The Regional District of Nanaimo is considering the establishment of a fire services coordinator to work with various fire departments.
The coordinator position was among recommendations from a report by Dave Mitchell and Associates, a consultant hired to ensure the regional district adheres to the Structure Firefighters Competency and Training Playbook, a training standards guide.
Wendy Idema, regional district finance director, who worked on the consultant’s report, said the coordinator would work with the rural fire departments and any organization with which the regional district has a fire services contract, such as the City of Nanaimo and Cranberry Fire Improvement District.
“It’s just the rural [departments] require more support at this point in time because the municipal departments already have a lot of things in place because they’re fulltime,” said Idema.
The coordinator would help implement the report’s other recommendations, including a review of bylaw structures, service contracts and development of standard legislation giving authority to departments to “operate at an emergency scene.”
Ron Gueulette, Cranberry fire chief, said his department would benefit from the coordinator.
“The benefit is it will give us an outside opinion on how we’re training and how our training records are going, that sort of stuff,” said Gueulette.
“The coordinator would have a very good understanding of the playbook and the recommendations … from that aspect it would help us with the training,” said Gueulette.
Idema said $50,000 has been budgeted in 2016 for the coordinator position to implement recommendations.
Regional district directors are expected to give final approval to the report and coordinator position at their May 24 regular meeting.
Idema said a job description would then have to be developed in conjunction with the fire departments. She estimates the job could be posted by the end of the summer.
