Blackfalds volunteer fire department’s plan to expand its coverage area has been stamped out — at least for now.
The plan to add another 23 square kilometres, including a five-km of Hwy 2, within surrounding Lacombe County to Blackfalds coverage has stalled because the town refuses to join a regional fire services association.
Lacombe County made joining the Lacombe Regional Fire Services Association a condition for being allowed to expand the area Blackfalds serves, mostly to the west and east. The association includes the Town and County of Lacombe, Alix, Clive, Eckville and Bentley.
The merits of joining the association were pitched to Blackfalds council in June by Lacombe Regional Fire Services Co-ordinator Fred Millar to no avail.
“(Council) could not see any benefits to us joining the regional fire service,” said town chief administrative officer Corinne Newman on Tuesday.
Blackfalds has a long history of not being part of the regional service, she said.
“The town has always maintained their independence. They’ve had a fire chief and a deputy fire chief and they’ve had their own structure. It has come to the fire department before about whether they want to join the regional and it’s been a choice not to.”
Besides not seeing any advantage to joining, there is the question of cost. The annual bill for joining will be around $30,000.
Council believes that money would be better spent on funding a new position that has just been advertised for a full-time fire chief, who will also serve as a safety co-ordinator for the town. Until now, the fire chief and deputy fire chiefs of the 25-member force have been volunteers, as are all the other firefighters.
The decision to turn the position into a paid management job is a reflection of the increasing administrative workload of the job.
Newman said it is logical for Blackfalds to expand the area it covers. Under the existing fire districts, Lacombe’s fire department is responsible for the Blackfalds overpass, which can be seen from a new $7.5 million fire and RCMP building that will be ready in April.
“We are not supposed to respond. I do not understand that. That makes no sense to me,” she said of the current district boundaries.
“We certainly have the appropriate equipment, the manpower, and we’re very well trained.”
Newman said the request to expand its coverage has nothing to do with the service offered by Lacombe, which has been excellent, she stressed.
“It’s not a criticism of any of the response from Lacombe or anything like. It was just a sensible thing to request.”
The town has not dropped its expansion proposal. It will continue to be raised with the county.
“Of course, we’re still interested,” she said. “We can respond to that area quicker than Lacombe can.”
The county also expects the issue will come up again. County commissioner Terry Hager recently brought council up to date and said it will remain a topic for future discussion.
County councillor Linda Landmark noted that citizens are still being served under the current boundaries.
pcowley@www.reddeeradvocate.com