Cortes Island residents will most likely be paying a great deal more for their fire department this year. The Cortes Island Fire Department (CIFFA) is asking the SRD for about $127,000 more in 2023. CIFFA hopes to obtain $381,000 from property taxes.
Their request was received as correspondence at the Wednesday, Feb 22, meeting of the SRD Board.
Cortes Island Regional Director Mark Vonesch prefaced this submission by stating, “CIFFA has submitted a budget that is significantly larger than previous years that will cost the average landowner on Cortes approximately $250 extra per year. This increase brings the department up to similar standards as other fire departments in the region, and is the cost of running a service that will meet the newly released provincial standards that the department needs to be in compliance with by the end of the year.”
Earlier that morning, Cortes Currents asked Chris Walker, Vice President of CIFFA for an explanation.
CW: “There are two main reasons our operating budget has to be larger, increased regulation and inflation.”
“Increased regulation which affects training, our duty officers, and our Fire Chief. Every fire department in British Columbia has to meet provincial standards, even very small ones like ours. Recently, the province has come out with new training standards that fire departments must implement within the next year.”
“The Cortes Island Firefighting Association agrees with these new regulations and the higher standards, but they are significantly increasing our operating costs in terms of training and salaries. In advance of March, 2024, we will be required to have completed new training for all drivers, team leaders and incident commanders.”
“To meet the increasing training demands CIFFA proposes hiring a part-time Training Officer. In 2023, our costs for training are projected to increase 221% over last year in order to remain in compliance.”
“Our fire department has to have a Duty Officer on call 24 hours a day, who is able to respond within five minutes to any emergency. This responsibility is normally shared between the Chief and qualified senior officers. This position requires significant extra training and experience and carries great responsibility. Most volunteer fire departments offer a daily honorarium for being on call, including ours. In 2022, we increased the honorarium from a hundred to $150 per day and are now proposing to increase that payment to $200 a day. Being a duty officer has an impact on the individual’s regular employment. In recognition of this, we are working to offer an amount that makes this commitment worthwhile. We are hoping that this increase will help incentivize more members to take on the training responsibility and time commitment associated with this position.”
“We are currently seeking a new Fire Chief and we may need to increase the salary offer in the area of $90,000 a year ,or more. In order to attract a qualified applicant and in order to match the Chief’s salary being offered incomparable depart elsewhere. For comparison, a firefighter in Campbell River can now make upwards of $120,000 a year, and that’s just a firefighter.”
“Due to change in regulations, we must replace all of our breathing apparatus. This is just one example, and that is going to cost us over $100,000. Fortunately, we were able to access grant money to cover 90% of this expense, but we’ll still need extra funding for the complete purchase.”
“The new breathing apparatus requires a new compressor station, so there’s another $30,000 or $40,000. We are also required to install new ventilation and air filtration systems for both of our fire halls. These upgrades are not discretionary, and the regulators are steadily ramping up their requirements.”
“In regard to inflation on our operating costs and equipment, rising costs have affected everyone over the past few years, including the fire service. In fact, disproportionately the fire fighting costs have gone up even well beyond inflation. For example, the cost of a turnout gear has increased 12% this year alone, and our fuel costs in 2022 were almost double what we budgeted. Our capital budget also needs to increase in relation to the increased cost of goods and service.”
“The Cortes Island Firefighting Association Board, the volunteers and the officers are all Cortes residents. We are your neighbours and your coworkers. We want to avoid cost increases as much as anyone else, but firefighting is simply becoming a lot more expensive and if we want to maintain the same high quality service and maintain our accreditation, we need to spend more money.”
“We’ll be announcing a date shortly for a budget meeting, open house to be held at Hall #1 on Beasley Road.”
CC: In your letter you say that 95% of the fire department’s human resources come from volunteers. That would be including the board and the firefighters?
CW: “I believe that they were just talking about the operational side, not the governance side. We don’t keep track of how many hours we spend as a board.”
CC: What would it mean if the fire department wasn’t fully accredited?
CW: “Good question. It means that we would not be complying with the contract that we sign with the regional district. The Provincial regulations through the Office of the Fire Commissioner dictate the training standards and you must meet those training standards to be legally compliant as a fire department. Also insurers will want to be confident that you have been fully accredited. If we’re not accredited, it jeopardizes the safety of our volunteers and it jeopardizes our ability to fulfill our contract.”
CC: Do you have any idea how many times you were called out last year?
CW: “Chief McKenty would be the person to ask on that. I’m guessing it’s typically one or two callouts per week, with an increase, in the summertime obviously.”
CC: Has it ever been life threatening?
CW: “For the volunteers?”
CC: For the people you’re rescuing, volunteers too .
CW: “Car accidents, house fires and such are life-threatening events for sure and there are casualties. Every year people died.”
CC: What about last year?
CW: “Yes, there were deaths.”
CC: “How many? You said deaths?”
CW: “More than one.”
Director Vonesch praised the Cortes Fire Department before the SRD Board
MV: “I just wanted to thank the Cortes Fire Department for their hard work and clear communication. This correspondence sheds new light on the department and it’s clear they’re delivering a high quality fire service on Cortes. A couple of notes from the correspondence, the Cortes Island Fire Department is in compliance with WorkSafe BC and there are no outstanding orders.”
“Cortes Island Firefighting Association is a strong organization with a diversity of skills and experience, and provides a significant leadership role to the Cortes Island Fire Department. It’s evident that the board is committed and actively engaged in providing the necessary oversight and governance functions within the fire service protection model on Cortes Island.”
“This is coming from the audit that CIFFA had prepared. There is a capable and safely operating fire department protecting the people of Cortes Island. It is apparent that a tremendous amount of work has been done by the fire department personnel over the years to improve fire service delivery on the island and to meet the requirements as defined in the BC Fire Service minimums training standards.”
“The bulk of the training program developed and delivery has been under the stewardship of the current assistant Fire Chief Mac Diver. The time, commitment and work to develop and maintain this program is considerable and has resulted in an excellent training platform for the department.”
Chair Baker asked where Director Vonesch was getting his information.
Vonesch replied the letters, budget and associated reports they were receiving.
MV: “There was a request as part of these correspondence for the president of the board to meet with the CAO.”
This caught CAO David Leitch by surprise: “It’s unusual to make a motion to have the CAO meet with somebody.”
MV: “I’m just responding to the correspondence. They’ve made a request and I think it’s a fair request.”
Chair Mark Baker: “I don’t believe that has to be on a motion either.”
MV: “Am I allowed to make a motion?”
MB: “Give it a shot.”
MV: “I would like to make the motion that the CAO will meet with the president of CIFFA to discuss the issues raised in this correspondence at their earliest convenience.”
DL: “This matter is in closed session. I’m not sure how much I can chat with the president or what I can say to this individual. So again, I think the motion’s unusual. Happy to meet with anybody. Not exactly sure what I can share with the person.”
MV: “I think the intention is to discuss the correspondence.”
In the vote that followed rural directors supported Vonesch, but they were opposed by Campbell River, all the other municipalities and the Ka:’yu:’k’t’h’/Che:k’tles7et’h’ First Nations. The motion for David Leitch to meet with the president of CIFFA was defeated.
There will be more information about the Cortes Island Fire Department budget in the weeks to come.
Top photo credit: During a quick tour of the firehall, Fire Chief Eli McKenty points to the yellow (either interior or exterior) and red (exterior only) fire fighting gear- Photo by Roy L Hales
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