Sundre's fire chief has expressed serious reservations about Clearwater County council's recent decision not to renew an agreement with the local department.
Marty Butts told the Round Up last week that he "totally disagrees" with Clearwater County council's position and has been critical of what in the end amounted to a cost-saving measure.
"Somebody's going to pay the ultimate price to save a little bit of money."
Before the new year, Clearwater County council accepted a recommendation from the county's Regional Fire Committee not to renew a contract with Sundre Fire Department for fire suppression and rescues in the southern portion of the county. The move, Clearwater County council heard, will save Clearwater Regional Fire Rescue Services (CRFRS) about $25,000 per year while allowing the service to keep this year's budget at 2016 levels.
However, Butts told the Round Up Sundre Fire Department has on average only billed the county anywhere from $12,000 to $15,000 over the past several years.
"That is a good investment," the fire chief said, adding his goal is not to profit off of responding to emergencies in Clearwater County.
"Some calls aren't even billed if they're really close to the local boundary."
Clearwater County officials also heard from CRFRS Deputy Chief Ivan Dijkstra that James River area residents would still get the same coverage with a negligible difference in response times. He also reported that although Sundre's department would have faster response times west of town in areas such as Forestry Trunk Road, the distance is still too great that a structure on fire could not be saved anyway.
"In terms of fire response, the reality is that we know that in order to get to an active structure fire, we need to get there in less than 10 minutes or it'll burn to the ground," CRFRS interim fire Chief Jesse Kurtz told the Round Up.
Considering some responses further west can take even Sundre Fire Department upwards of half an hour to an hour to reach, an additional 20 minutes would not make much difference for an active structure fire, he said.
As for medical emergencies in the West Country, he said a critical patient who has held on long enough for a response that would take Sundre upwards of an hour would likely be able to hold on a bit longer.
But in such a scenario, the option to request mutual aid from Sundre's fire department remains on the table, he said.
"If we truly feel Sundre is the best department to send, then we would consider still sending them as a mutual aid partner."
Those situations are fairly infrequent, he added.
However, sifting through the details from an emergency call to determine whether the Sundre department's assistance is required represents another hoop to jump through that will merely serve to further delay the overall response time, said Butts.
As those seconds and minutes slip away in the event of, for example, a catastrophic vehicle collision, the suffering is ultimately passed on to the person(s) needing assistance, he said.
"All of our outcomes won't always be perfect but our chances of success are better simply because we can get there faster."
Throughout his roughly 30 years of service, Butts said Sundre's department has always responded to calls west of town. The way the Clearwater County boundary line falls, it jogs far west of Sundre and as close as James River. That means there are instances when Sundre's department is better situated to respond simply because of its proximity.
Since every moment matters during a medical emergency such as a heart attack or deadly bleeding and other traumatic injuries, there's no way to confidently assert a patient's outcome won't be different if there's a delayed response time, he said.
Additionally, Sundre has more than 30 volunteer firefighters on its roster, as compared with about 10 in Caroline, leaving that community more vulnerable in the event of an emergency if its available members have already been dispatched elsewhere, he said.
"It doesn't make any sense," he said about Clearwater County council's decision to abandon the fire agreement.
"I can't believe that they would support it ó there's no good thing to come out of this."
In terms of medical responses in 2016, Kurtz said Sundre's department was dispatched four times in the southern part of Clearwater County.
"You have to weigh the risk versus benefit. There is a dollar savings on the part of the county."
Sundre's fire chief said he understands volunteer departments and their respective municipalities have budget restrictions to work within.
"I know everything comes down to dollars and cents. But we're talking about $25,000 ó that's peanuts for what you're putting on the line."
In the end, Kurtz said the decision was Clearwater County council's directive. If the county's residents have concerns or questions, "they need to bring it to their councillor ó they're the ones who made the decision."
For the meantime, the interim fire chief said his department would manage and work around the change.
Clearwater County council's decision also included a several-month transition period to raise awareness, coordinate with Sundre as well as notification of 911 and Red Deer dispatch.
"At this point I feel comfortable with it. We'll make the best decisions we can as they come in," said Kurtz, adding the new system will need to be reviewed and reassessed at the end of the year.
