WINNIPEG — Firefighters are first to rush into homes and buildings when emergencies break out. However, statistics show those calls account for a small portion of each shift for firefighters.
Documents obtained by Global News through a Freedom of Information request show the percentage of time each fire truck at halls around Winnipeg were “available” to respond to a call.
On average, the 43 fire trucks in the city were free 88 per cent of the time last year.
“Available” means trucks can respond to a call and aren’t currently attached to an incident; essentially they are “free.”
Station 1 on Ellen Street is the busiest in the city.
Last year’s data shows firefighters were available nearly 82 per cent of the time.
Raw data of Winnipeg firefighter availability in 2015 and 2016
In Sage Creek, the slowest hall in the city, crews spent only 5.5 per cent of their time responding to calls.
The numbers also take into account when equipment or teams are taken out of service for training or maintenance.
The city provided Global News with a list of the tasks fire crews perform when not responding to emergency calls.
- Fire and injury prevention
- Child car seat inspections (select stations)
- Fire inspections
- Fire pre-planning
- Community fire prevention partnership
- Equipment maintenance
- Station upkeep
- Training
- Fitness conditioning
Firefighters’ workload has been an issue raised at city hall year after year, especially overtime and lack of inspectors available.
In September, Winnipeg Fire Paramedic Service Chief John Lane told city council’s finance committee they needed more money to cover rising overtime costs.
Lane said the WFPS had budgeted $2.1 million for overtime costs in 2016, but that that cost was going to be $1.3 million higher.
According to a report to be presented to the finance committee Thursday, the WFPS tries to have 215 firefighters on shift at any given time, while the minimum number of firefighters per shift is 167. If there are more than 48 absences, someone must work overtime.
The report states those absences are due to a number of reasons, including holidays, sick leave, training and injuries.
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The year before that, Winnipeg’s fire chief asked the city’s finance committee for another $1.5 million to top up his department’s $1.8-million overtime budget.
Global News reached out to the firefighters union but they were not available for an interview.
They city also said they are in the midst of a study that will be used to determine “the distribution and concentration of resources.”
“The completed study will be used by the Department as a tool that will assist in determining the most effective and efficient methods for providing safe, effective, and efficient fire, rescue and medical response. Completion date for the study has yet to be determined. A tentative completion date will be determined with the consultant in the coming weeks.”