WELLINGTON NORTH – Mount Forest and Arthur residents will be better served as the Wellington North Fire Services works to modernize its equipment and software.
Council approved the purchase of three pieces of software: a tablet-based dispatching platform, digital inventory and truck check software and a learning management system for training.
Grant funding from the Office of the Fire Marshal helped purchase tablets for inventory and yet-to-be implemented dispatch software, according to fire services director Chris Harrow. He estimates the software cost at around $24,000.
Every piece of equipment at Wellington North’s two stations and Minto’s three stations is now being digitally inventoried.
“It’s taken a lot longer than we thought,” said Harrow, who also oversees Minto Fire.
“Any stuff that you have to do preventative maintenance on gets barcoded and then we can scan with the tablets,” Harrow said.
The software will also help fire fighters with truck checks, identifying which items should be in which location on what truck.
New life-saving equipment purchased
The department received new extrication equipment from the company Code 4 Rescue in August.
“The new extrication tools are battery powered, which saves us a great deal of set up time at an extrication call,” Harrow said in a report provided to Wellington North council.
A $5,000 donation from Mount Forest-based T.D. Smith Transport helped to fund the purchase of the extrication equipment.
New bunker gear has also been delivered for firefighters. Purchased along with Minto Fire, Harrow said bundling the order resulted in cost savings.
“We [are] currently about halfway through sending existing gear away and (sic) to be certified,” Harrow’s report states. The certification is a yearly requirement.
Also purchased, thanks to a $7,500 grant from Trillium Mutual Insurance awarded to both Wellington North and Minto services, are CPR mannequins to help in training.
The training equipment was purchased in August and has yet to arrive, but the department’s approximately 40 volunteer firefighters will be ready to use the mannequins now that in-person training has resumed at all stations.
“A lot of it’s just to bring both departments forward and catch up to where we should be,” Harrow said.
Part of catching up and moving forward also involves the development of the first fire master plan for the department, expected in the first quarter of 2022.
