Firefighters in rural Yukon say their gear is in desperate state, fire marshal's office underfunded

While the numbers of community volunteers — and the demand for fire protection services — increase in the Yukon, the funding to sustain it has not, according to the Association of Yukon Fire Chiefs. 

Not every community in the Yukon has a fire department, making it important for nearby fire departments to have the proper equipment and training to be able to respond in a timely, and effective manner.

The Yukon Fire Marshal's Office funds fire departments, and programs in unincorporated communities, while supporting municipal departments throughout the territory. The fire marshal's office is funded by the Yukon government. 

Warren Zakus is president of the Association of Yukon Fire Chiefs. He said it's been over a decade since the fire marshal's office has seen a significant boost in its core funding.

"We're getting a constant denial of requests for equipment," Zakus said. "You know programs like Ember [Fire] Academy that were told they're being cancelled and then were being told they're going ahead again but there's no funding being provided for it."

Zakus said to keep the many programs going means taking money away from something else. Often it's from budgets for new equipment and trucks which is now putting some departments in a state of "crisis" as firefighters rely on their equipment to keep them safe. Zakus said every time a volunteer puts on a piece of retired, or outdated personal protection equipment, it puts their lives at risk.

"It feels to us like our association is not being taken seriously," Zakus said. 

Little action from government

Zakus said his association reached out to the minister of Community Services Richard Mostyn by letter with concerns a month ago, but still he has seen very little progress to date on addressing them.

Last month, the government announced it was increasing the honorarium volunteer firefighters in some communities will receive for their service. Zakus said it was a great gesture but really doesn't solve the bigger issues departments are facing.

"It's helpful," he said. "But that money is for the honorarium. There's still a lot of other programs that we are short on funding for."

"The majority of our people..when the honorarium increase was brought up our members were very happy about it but also very cautious. They were like 'we're happy to see this increase but not if it comes at the cost of the equipment we need."

Zakus said he wants to see the same commitment and dedication from the government toward the fire service, as the hundreds of volunteers show when it comes to serving their communities.

"No community has to have a fire department," Zakus said. "But the problem is once you decide to have one, and once the government decides to have one then they have to operate it properly. They have to equip it properly. They have to meet the OH&S regulations required."

He said looking at other offices budgets, such as EMS and Wildland Fire, the fire marshal's office budget is "extremely small."

"It feels like the fire marshal's office is the poor cousin," he said. 

Meeting to discuss needs

During Tuesday's Legislative Assembly sitting, Mostyn said his department's support for to the territory's fire service "speaks for itself"

"We undertook a review of all our fire services across the territory to make sure they were functioning well, and that review is still being rolled out as we speak," he said.

Mostyn said he received a letter prior to the one last month from the Association of Yukon Fire Chiefs and everything that was asked in that letter has been granted.

"In that letter they asked for an increase in honorarium. We just debated that in the house today," Mostyn said. "They asked for frequent changes in the staffing in the fire marshal's office. It's now fully staffed."

Mostyn said now that his office has received a second letter from the association he is committed to reviewing it and discussing possibilities of further supporting their asks.

A meeting between officials and the association is scheduled for Nov. 20.