Abbotsford Fire Department stretched to the limit with 25% of firefighters on stress leave, union says

Firefighting resources in Abbotsford, B.C., have not kept pace with growth in the city, and crews say response times in some areas take far too long.

They say the strain on resources has affected their mental health and they also fear public safety may be compromised.

"We're starting to get the questions more and more from the public: 'What took you so long to get here?' or 'Why are there so few of you?'" said Tom Dodd, Abbotsford Fire Department's acting officer.

The number of firefighters and engines in the city lags behind other Lower Mainland cities, according to the Abbotsford Firefighters Association.

There are 90 full-time career firefighters working in Abbotsford, which has a population of about 141,500. By contrast, 160 work in Delta, which has a population of 110,848, and there are 154 in Coquitlam, which has a population of 150,000.

At the same time, the city's population has expanded by nearly 25 per cent in the last ten years, and growth is expected to accelerate.

Council and the mayor have a goal of responding to fire calls in urban areas within seven minutes. But one part of the city has not met the goal, which fire crews blame on a lack of resources in that area.

Stressed-out firefighters

Dodd says in the last two years, 25 per cent of the department has been on stress leave, which he said is the result of low staff levels.

Fire crews feel the pressures of being stretched too thin, replaying work scenes in their minds after hours, wondering if results would have been different if they had reached a destination sooner.

That has an impact on all aspects of their lives.

"I can best describe it on the home front. My wife calls them bonus days if I get home from work and I'm engaged with what the kids are saying."

Empty fire hall

One of the most revealing examples of the lack of resources is Fire Hall No. 7 on the northeast side of Abbotsford.

It is not staffed by career firefighters and sits locked up most of the time, only used by on-call crews.

Data provided by the Firefighters Association shows response times in that part of Abbotsford only met the city's seven-minute goal 3.2 per cent of the time in the last six months.

The city's 2010 master plan recommended hiring 20 career firefighters over four years to staff Fire Hall 7 on a full time basis "in order to achieve and support the response time targets in the northeast area."

But those hires never occurred. Last year's master plan stated Fire Hall 7 will hire full-time career firefighters beginning in 2023 or later.

That plan isn't good enough for some. "It needs to be staffed today," says Platoon Captain Wade Wood.

The mayor was unavailable for comment, but speaking on the city's behalf, the fire chief defended the fire department's staff levels.

Chief Don Beer said it's not fair to compare with other nearby cities, adding one way to interpret the data is that Abbotsford is more efficient.

"I'm not sure how efficient they're being with their staffing," says Beer referring to the nearby municipalities with more staff and equipment.

Staffing Fire Hall 7 full-time would cost a little over $2-million a year and would likely mean a one to 1.7 per cent tax increase.

That's not a good enough argument for some residents.

"Every minute a person is not receiving prompt care or services or we're not able to control a fire, the cost is so much more than that," says Jane Bezan who lives in the undeserved northeast part of Abbotsford.