A number of Okanagan Landing volunteer firefighters plan to quit, rather than accept a city decision to merge them with the Vernon department. The group's president, Todd Montgomery, says a majority of their 28 members are upset and have said they will leave. He calls council's in-camera decision last month shameful, and a slap in the face. "We do not want to be a part of the new model. We don't support it, and we'd like to see city council renegotiate a contract with us." Montgomery says they've basically been fired without any chance of speaking to council directly. "We've been lied to before, and in this situation we feel like we've been lied to again. We feel council was given one very narrow viewpoint, and we feel they've made a very poor and uninformed decision." Montgomery wonders what the city's contingency plan will be, and what it will cost. The Okanagan Landing volunteer members held a meeting to discuss their concerns Tuesday. Council decided last month not to renew the Landing contract once it expires in January, in order to bring all firefighters together as one cohesive firefighting team. It stated the benefits would also include "a reduction in overall costs while providing skilled, well trained firefighters to deliver the best emergency response to all residents." Calls for comment from Vernon's mayor and fire chief have so far not been returned.
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