Before stepping down as council rep for the Penhold Fire Department, Chad Hoffman addressed the rest of council and the public about his concerns for the department.
“What I don’t understand is the benefit of taxpayer dollars paying to train and gear up firefighters that aren’t in town to respond to emergencies,” he said of recruiting people from out of town to keep numbers up after the department lost a training officer, medical officer and longtime captain.
“In the time it would take to get here from Red Deer, gear up and get to the scene, Red Deer County will have the fire out. The ambulance usually beats, even our in-town guys, to the medical calls.”
Hoffman also expressed concerns of people using the training to beef up their resume, and improve their sex appeal. He said enough people weren’t showing up for training.
“We’re at the point now where, if there is a fire, we don’t have enough qualified, available members to make entry for attack or rescue without putting people’s lives at risk. We would be a great ‘surround and drown’ until county got there.”
Jim Pendergast, fire chief, said the department has strong numbers for a community of its size, hovering near 20 members, with the ideal number being between 20 and 25.
He said he isn’t aware of anyone using the uniform to improve their sex appeal, and said while some people do use the department as a stepping stone, it isn’t unexpected for volunteer departments.
“As a little boy or girl people say, ‘When I grow up I want to be a firefighter,’ and this is an opportunity for them to do that … any person can join with the thought in mind, ‘if I like this I’m going to go join a big city department.’ That happens all the time,” he said, adding that the reverse happens too. People who worked at a city operation come to the small towns for the slower pace.
“It didn’t use to happen in the past. When you joined a fire department you stayed there for your whole career. But the lifestyle in Alberta is very mobile and with younger people, job opportunities take them to other places. If they join and find out they like it and work hard and become a career firefighter, there’s no downside to that at all, at all. Because they’re committed while they’re here.”
He said when it comes to practice times, since he joined the department, practices have been increased to every Wednesday night instead of twice a month.
“We train every week now. They are trained to a set provincial and national standard for formal training. Practice nights are for practising — we do a formal course with basic skills of doing a rescue, fighting a fire, wearing breath apparatus, doing searches, ladder work, all that stuff. … Training is at or above standards of other volunteer departments in Alberta and Canada.”
He said of Hoffman’s concerns for out-of-town volunteers, a different strategy is used in responding.
“What their commitment is, is if there’s a call they can come and bring the second unit or relieve firefighters at the scene or help clean up. They’re able to do stuff around the hall and be able to respond which gives us some extra strength.” Pendergast said there are four members from Red Deer.
Hoffman said he still plans to be involved in the community in any way he can. He thanked the town for the opportunity to be involved and said the three years of training and experience won’t go to waste.
“If I can’t fix it from the inside, I’ll fix it from the outside.”
Hoffman, a member of the Penhold Fire Department since moving here in 2008, was dismissed for “an alleged incident with a rookie member,” he said. Pendergast said he wouldn’t comment on the reasoning for Hoffman’s dismissal.
Hoffman also made six recommendations to council for the fire department. They included building a policy manual to guide the department, rebuild the hierarchy and structure so each member can follow the path to success, get the level of training back to where it needs to be, recruit locally, plan on buying new trucks and define the role of fire chief.
