Firefighters call for Fredericton to review fire safety strategy
The City of Fredericton will be reviewing if local firefighters are able to get from station to location in good timing.
The evaluation comes after the Fredericton Fire Fighters' Association asked for a review earlier this year and whether changes needed to be made to the city's fire stations.
"The union has the best interest of the city at heart, and that was very clear in the presentation they made," said Coun. Stephen Chase.
"It resonated very well with the public safety and environment committee and the management at the fire department."
Chase said reviews are typically done every 10 years and the last review was completed in 2009.
Review is needed
"It's important that we have a top notch fire service, which we do. And it does require ongoing review," said Chase at Monday night's council meeting.
"There are standards by which fire service is expected to be in place after a call so we'll take all of that into account and make sure we're able to provide that high level of service that people expect of a 24/7 professional fire service."
Chase, who is also the chair of the public safety committee, said the review is needed, as Fredericton has grown and changed over the past few years.
"The city has experienced significant growth, especially on the periphery of the city," said Chase.
"Plus there's been some traffic changes that necessitate ensuring that we're able to get fire service vehicles to sites within a reasonable period of time."
He said one of the changes could mean moving the location of the city's fire stations.
The review will be done by a consultant and Chase expects the budget proposal for the review to be around $80,000. The review will start after the approval of the 2018 budget this fall.
