ABERFOYLE – Puslinch council has updated its regulatory bylaw for Puslinch Fire and Rescue Services.
The decision came on Feb. 20 following a report by Fire Chief Luis Gomes.
The update reflects the township’s current service levels and legislative requirements.
The updated bylaw includes new performance objectives based on the township’s master fire plan recommendations which outline response times, initial response deployment, depth of response, and an organizational chart to reflect the current organizational structure.
Councillor Matthew Bulmer initially questioned aspects of the bylaw regarding qualifications of the firefighters.
Bulmer stated the report notes one of the qualifications would be for firefighters to live within the township or within close proximity.
He recalled in a previous job posting, that proximity was cited as living/workingwithin seven kilometres of the fire hall.
Bulmer asked how Gomes defined close proximity.
Gomes responded that initially, the department would seek out qualified candidates within a five-kilometre radius.
“If there are not enough applicants within that radius, we expand beyond that radius.”
Councillor Ken Roth was confused what the actual changes were.
He asked if the response time had changed.
Gomes said the response time objectives mimic those listed within the fire master plan.
He said those are objectives the department would strive towards.
Gomes said that previously response times were not even listed within the bylaw.
Roth asked if the township would incur any liability by not meeting response time objectives.
Gomes said he did not foresee that situation creating a liability.
“This is something we are striving to do.”
Another aspect which raised concern for Roth was a section allowing the department to recruit others at the scene of an incident the department is responding to.
“I’d have concerns if we called in a bystander to grab a hose or to help knock down a building. Have we got insurance for that.”
Gomes clarified that making use of civilians on scene would never be to take over fire suppression duties.
He stated this would be more related to issues such as assisting with crowd control … until such time as the department had resources available.
“It would never be a task which would jeopardize a civilian’s safety.”
Councillor Jessica Goyda believed it made sense to adopt response time objectives, but added it can be a challenge to be able to respond in 14 minutes to some parts of the township.
She asked Gomes to outline some of the challenges in meeting response time objectives.
Gomes said, “our biggest obstacle is geography in the township.”
While the fire station is centrally located, he said response times are increased in the west and east ends
of the township because of that distance from the fire hall.
He noted when the fire master plan was first published response times were closer to 17 to 19 minutes.
One of the strategies implemented included the township’s fire agreement with Cambridge regarding fire services in the southwest portion of Puslinch.
Other strategies could include a satellite station – which has been discussed by council, Gomes said.
Another option might be to have two stations to replace a central station, he noted.
Mayor James Seeley asked if there were consequences to not meeting response times objectives.
Gomes indicated he was uncertain there were consequences.
He believed it unlikely response times could be used against the township as service levels are based upon available resources.
“We all know council will do the best they can to provide the best possible services to our residents.”
Council adopted the report and later passed the bylaw update.
