BONNYVILLE - Describing 2023 as being both a “busy and eventful” year for the Bonnyville Regional Fire Authority (BRFA), regional fire chief Dan Heney provided the councils of the Town of Bonnyville and MD of Bonnyville with an annual report last week.
Topping the list for significant changes to the BRFA’s operations last year included the fire authority taking over the 911 Public Safety Answering Point (PSAP) for the City of Cold Lake and also assuming responsibility as the dispatch centre for Cold Lake Fire & Rescue and Cold Lake Enforcement (CPO). The BFRA has also signed a dispatch contract with Kehewin First nation.
Two MD of Bonnyville pumpers were added to the BFRA’s fleet, one based out of the Bonnyville fire station and the second out of LaCorey.
Heney said the first two phases of renovations to the former Kopala building on the outskirts of Bonnyville - which will become home to the BFRA - are on track.
“I’m pleased to be able to tell you that it looks like we are still on schedule for the interior renovations, they should be done the first or second week of April. The remainder of the Phase 2 outside work will continue to be done once the snow and ice has left us,” Heney said during his presentation to the MD council, Tuesday.
In response to a question from Coun. Dana Swigart seeking more details as to when the new facility should be up and running, Heney said he expects to move administration in 911 to the facility likely in June and the EMS would not relocate to the new facility until the paving around the centre is complete, which he hopes would be done by end of year. In early 2025, once the new pavement has a chance to settle to accommodate the heavier equipment, Station 5 firefighters would relocate to the facility.
On the question of access to the site, Heney said it is likely the BFRA will look to have access to Hwy. 28 westbound only in its application to the Province, and for any calls to the east, emergency responders would use the township road and existing intersection to get onto Highway 28. All returning vehicles would take the regular intersection.
Heney presented an overview of the calls for fire service in 2023 compared to the previous year, with last year recording 596 calls compared to 698 the previous year.
“On the fire side, we are seeing a reduction in total fires,” Heney said in relation to the number of calls for service regarding structure fires and wildland fires in 2023 (82 calls) compared to 2022 (105 calls). However, he said, “I would suggest that even though the number of fires was down from 2022 to 2023, I would say the magnitude of the fires was probably increased particularly when you take a look at the hours of activity where the emergency response hours in 2022 was just over 9,100 and there was over 9,500 hours in 2023.”
Heney said the dedication of the members is also reflected in the significant increase in training hours, public education, and fire prevention efforts in 2023. “For a total of just under 18,000 (hours) – it probably wouldn’t take you very long to run the formula as to how many FTE equivalents 18,000 hours accounts for. That’s a lot of volunteer time coming out of volunteer firefighters across all of our seven stations.”
EMS continues to see an increase in emergency calls in the region. Heney said with a decrease in inter-facility transfers, the system is getting “a little bit smoother” but he said that also does speak to the shortage of paramedics in Alberta and the inability to fully staff all three of the BFRA units all of the time.
“If we’re missing cars, we’re not picking up transfers but that means they are available for emergency calls.”
A significant jump in calls for service through the 911 centre jumped to 72,247 compared to the 2022 total of 59,312 also results in jump in dispatch event through the centre – 9,194 in 2023 versus 4,569 in 2022.
Coun. Ben Fadeyiw asked how the BFRA was preparing for what is expected to be a “super crispy dry season.”
Heney said the department is making sure all the wildland equipment is ready to go and works hand in hand with the provincial Forestry department.
“We pay attention to their forecasts; we pay attention to what they are doing in terms of controlling risk in the forest protection area and then we will consistently bring that back to the MD to make sure that we’re matching what they are doing even though the risk is different outside of the forest protection area.”
Town discussions
During discussions with Town of Bonnyville council, Coun. Kayla Blanchette asked Heney about challenges around the retention and recruitment of volunteer firefighters. Heney acknowledged it is an ongoing challenge, and one that Bonnyville struggles with more than other areas - offering St. Paul and Cold Lake as example of communities that seem to have stable memberships.
He noted that he plans to brings some suggestions forward at a later date to hopefully help attract and retain volunteers.
Speaking to a lack of staffing on the ambulance side, council asked who picks up the slack when an ambulance is not able to be staffed. Heney noted that it is a regional effort, and usually there is someone in either St. Paul, Cold Lake or even Lac La Biche that can help out in those situations.
Bonnyville reciprocates when it can. For example, in 2023, a Bonnyville ambulance was dispatched to Lac La Biche when they were short.
