Centre Wellington resident Dan Wright has presented council with a petition to ensure all volunteer firefighters are fully covered with life insurance.
That request comes on the heels of a dispute between the township’s insurance company and officials from the Elora fire station who want the widow of a firefighter paid $100,000 following the death of her husband.
Firefighters argue John Alles, who served as a firefighter for 27 years, died of a heart attack in his bedroom. They say he had been responding to a pager call at the time.
The insurance company is allegedly balking at paying. Firefighters believed they had full life insurance benefits, but the policy had changed prior to the death of Alles.
Wright told council he and another man had collected 500 signatures, asking that firefighters be fully insured for their lives 24 hours a day, seven days a week, 365 days a year.
Wright said he had two reasons for starting the petition; one personal and one on behalf of the community.
He said his own son, Matt, joined the department 20 years ago, and when he did, he assured his parents he was fully covered by insurance. Elora firefighters then had $100,000 in life insurance and when Alles died, the Elora and Fergus stations also thought they were covered for that amount.
“We were concerned when he joined at 19,” Wright said of his son.
He added, “Fire fighting is a dangerous job. That was brought home to us last summer when two firefighters were killed in Listowel.”
Wright said there is another kind of danger for firefighters. In 1987, Kitchener firefighters were called to a blaze where chemicals were involved. Within a few years, those who attended that fire were suddenly dying by fast acting cancers and leukemia, while others were having children with birth defects.
“The common denominator was they all attended that particular fire,” Wright said.
The issues from that fire nearly 25 years ago are still being fought at the Workplace Safety Insurance Board (WSIB).
Wright said full insurance coverage for calls and also the rest of the time would avoid such prolonged disagreements and aid firefighters.
He said in an interview the following day that is why Centre Wellington’s firefighters should have full insurance, not just coverage when answering a fire call.
Plus, he said, council should “make every man aware of what his coverage is. If you need to hire an expert to explain it, so be it.”
As for the 500 names he collected in a few days, Wright said, “This is only a community sampling. I’m sure I could get many more.”
Mayor Joanne Ross-Zuj thanked Wright for his presentation, and said the current insurance policy is available on the township’s website.
She added she is sure he understands that council can make no comments because of the litigation that is coming in the dispute. Wright agreed, and thanked council for allowing him to appear.
