Skip to content

Red Deer fire truck off duty twice on weekend because staff unavailable

‘Unique and outside the norm,’ says deputy chief
29589171_web1_Red-Deer-fire-truck
One of Red Deer’s fire trucks was unavailable for calls for two seven-hour periods on the weekend. (File photo by Advocate staff)

One of Red Deer’s five fire trucks could not respond to emergencies Saturday and Sunday evening due to a lack of available staff.

Local 1190 of the International Association of Firefighters tweeted Sunday night that Fire Station 2, on 67th Street, was unable to staff its fire truck for the second straight night and that,”citizens we normally serve will experience a delayed fire response due to continual staff shortages.”

Deputy chief Tyler Pelke, of Red Deer EMS, confirmed the engine was shut down for seven hours, between 6 p.m. and 1 a.m. both evenings.

He said four staff are needed for the fire truck, and each night, four people could not be found to work overtime.

“We couldn’t secure any people for the first half of those two night shifts,” said Pelke, who added overtime was not mandatory for that kind of shift.

“In the four years I’ve been here, and even during COVID, this is the first time that it’s happened that we haven’t been able to staff trucks. It was unique and outside the norm for us.”

Related:

While EMS changes are welcome, Red Deer needs more ambulances, says deputy chief

He said the fire hall was short staff due to last-minute sickness. There were also some staff involved in training, on vacation, off due to longer-term illness and Workers’ Compensation issues.

The remaining city fire trucks were able to respond to calls, which were within the norm for a weekend, he said.

“Although we saw service delivery impact because we had to shut a truck down in that particular area for a period of time, we were still able to provide emergency response we needed to.”

Related:

Firefighters say recognition of their cancer risk is tough battle across Canada

Pelke said four more staff were hired in the spring and should be finished their training next month. Red Deer EMS is also working with Alberta Health Services on service delivery provincially and locally.

“We’re hopeful that is going to see some staff coming to us, and more resources coming to us.”

He said it’s been a trying time over the last couple of years. People are definitely burned out and the department is doing everything it can to support workers.



szielinski@reddeeradvocate.com

Like us on Facebook and follow us on Twitter