DIDSBURY - The Town of Didsbury will be acting on the recommendations of a recent assessment report, which includes retaining fire Chief Craig Martin and developing standard operating procedures for the Didsbury Fire Department (DFD).
The report, of which excerpts were released to the public on July 25, details several of the issues firefighters took to the town in recent months and which resulted in the resignation of five firefighters.
Some of the situations that were in the report included: "Fire hall not being properly utilized or maintained by DFD personnel; DFD not aligned with Town of Didsbury administration; DFD lacking standard operating procedures, job descriptions, running orders and code of conduct; DFD chief lacks human resource management experience and conflict resolution skills; deputy chiefs have lost confidence in chief and seem to be undermining his authority; and officer core have concerns with chief's ability to manage an emergency scene."
Town of Didsbury administration is currently working with fire Chief Craig Martin to develop a plan of action to accomplish the recommendations from the report, according to the town. CAO Harold Northcott said the first order of business is to ensure proper documentation is in place for the department's operation.
"Running orders, standard operational procedures, a Code of Conduct and job descriptions -- all other Town of Didsbury departments have these," said Northcott. "It is critical that these documents be in place for the Didsbury Fire Department to ensure efficient, safe and clear operating standards for all fire members."
At the regular Didsbury council meeting on July 24 council carried a motion directing administration to employ the services of an independent party to conduct a complete safety audit of the Didsbury Fire Department and return a report outlining the results of that safety audit to council no later than Oct. 1, 2018.
Another carried motion directed administration to make the independent consultant’s report public.
Resignations
To date, five resignations from the Didsbury Fire Department have been received by the town including both deputy chiefs and the training officer, town officials confirmed.
According to last fall's roster, Curtis Mousseau had been with the department 12 years. He is also former fire chief Rick Mousseau's son and served as deputy chief for a number of years. According to the same roster, Danny Miller had served 11 years with the department, having taken on a deputy chief position sometime between October 2014 and October 2015. Braydon Snyder was listed as a captain on last fall’s roster with seven years of service to the department, and became the training officer sometime after that.
Northcott said that this week they will look at how to replace the important positions that have been vacated such as the deputy chiefs and the training officer.
"Any time you have a resignation, all those positions are important – that's what we're going to have to work with next week when Deron gets back (from holidays)," he said. "We'll see if we have any more resignations, we'll have to be able to fill those positions as we go."
Hunter said the town is aware of the value of those firefighters that have recently resigned from the department.
"The years of training and the skill level that is lost is very important and we don't take that lightly," said Hunter. "In the report it says to prepare for future resignations, that was definitely a consideration in all of this -- the years of training and skill level (and leadership). All of these guys have years of training and skill. Many of them work in the industry as professionals."
Despite losing training officer Snyder, Hunter said the fire department is still providing training.
"Council has been made aware of the situation from early on," said Didsbury mayor Rhonda Hunter. "Our priority and focus has always been and continues to be the safety and protection of our residents through the vital services our fire department provides, the continued safety and protection of our firefighters, and the well-being of the environment that all our firefighters work in, inside and outside of the fire hall."
Letters of concern
The fire department report assessment was conducted by Caliber Planning Inc. from Calgary in early June in response to letters of concern submitted by 16 department members.
Northcott said the Caliber president and CEO conducted the assessment and has extensive background both as a firefighter and also as a former City of Calgary administrator. Caliber Planning provides emergency management solutions and protection services to industry and public sector clients throughout Canada and the northern United States.
Hunter said that the assessment from Caliber Planning identified a number of safety and leadership concerns in the department and gave recommendations on how to move forward.
"After listening to the firefighters (during special council meetings on July 17 and 18), they came in and could say anything they wanted," she said. "We asked questions. After identifying the concerns as safety and leadership we had reviewed the report and that's what that report addressed: The safety and leadership, and how to move forward in a positive way in addressing those issues. We chose to back the consultant's recommendation because of his expertise in the industry and what he knows about these situations and how to address them best."
Recommendations
One of the recommendations was to put the fire chief on a 12-month review period where his progress will be monitored.
"There's no doubt Craig (Martin) has exceptional training and skills and experience in fire," she said. "If his leadership skills need to be addressed then you see the expectations of that."
As far as fire hall maintenance, Hunter said they heard reports of people not cleaning up after themselves.
"The town and the county just built a brand new facility," said Northcott. "It's a beautiful fire hall, a $4- million facility. We expect it to last 50 years. It should be able to house all the equipment we need. We need our firefighters, and our staff, to make sure they look after it. If they don't, it won't take long to run it down."
In regards to the fire department not being aligned with the town, Northcott said it's about making sure everyone is on the same page.
"At the end of the day, it's the taxpayers of Didsbury and Mountain View County that pay for that budget," he said. "So just making sure we're all on line and making sure the fire department understands these decisions aren't easy. We don't have millions of dollars in the bank that we can just do this or that. We have to make sure we're all on line and make sure the fire department knows we have other things (budget items) coming at us as far as council and administration goes."
Part of a team
Hunter said that the fire department is a very important part of the Town of Didsbury team.
"They need to feel they're part of the team and they need to be acknowledged and welcomed as part of that team so they work with us as part of the town," she said. "Fire departments tend to be a bit independent and autonomous, but I think being part of the team is important and knowing they're part of the team."
Northcott said they have the utmost respect for the firefighters.
"We want to make sure going forward they understand that but that they also know that we're in this together," he said. "We need to make sure we're pulling in the right direction because if we're not these are the types of things that happen."
As far as DFD lacking standard operating procedures, job descriptions, running orders and code of conduct, Northcott says, "We're expected in the Town of Didsbury that we have that; the fire department is part of the town and they should be expected to have that."
Northcott said the fire chief and protective services manager, Deron Reimer, will be given those tasks to complete.
A mother's concern
With firefighters warned not to talk about the issues because reputations were on the line, one firefighter's mother has spoken out. Cindy Tippe told the Gazette that the report and the town's response has not allayed her concerns.
"It was very one-sided," said Tippe. "They did not hear the complaints and concerns of the firefighters. They didn't listen to them. There were other concerns they didn't even address. There's more than just safety concerns going on."
Tippe said having a fire safety audit at this time is, "too little, too late. But time will tell."
"I think their concerns and complaints weren't heard," she said. "That was my biggest concern with all this. It was too one-sided. There were a lot of other things going on and those weren't even mentioned. They chose to ignore that part of it. It really makes the fire department look like they're not doing what they need to do here. It needs to be taken into consideration, what the firefighters are saying."
Firefighter support
Northcott would not say how the remaining firefighters felt about the direction the town and the fire department are taking based on the Caliber Planning report and recommendations.
"They talked about this last night (July 25) at the fire hall," he said. "I wasn't at that meeting. I've talked to the fire chief; he's aware of everything in this report. Deron (Reimer, protective services manager) was at that meeting. He said the meeting went well but didn't give me any details about what went well."
Hunter said having all remaining firefighters on board moving forward with the fire safety audit is crucial.
"We are expecting that everyone with that vested interest in the fire department is committed and going to invest with the go-forward to ensure success of the department for all members," she said. "I believe we have that core of firefighters that will do that. All of council has that confidence in the firefighters that are still in place. They'll work hard to make the fire department be what it should be."
Hunter said it won't be an easy process for those involved, particularly the fire chief.
"Everyone has seen this (report)," she said. "Having the support of his firefighters is going to be important and it’s important to the community that firefighters are invested in this. It'll be a big job for them all."
The Gazette's attempts to reach the fire chief and the resigning deputies were unsuccessful.
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