total calls.
Long said that the budget is as low
as possible since North Huron
doesn’t want to risk the health and
livelihood of anyone involved in fire.
“We value our firefighters, citizens
and community and we value the
contracts we have with Morris-
Turnberry, [Ashfield-Colborne-
Wawanosh] ACW and Central
Huron,” he said. “We want to
provide first rate services to their
businesses and residents. We’re not
going to lower our standards.
Having a fully-equipped fire
department that meets these
standards is not easy; it takes time
and money to reach those levels.“We can’t sacrifice thefirefighters’ safety, the safety of ourresidents or the safety of your
residents,” Long said, addressing the
representatives from Morris-
Turnberry. “We can’t slash the fire
budget, it would be dangerous and
irresponsible to do.”
North Huron’s presentation
indicated that council would be
willing to look at a boundary review
to make sure the closest fire station
is responding because, in the
Turnberry Ward, the closest station
isn’t always responding. Long stated
that this expanded coverage area
would not carry any additional cost.
North Huron also offered to
initiate an “Alarmed For Life”
smoke alarm campaign on behalf of
Morris-Turnberry. The FDNH
carried out the campaign in North
Huron, visiting homes and replacing
batteries and installing smoke
detectors where they needed to be.
“This provides dramatically
increased safety for residents,” Long
said. “We estimate that, for a
Morris-Turnberry Fire Departmentto conduct this program would cost$28,878 but we will provide this atno additional cost.”
North Huron would also,
according to Long, be willing to
provide public education and fire
prevention to Morris-Turnberry,
which North Huron estimated would
save Morris-Turnberry between
$18,000 and $20,000 annually.
The end of the presentation
featured a proposed fire agreement
between North Huron and Morris-
Turnberry that would last five years
starting January 2014 with the only
increase being inflation.
Gowing shared Morris-
Turnberry’s stance, starting off by
stating that what North Huron had
presented was a “positive sign.”
He said that, while he appreciated
what had been shown, he wouldn’t
make a lot of comments since it had
just been presented and Morris-
Turnberry councillors would need to
discuss what they had seen before
making remarks.
Gowing said that there were
several reasons that Morris-Turnberry was looking at changingtheir fire protection agreement andreferenced a letter from North Huron
in 2009 stating they could “explore
other opportunities for future years.”
He stated that Morris-Turnberry
Council is concerned that it has no
ownership or even partial ownership
of the fire department, and wanted
assurances that, in the event of a
large scale emergency there will be
prompt emergency service available.
They were also wary of the fact that
they have no control of the operation
of the FDNH and have no control of
costs, they are not eligible for
mutual aid due to not having their
own fire station and that the cost for
Morris-Turnberry’s fire protection
from North Huron has increased 256
per cent as of 2012 from 2009
despite a reduced coverage area.
Gowing said that the increase was
“insurmountable” and stated that,
after lengthy discussion with the
Ontario Fire Marshal’s Office, they
found that most fire departments in
Long says North Huron won’t sacrifice safety
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