Vancouver firefighters’ union calls on city mayor to address ‘leadership issues’

Vancouver firefighters’ union is calling on the city mayor to address public safety concerns and fire department mismanagement.

In a note released Sunday night, Vancouver Fire Fighters IAFF Local 18 claims, in 2015, 94 per cent of Vancouver fire fighters indicated they had no confidence in the leadership at Vancouver Fire & Rescue Services, prompting renewed calls to Mayor Gregor Robertson to look into the leadership issues at the department and a series of recent decisions that, the union says, will impact public safety.

The union is concerned about the decision to pull a truck from service in Kitsilano due to staffing decisions. The union claims the truck is arbitrarily being taken out of service with a lack of regard for public safety.

“Removing these firefighters from our response to emergencies puts the public and fire fighters at an unnecessary risk,” said Robert Weeks, Vancouver Fire Fighters President in the release.

The union says the incident follows the removal of an apparatus from Kerrisdale, leaving large parts of the West Side of the city empty during a large fire.

Global News has calls in to involved parties. More to come.