HALIFAX – Two fire stations were closed Sunday as the Halifax fire department deals with low staffing levels over the holidays.
Station 4 on Lady Hammond Road was closed for a full 24 hours, while Station 13 on King Street in Dartmouth was closed for a few hours in the morning.
It’s the third day since Christmas Eve that stations have been closed because not enough people were available to work. The union says the closures pose a public safety risk because stations further away are making up for the shortfall.
“We can’t get there as fast as we should, and if another truck is not available we just don’t have the back-up that is required,” said Jim Gates, president of the Halifax Professional Fire Fighters Association. “We may not be able to do the jobs that we’re charged with doing.”
But the department rejects the union’s position. Phil McNulty, the spokesperson for Halifax Regional Fire and Emergency Services, says surrounding stations kept the neighborhood, that usually falls within Station 4’s catchment area, covered.
“The fire response into this area will come from the adjacent stations which are located at Bayers Road and West Street,” wrote McNulty in a statement. “We are comfortable with the emergency response we will be able to provide.”
READ MORE: Low staffing levels close 3 fire stations Christmas Eve
The union says the closure of Station 4 leads to an additional four minutes for response times. Gates says if the Bayers Road station is covering the Lady Hammond Road station, it would take the trucks about seven or eight minutes to get anywhere in that area, compared with a three-minute response time from the usual station.
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In its 2014-15 business proposal, Halifax Regional Fire and Emergency Services, suggests that a five-minute response time is the department’s target.
Stations that were closed in the last few days had signs posted that read: “Closed, in an emergency call 911.”
READ MORE: Firefighters’ union decries proposal to cut Halifax fire stations
The fire department says it expects all stations to be fully staffed by Monday.
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