Just over a month with the Sicamous Fire Department, the new chief has come under fire for not living in the community he serves.
At the May 22 regular meeting, council addressed a letter of concern in which writer Amy Boutwell said she was 鈥渟hocked鈥� to hear Chief Lorenzo Di Arcangelis bought a house in Salmon Arm.
鈥淚s it incumbent that the fire chief lives IN Sicamous?鈥� she asked. 鈥淎s a taxpayer, I am concerned if our paid fire chief is not available 24/7 locally 鈥� the same as our volunteers.鈥�
Boutwell added that though the department has a very capable assistant chief, she questioned why he should have to be the initial first responder outside of office hours 鈥渨hile the chief is in Salmon Arm?鈥�
Though district human resources manager Shawna Koll didn鈥檛 want to go into too much detail regarding personnel issues in a public meeting, she did say there is a command structure and rotating standby schedule in place that ensures there is a always a qualified member in charge. The department, she explained, is comprised of a deputy chief, two captains and four lieutenants, 鈥渟o there is a formal command structure with education and experience to ensure that at any incidents, there is somebody that can take command of an incident at any time.鈥�
Koll added that in larger centres, fire chiefs often act in an administrative capacity only, and don鈥檛 actually respond to calls, 鈥渂ut just for the record, our fire chief does respond to all calls.鈥�
Coun. Ian Baillie acknowledged Boutwell鈥檚 concern, saying other residents have spoken to him about having senior employees living in the community, but admitted that can be a challenge.
鈥淥bviously people don鈥檛 have to live in Sicamous, but there is a strong desire, I would say, based from constituents that they see that鈥� people are looking at that,鈥� he said. 鈥淏ut it is a small community and housing鈥檚 not always available here in Sicamous. It鈥檚 a challenge everywhere really, trying to find the right housing, the right schools and everything else.鈥�
In addition to council discussing the matter publicly, staff also sent a response to Boutwell directly.
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