Jeremy Alldred-Hughes, Director of Emergency Services/Fire Chief, was before Lake of Bays Council at its May 12 meeting, asking for permission to transfer and repurpose a surplus truck from the Port Cunnington Fire Station to be stored at the Hillside/Interlaken Fire Station.
The recommendation also included establishing an auxiliary team to support fire rescue operations.
“One of the things that we’ve always done in the past when we fight a structure fire is we have to shuttle air cylinders back and forth from the fire scene to fill them so that we can continue to operate,” said Alldred-Hughes, adding that the fire department has 70 air cylinders in service. He said from an operational standpoint, the fire department generally has to fill 15 to 20 cylinders to fight a full structure fire. The cylinders power the Self-Contained Breathing Apparatus (SCBA) that firefighters use while battling a fire.
“Currently, we’re shuttling these cylinders to Huntsville to fill on a bigger cascade system,” said Alldred-Hughes. He said purchasing more cylinders has been considered, but through discussions, it was decided that having a mobile air system filler would be more effective and safer.
He said the surplus auxiliary truck at the Port Cunnington station could be repurposed. It could carry additional equipment, including extra forestry equipment, hazmat equipment, rehab equipment, and
medical equipment, and serve as an air-filling station capable of filling 20 to 25 cylinders on scene.
He said the truck would be housed at the Interlaken Fire Station 50, and the fire department will reach out to members of the community to form an auxiliary team. “Auxiliary responders will have basic training on first aid, rehab, and support roles, but not firefighting. This will allow for a more flexible staffing and operational guidance for seasonal members,” noted Alldred-Hughes in his report to council.
“After 6 months and 1 year a report will be brought back to council outlining the successes of
the unit along with the calls it attended, trainings and return on the investment,” he added.
The cost of the air cascade system is estimated at $14,000 to be funded from the Township’s regular operations budget, added Alldred-Hughes.
“Speaking with our neighbours, we would be the only fire service that has a vehicle with these capabilities, so Algonquin Highlands would be leaning on us to respond with that vehicle to fill air cylinders for them in structure fires, as well as Huntsville, Bracebridge, with the agreement that once we’re done they would allow us to refill our system at one of their halls before returning.” Alldred-Hughes said because the municipality already has the vehicle, it would be a small investment to get the pilot off the ground.
Lake of Bays Councillor Rick Brooks was supportive of the initiative and called it out-of-the-box thinking. Councillor George Anderson also spoke in favour of the initiative and asked if the auxiliary members would be volunteers or whether they would be paid positions. Alldred-Hughes said it would be a “paid volunteer position, or a paid on-call position,” just like firefighters.
In the end, council approved the pilot.