Charlottetown would be 'better served' with 4 firefighters at 1st response, says union

The union that represents professional firefighters in P.E.I.'s capital city is joining a campaign that calls for a minimum of four people per truck to initially respond in emergency situations.

Under the current guidelines, if there are less than four personnel who are first at the scene, firefighters have to wait for volunteers to arrive before they can enter a building.

James Pickard, president of the Charlottetown Professional Firefighters Association, said four is the safest number for a first response.

"Currently in Charlottetown, we have three firefighters on that apparatus," he said.

"When we get on scene right now we're expected to wait there for a volunteer to come, and hopefully they come soon, but we think it would be better served for Charlottetown to have four people ready to work right away."

Pickard said it is difficult not being able to fully do his job while waiting for more members to arrive.

"We're doing a little bit more than just watching, but we are not able to do that interior attack right off the bat. That's very difficult," he said. 

"Especially when you make your career about being good at putting out fires, [the] last thing you want to do is not put out the fires and stand around and wait."

The four-person guideline applies to career fire departments, where at least half of the firefighters are paid staff.

Charlottetown fire Chief Tim Mamye said his department doesn't fall under those standards because it's considered a composite department — most of the firefighters are volunteers with only a few paid staff. 

"What they're referencing is a standard from the National Fire [Protection] Association... which is in regards to how career fire departments put their operations together and deploy for fires, emergencies and special operations," he said. 

"We're what's called a composite department or a volunteer department.... The response protocol for that, there is no staffing minimum, there's staffing standards we meet and exceed in many places."

4 Firefighters 4 Your Safety

Pickard said he doesn't want the rules to be changed or for Charlottetown to become a career department, but he does think the city should hire more professional firefighters to help it meet the four-person standard.

The association is part of an Atlantic-wide campaign called 4 Firefighters 4 Your Safety, which is aimed at improving responses. 

"We would like to see them move a little bit beyond that minimum standard for the volunteer-based response. Again, this is not about career versus volunteer," Pickard said.

"I think every one of our career firefighters was a volunteer at one point, so this really isn't about replacing volunteers or doing their work… this is about getting safe staffing levels on the first responding apparatus."

Mamye said he wants Islanders to know that safety is top priority for the Charlottetown department.

"The comments that were made by the union publicly and on Facebook and shared around state that leadership or management in the department doesn't prioritize safety, and that is our number one priority," he said. 

"I want the public to know that they are in no way shape or form in danger.... Staffing isn't the be-all and end-all for every community."