Wednesday, September 15, 2010

Fire Service Needs Big Bucks

Dispatch Phase 1 but no Deputy Kate Bouey 9/15/2010 105.7 SUNFM


Vernon City Council has approved the withdrawal of more than 90-thousand dollars from reserves to start upgrading the city's Fire Dispatch Centre. This is the first part of a multi-year project in which 450-thousand dollars will be spent on a computer-aided dispatch and communication system. Although the City is going it alone after the North Okanagan Regional District decided to use Fraser Valley dispatch for emergency calls, Fire Chief Jeff Carlisle says Vernon can still sell the upgraded service to others. Carlisle expressed some disappointment with council's decision to ``delete'' the second deputy fire chief position following the sudden departure of Rick Owens. He says there will be a challenge in both operations and organization. However the city now saves 126-thousand dollars a year in salary.

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

perhaps a few more fire fighters could be hired with the savings?