Vernon's fire chief says he will continue to argue for changes to the fire plan, despite city council rejecting a need for them now. After months of debate, council voted 5-2 to keep the downtown firehall as a composite station, and all the others as volunteer, which will only change when council decides its warranted. Chief Jeff Carlisle says he will be bringing his recommendations back in the "near future". "I'll keep providing council with the information on how the department is performing. If those performances are not optimizing public safety, I will make recommendations that leads us towards that." Landing fire chief Ed Forslund says the plan to add paid firefighters to their hall would be expensive. "Our feeling was is its not necessary right now. If we we're getting 4 or 5 hundred calls a year, our volunteers would probably welcome a full time staff there if they were leaving their jobs three or four times a day. That's not the case. Sometimes we go a month between calls.
Councillor Patrick Nicol says it's a reasonable decision. "It just says go slow and we do value volunteers. We've already made commitments to the union membership to create two positions worth a quarter million dollars in 2009." Gilroy supported going ahead with the fire plan, and wasn't happy with delaying it. "My whole life has been about safety of the citizens and I think having a composite fire department in the Landing would give better protection for the people that live out there but if council wants to wait another 6 to 10 months, it's up to council not me. Carlisle also says the dual response plan which began in March will continue until council directs him not to do it.
1 comment:
Fantastic decision. Common Sense prevailed. Congratulations to the Councilors who voted in favor.
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