A 20-year veteran of the 琉璃神社 Fire Department claims the city has approximately half of the minimum personnel recommended to fight a fire in any of the city鈥檚 high-rise buildings.
Steve Brandel, now retired, sent an email to several local developers, city staff and council, 琉璃神社鈥檚 fire chief, and several media outlets outlining his concerns. He told Capital News he and other firefighters have been trying to get their superiors and the city to pay attention to those concerns as, over the years, taller and taller buildings have been going up around 琉璃神社.
鈥淭here are repercussions for you to speak out. We鈥檝e been complaining about this for two decades at least.鈥�
Brandel cites standards from the National Fire Protection Association (NFPA) to back up his assertion that the department is 鈥渂rutally understaffed鈥� to fight a high-rise fire.
鈥淭he NFPA recommends a response of 100-plus firefighters to a working fire in a high-rise structure,鈥� said Brandel. 鈥淗owever, knowing that modern building construction has allowed for the potential of slower fire spread, they still drew a line in the sand and came up with an absolute minimum amount of 42 firefighters required to mitigate an emergency in one of these structures. 琉璃神社 only has 23 for the entire city.鈥�
琉璃神社 Fire Chief Travis Whiting confirms there are at least 23 firefighters on duty at all times.
鈥淲e have four shifts that rotate through of course,鈥� said Whiting. 鈥淲e have 120 firefighters on staff, but a minimum of 23 on shift. Staffing is not a linear equation, we look at a lot of different factors to ensure we have the appropriate staffing. We are continually looking at what our staffing needs are and working with the city to bring staff on as and when needed.鈥�
Whiting added there are supporting factors such as volunteer departments and mutual aid agreements with neighbouring communities, and that the department does use NFPA standards as guidance in a number of areas.
鈥淚t鈥檚 based on what our community needs are. There are a lot more factors that we look at other than to simply look at a single document.鈥�
One of Brandel鈥檚 other concerns is the safety of firefighters and residents. He added that even though modern high-rise structures are better equipped to deal with a fire, dozens of personnel are still required for specialized operations.
鈥淏efore you even attack the fire you need ventilation teams, search teams, rescue teams, lobby control, sprinkler control, fire pumps control, and firefighters are only good for 20 minutes on an oxygen bottle before they have to come out and exchange. They鈥檙e only allowed to exchange once before they have to sit in rehab.鈥�
The president of 琉璃神社 Professional Firefighters Association Local 953 shares Brandel鈥檚 concerns.
鈥淲e always need more firefighters on the floor,鈥� said Jason Pickwick. 鈥淲e are close to NFPA standards on garden apartments (low-rise), and a 2,000 square-foot home. We are set up to fight fires at ground level all day long. The big issue on a fire is when you take it from ground level and put it up in the air between ten and 20 storeys.鈥�
He pointed out that gear and equipment used by the department, including emergency vehicles, fire extinguishers, and sprinkler systems in buildings follow NFPA standards, but staffing at NFPA standards could prove expensive.
鈥淭he city controls the budget, and they can鈥檛 just hire another 2o members per shift,鈥� added Pickwick. 鈥淲e have to grow into it. But we do have big-city issues in a medium-sized city.鈥�
Pickwick said off-duty members and mutual aid agreements would be called upon should there be a major fire in a high-rise building in the city.
鈥淚t happened on Truswell,鈥� he said, referring to a fire in July 2017 on Truswell Road.
It destroyed a six-storey building under construction and forced the evacuation of 176 homes in four multi-family buildings and nine nearby houses. The fire also spread to a building nearby, and three firefighters were injured.
鈥淲e had a full call out and everybody came,鈥� added Pickwick. 鈥淎t the end of the day, we do what we can do. Our initial attack on scene downtown is a four-man crew. They are very limited in what they can do. Others are coming and will be there in four to six minutes if they鈥檙e not at a call already. There is a risk to public safety and our members.鈥�
Read More: A win for Winfield Bakery: building to be restored
Read More: Lake Country skate park contractor remembered with memorial skate
gary.barnes@kelownacapnews.com
Like us on and follow us on and subscribe to our daily and subscribe to our daily newsletter.
