Firefighters' union says Halifax's growth has exceeded response capability

The union that represents hundreds of career firefighters in Halifax says there aren't enough fire stations in the area to meet requirements.

Halifax Professional Fire Fighters association president Brendan Meagher says the city's growth and increased traffic are slowing their response rates.

Although a new fire station is under construction on Science Park Drive, firefighters fear this will not do enough to help response times in areas like west Bedford.

"Having staff fire stations in the right locations to get to the homes around our communities and in a quick time so that we can limit the damage by the fire is important," he said.

Meagher said brush fires were the main concern in the west Bedford area two decades ago. But development has led to more structure fires.

He said a lack of fire stations in this part of the city is a problem. "Only one fire station has been built in the last decade, and although one is in the works, more are needed."

Halifax not meeting response standard

Despite efforts to strengthen the fire department, Halifax struggles to meet fire response standards, the union says.

According to Halifax Regional Fire & Emergency, Halifax only met its own response standard — 14 firefighters on scene within 11 minutes in urban areas — in 54.5 per cent of cases in 2024. This represented a 4.6 percentage point drop compared to the previous year.

Regarding this year's budget, the city increased its fire service funding to $97.9 million, a 5.2 per cent increase over the previous year. It is intended to fund 20 new firefighters, who will begin training next winter. The goal is to have them ready to help staff at the new station in west Bedford when it opens.

In a statement, Halifax Regional Municipality said it anticipates the new station on Science Park Drive will have sufficient staff to meet the needs of the area.

"We anticipate that there will be four career firefighters on duty at all times, a team of about 25 volunteer firefighters and at least one fire suppression Platoon Captain or District Chief stationed there." 

A report by HRM published in 2023 says the New Bedford West Fire Station will have four bays and house the department's administrative headquarters. Construction cost will be about $36 million.

HRM says the project is approximately 80 per cent complete. The work was expected to be completed by early 2026, but it won't be ready until at least later in the year.