A retired Kelowna, B.C., firefighter is raising the alarm, saying the Kelowna Fire Department is seriously undermanned, especially for how fast the city is growing.
“We have just enough equipment in the fire department to battle a three-storey fire, that’s it,” said Steve Brandel.
“All of a sudden, we have these large towers going up and they are classed as high-risk buildings. These high-risk buildings need a minimum of 43 firefighters to combat fires in these structures.”
The requirements retired firefighter Steve Brandel is pointing to are standards outlined by the National Fire Protection Association (NFPA), an international non-profit organization.
According to the NFPA, 43 firefighters are the minimum amount needed to fight a fire in a 23-metre or taller building.
The Kelowna Fire Department has 23 firefighters on each shift for the entire city.
“With the amount of firefighters we have, there will be no rescue crew, there will be no ventilation crew (for high-rise fires). The fire hall 2 has four firefighters. They service the entire downtown area people. One is a captain and one is a driver, and he can’t even leave the truck,” said Brandel.
Kelowna fire chief Travis Whiting told Global News that he strongly believes his department can handle any fire in the city.
“Can we provide a safe level of service for this community with the crews we have? Of course we can, I feel confident in that and I feel confident in our crews. Do we continuously look as to whether we need to grow the department along with the city? For sure, and we are looking at that,” said Whiting.
While Whiting admits 23 firefighters may not be enough to fight some fires, he said the department has the capabilities to call for help when the need arises.
“Certainly, if we end up with a larger fire, we don’t rely just simply on the crews on duty at the time,” said Whiting.
“We bring in mutual aid partners from surrounding departments, we call back and utilize our own paid on-call volunteers within the city of Kelowna, we can muster well beyond the 23 we have (on duty).”
The Kelowna Professional Firefighters Association, the local firefighter union, echoes Brandel’s concerns.
It also believes more firefighters are needed in the city, and ultimately with a shortage of personnel, it believes firefighters and the public could be harm’s way.
“Our city is growing up fast around us and we need a plan to make sure we are staffed and resourced properly to attend and suppress these fires,” said Jason Picklyk, president of the Kelowna Professional Firefighters Association.
“For the high-rise, high-occupancy alarms, we are definitely short in resources. Within the time frame needed, our guys are put in a dangerous level and are put in dangerous positions for these fires.”
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