Hastings Highlands Fire Department Station Structure Review

A: Response time is dependent on multiple factors including address, road conditions, weather, time of day, visibility of 911 sign, distance off of primary (maintained) road, etc. In some areas of the Municipality, it may take longer to reach some distant properties based upon the 3-station model, although as fire stations are replaced, this will change as new fire stations will be positioned to provide the best service coverage for the municipality, based on population, population density and risk.

A: Tax rate increases are not solely based upon fire services, but all municipal services from ball fields to bylaw enforcement, from signage to library services, from roads improvements to cemetery maintenance, etc. Even with the proposed 3-station model, we will still see fire services costs increase due to inflation, wages, renewal and replacement costs, etc. Although by limiting or “right sizing” fire services to that of the area we serve, we can reduce the size of increases we will need going forward.

A: The expected gaps in service are limited to potential increase in response time to some areas of the municipality. These service gaps will largely be mitigated as fire stations are relocated/replaced to best service the Municipality. Further, we expect these gaps to be limited as we have been operating with 3 active stations for approximately 2 years. Station #5 (Lake St. Peter) closed due to mold and structural issues in July 2022, Station #6 (Centreview Rd) has not been active due to lack of firefighters since March 2022, Station #2 (North Baptiste Lake Rd.) inactive for 10+ years due to lack of firefighters and apparatus.

A: Yes, a closure of a fire station may result in an increase in insurance rates, although this is dependent on multiple factors, one of which is the distance from an active fire station. If a property owner’s fire protection changes due to a closed hall, they could initially experience a rather large increase in insurance premium. The reasoning is that their insurance provider may have placed them with a certain insurer since they were within 5 kms for instance. However, now that they are within, say 14 kms of a firehall, that particular insurer may no longer be competitive since they use unprotected rates over 13 kms. Therefore, they would need to work with their broker to ensure they are with the insurer that provides a competitive rate in their area after there has been a change in protection.

The closure of a firehall may not necessarily mean a change in premium at all. For a number of regions in North Hastings, a policyholder may be within, say 15 kms of a couple of firehalls. (i.e., you live between two villages/hamlets). The requirement is that you are within a certain distance of a “responding firehall”. With mutual aid agreements etc., depending on the insurer, this could be a responding firehall from other townships or other areas in your municipality.

It would be the responsibility of the policy holder to contact their insurance company regarding a closure of a firehall. This could be considered a material change in risk. As a result, an insurance company could deny a claim if there was a fire claim without the insurance company being notified of the change.

A: After completing a comprehensive assessment and analysis, we confirm that the Municipality does not have the available funding capacity to deliver services meeting the legislative requirements in keeping with Council’s direction, within Bylaw 2020-012 Establishing and Regulating a Fire Department (Level of Service Bylaw) based on the existing 6-station model (Option #1). The current fire service delivery model is ineffective, inefficient, and prohibitive in terms of cost and human resources. This is largely due to the excessive number of physical fire stations throughout the Municipality. Even with this base change in service delivery, we as a Municipality will be faced with ever-increasing costs for all services that will increasingly make it difficult, if not impossible to manage fiscally without significant limitations on new programs, up to and including reductions to existing programs. This reduction can and will be completed in a way that will continue to provide acceptable levels of fire service coverage (to standard1) to our entire municipality.

A: We currently have a compliment of 31 volunteer firefighter personnel, of which 24 are active.

A: We currently operate with 6 Stations, (3 of which are currently inactive due to facility building deficiencies and staffing levels)

A: In: 2023, we responded to 95 calls

2022, we responded to 93 calls

2021, we responded to 82 calls

2020, we responded to 101 calls

2019, we responded to 71 calls

A: Multiple other options have been considered, although from the research and review of the data the only viable option for our Municipality is the 3-station model.

A: The opportunities of this project far outweigh the limitations. They include:

• Cost savings through efficiencies:
  • Reduction in physical facility assets and associated operating costs:
    • Insurance (building/property Ins.)
    • Property and building maintenance (lawn maintenance, snow removal, pest control, day-to-day maintenance and repairs)
    • Utilities (heat, hydro, telephone & data)
    • Equipment & supplies (i.e. office, garage, washrooms, etc.)
• Reduction in rolling stock assets and associated operating costs:
• Insurance (vehicle)
• Vehicle maintenance, annual safety certification, pumper testing, etc.
• Licensing, fuel, oil & consumables
• Weekly checks, washing, inventory, documentation
• Reduced working capital (long-term):
• Physical facilities
• Apparatus
• Capital equipment (i.e. SCBA, washer/extractors, dryers, etc.)
• Decrease in the level of funding required for maintaining adequate reserves for renewal
• Reduction in required/optimal number of firefighters and associated operating costs:
• PPE (bunker gear, etc.)
• Two-way radios and pagers
• Training costs
• Station meetings/practices

The limitations of this project largely remain with community perception, that consolidating stations equates to reduced coverage. This may be significantly mitigated through the development and roll-out of a comprehensive communications plan.

A: The implementation of this plan (if Option #2), post-Council approval, will be to:

• Communicate the closure of the 3 subject stations including stations #2, #5 & #6 through radio, print and social media
• Update of our HH Website, to reflect the removal of stations #2, #5 & #6 from active service
• Disconnect telephone and Internet services at station #2, #5 & #6
• Consolidate the apparatus and equipment and liquidate unnecessary surplus
• Remove fire station signage from station #2 and temporarily utilize as a storage garage
• Remove fire station signage from station #6 and maintain as a heated storage garage for back-up service apparatus and equipment that requires heated storage
• Remove all HH Fire Department equipment and apparatus from temporary fire station in the Lake St. Peter Community Centre
• Install a locked security enclosure for HH Fire Department Radio (repeater) equipment located in Lake St. Peter Community Centre
• Create capital plan to renew/replace aging apparatus that meets NFPA/FUS standards
• Create 5-year capital plan to relocate station #3 to Hwy 62 N/E of Maple Leaf as per “Hastings Highlands, Fire Service Review” authored by “Emergency Management Group” as accepted by Council for information on July 19, 2023. (Res. 326-2023) Current plan is to redevelop existing municipal property
• Create 10-year capital plan to redevelop and or relocate station #1 into close proximity to Hwy 62 in Birds Creek. Current plan is to redevelop existing municipal property

A: The available human resources pool for potential firefighters within Hastings Highlands is significantly limited and as such, it is strongly recommended to limit the physical number of stations to keep those fire stations operating within the standard of 15 firefighters per station.

Also of note, there is a severe shortage of volunteer firefighters throughout Ontario as well as across the country. Many municipalities are finding it very challenging to recruit adequate numbers to meet the base service needs.

A: The cost to train a new firefighter for the HH Fire Department is just over $13,000.00.

A: A new firefighter in Hastings Highlands requires just over 238 hours of training.

A: The annual 2024 Operating & Capital budget for the HH Fire Department is just over $1.3 M.