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Budget adds two firefighters by mid-2005

Union president praises council decision

Last month Whistler firefighter John Cipolla was in Vancouver on a two-week training course, leaving only three firefighters on duty during his shift at the fire hall.

Had that shift been called to the scene of a house fire during that time, Workers Compensation Board regulations stipulate that they would have had to stand outside watching the flames grow, until a fourth firefighter arrived on scene.

"That is the dilemma that we face," said Cipolla, a career firefighter for the past six years.

"If I go to a fire in Tapley’s Farm and there’s people in the house... we won’t be able to go inside because we need four firefighters.

"But, we’re not going to wait for that. So we’re in the position that we’re going to have to make that call."

Fewer Whistler firefighters will be faced with that potential dilemma since council approved hiring two new firefighters by July 2005.

According to the draft five-year financial plan, the first firefighter will be hired in July 2004, followed by a second firefighter the following year.

By then, each shift at the fire hall will have at least four firefighters on duty at all times, allowing them to immediately enter a burning building once they get on site.

Fire Chief Bruce Hall requested the two additional firefighters in the fall as part of the supplemental budget.

"It’s extremely important in the sense that it increases the service level that we’re able to provide the residents and guests of Whistler," said Hall.

"It would be a heck of a dilemma for them (to wait outside or go in short-handed) to say the least."

The first draft of the budget had Hall’s request pushed back to 2005-2006.

That’s when the local firefighters union decided it needed to lobby council.

"It’s a life safety issue, not only for the firefighters but for the community," said Cipolla, president of the Whistler Professional Firefighters Association.

"I really think the council did a fantastic job. When they were given the information and they realized how important the issue was, they stood up and did what they needed to do."

Cipolla explained that currently there are 14 career firefighters in Whistler. Each firefighter is assigned to one of four shifts at the fire hall. That means two shifts are made up of four firefighters, with the remaining two shifts made up of three firefighters.

Each shift also has an assistant fire chief.

The problems arise when members of the smaller crews go on holiday or on courses, as Cipolla did last month, leaving behind a total crew of three.

The rules of the Workers Compensation Board dictate that four firefighters must be on scene before they enter a burning building.

One must remain at the fire truck as the pump operator, leaving two to go into the building and the fourth firefighter stays at the door, fully equipped to help with the rescue or help the firefighters if they run into trouble.

"Not only is (the four firefighters on scene) a WCB requirement but that’s also what we physically need to do to be able to do the rescue," said Cipolla.

"If I go inside and I get hurt or killed, I’ve broken the WCB requirements. So I’m not covered, (and if I’m not covered) my wife’s not covered."

If there aren’t enough firefighters on scene initially, they must wait outside for the paid on-call firefighters to arrive.

Hall said those paid on-call members of the fire department could arrive right away or take up to 10 minutes, depending on the circumstances.

Cipolla’s rough calculations point to a 10 plus-minute gap between the first truck arriving on scene and the paid on-call truck getting there.

Cipolla, who is on one of the three man crews at the fire department, has never had to make the choice of waiting outside or going into a building without proper backup, but he also never wants to be faced with that choice.

This dilemma is compounded in Whistler he said by a variety of factors.

Because of the size of the community, Cipolla said there are many times when firefighters go to a fire and at least one member of the crew knows the family or the house.

This would make the choice to wait outside all the more difficult.

A second difficulty is overcrowding in homes and the illegal nightly rentals in Whistler. If people are sleeping in attics or closets, which are not up to the fire code, firefighters could face a much bigger rescue than anticipated.

Again, this makes the choice to wait outside very difficult.

And it’s not just about fighting fires.

When Whistler firefighters arrive at the scene of an accident on the highway for example, they know they have the "golden hour" to get victims to the hospital before their chances of survival drop dramatically.

Cipolla said four firefighters could help multiple victims in a car crash much better than three.

But once council adopts the budget in the coming weeks, there will be 16 career firefighters in the department by mid-2005, bringing each shift to four firefighters as well as an assistant fire chief.

"That allows us to make immediate entry," said Hall.

While the new additions mark great progress compared to the past, Cipolla still has concerns.

When holidays and courses force a shift down to three firefighters and an assistant fire chief, the crew will be able to enter a burning building but there’s a lot of pressure on the assistant fire chief, who assumes the role of the fourth firefighter, standing at the door.

"My personal feeling is that it’s a difficult position for that assistant fire chief to be in because the house is on fire, he’s got to deal with this problem, and yet he’s got to be standing at the door, fully dressed with the air tank on and all that, as our back up," said Cipolla.

"He’s really got a lot of stress and strain on him until more firefighters get there."

For the time being however, Cipolla is pleased with the council decision to add to the firefighters. The request totals almost $110,000 in the financial plan, coming out of the supplemental budget.

Cipolla doesn’t know if his shift will get the new firefighter this summer; that decision is up to the chief to decide.

"As good as it is and as happy as we are with it, there’s still one shift that has another year of possibly having to make that choice," he said.