It was the first North Battleford municipal services committee meeting for new Fire Chief Albert Headrick on Monday.
The meeting allowed Headrick to present the monthly fire fighting, fire prevention and bylaw reports for August, illustrating another busy month for the North Battleford Fire Department.
A total of 35 calls came in to the department from the city in August, with an additional two coming from the RM.
In total there have been 235 calls for the year through August, down from 312 for the same period in 2012.
Several items of interest came up from councillors at the meeting. One was on the dumpster fire situation.
According to the fire fighting numbers presented, there were 16 dumpster fires through August, down from 23 for the same period last year.
Councillor Don Buglas had brought up the issue of dumpster fires because he has heard concerns from various individuals who claimed there were "151 dumpster fires" in the city. A number that Buglas said "didn't sound accurate."
Headrick said he would have had "real concerns" if the number was that high and said those kind of numbers were more in line with what is seen in Regina.
The number of 16 dumpster fires was "not unusual for a community this size."
The fire chief also commented on the proposed switch away from back alley communal bins to rollout bins across the city. A request for proposals is being sent out on the subject.
Headrick said the City could expect dumpster fires to go down once the communal bins are replaced. He pointed to the experience Regina had with dumpster fires: once they switched from communal bins to rollout bins, Regina's dumpster fires "went down dramatically," said Headrick.
The mayor asked about a recent report of a fire last week on 107th Street that had been caused when a lamp had tipped over.
Concern was raised by Mayor Ian Hamilton that the response of eight firefighters and two trucks to that minor fire was "overkill." Not so, according to the fire chief.
"There was smoke in the residence," noted Headrick, who noted the risks of "flashover" which could mean a completely engulfed building, as well as the possibility that there would need to be people rescued.
"To be honest with you, eight in all circumstances would not be enough to do a primary search and rescue," said Headrick. Industry practice is 12 to 14 personnel, he noted.
Headrick's explanation seemed to satisfy Hamilton's concerns.
Another issue that concerned councillors was the bomb threat incident on Battlefords Bridge in August which required the response of North Battleford Fire and other local agencies.
Concerns were expressed by councillors about the amount of money spent to send City resources out to the bridge, which is not located in the city limits.
"That's no-mans land. That's the province's property, that's the rural RCMP's responsibility," said Councillor Trent Houk, who made clear he believed someone else ought to be paying for City resources being sent out to the bridge.
"Our firefighters are going out there, our bylaw officers are going out there. Somebody should be getting invoiced for that. We're losing that manpower and that time for something that is not part of the City of North Battleford."
Finally, Headrick confirmed that it was still a go for the North Battleford Fire Department to host volunteer firefighter training for the province later this month.
The Saskatchewan Volunteer Fire Fighting Association Fire School and annual general meeting is coming up Sept. 27-29. Preparation is ongoing for that event, and Headrick noted a total of 194 potential candidates had already signed up for the training.
