Townships may add water rescue to list of firefighter activities

Wilmot township is responding to climate change with a change of its own: adding water rescue to its fire department's ever-growing list of activities. 

The change is being considered by fire Chief Rod Leeson, who told CBC News that deciding whether the department should move ahead with a water rescue unit is not as easy as it sounds.

• Waterloo, Woolwich consider fire service sharing agreement 
• Waterloo firefighter designs new 'lock box' that reduces respond times for emergency personnel
• Veteran firefighters retire after 100 years combined service

"It's important to understand that water rescue is touchy business," he said. "I don't know how else to explain it. There's a lot of opinions about it."

A lot of opinions and a lot of financial implications, such as the cost of training and the cost of equipment. 

Crunching numbers

Leeson said he hasn't crunched the numbers yet — he only just started exploring Wilmot's options — but he knows that the equipment tends to have a shelf life of 10 years. 

Trying to tell a firefighter he can't go into the water is almost an impossibility.- Dale Martin, Woolwich Fire Chief

"We have a lot of decisions to make and, let's face it, there's always going to be the dollars that come into it. I mean, when you have low frequency, high risk events, how much money do you throw at it?" he asked. 

"Are we going to do something? Absolutely. What is that going to look like? Obviously, I can't answer that yet."

And Wilmot isn't alone in its interest. Both North Dumfries and Wellesley told CBC News they will also consider adding water rescue units in the future.

Response to climate change

The interest in doing water rescues comes in the wake of two major flooding events, both of which affected municipalities in Waterloo region. 

• Flooding in Southwestern Ontario, pictures and video
• 'Very strong blue ice' contributing to Grand River flooding

"We're talking about climate change and the fact that we may encounter these events more frequently than we did in the past," Leeson said. 

"It sort of brings things to the forefront when you have this many events occur. All of a sudden we have to take a look at these things," he said.

"I think it's important that the public understand council was concerned and they want to make sure that they do the right thing."

At present, Wilmot firefighters can only perform shore-based water rescues, which means they must remain on dry ground at all times while trying to rescue someone trapped in water. 

If a shore-based rescue isn't possible, Wilmot firefighters will call Kitchener Fire, which has a water rescue unit. 

Water rescue in Woolwich

Woolwich Fire operated by the same rules five years ago, but has since trained 14 firefighters from its St. Jacobs and Conestogo stations to do simple water and ice rescues. 

If you've saved one life, in my opinion, that makes it worth it.- Dale Martin, Woolwich Fire Chief

Fire Chief Dale Martin said the township made the decision after someone drowned in a farm pond and firefighters weren't able to search for the body.

"Because we weren't trained to go into the water, that put a lot of extra stress on the firefighters," Martin said. "There were people from the public that could go into the water, yet as a firefighter you weren't allowed to."

He said that for a firefighter, "it's a pretty tough thing to do: stand back when you see there's help needed." 

"Trying to tell a firefighter he can't go into the water is almost an impossibility," he adds, with a laugh.

As for the time and financial costs, Martin admits the unit isn't cheap, but said its not something he thinks a lot about. 

"If you've saved one life, in my opinion, that makes it worth it," he said.

"It's like insurance that you hope you never have to use, but it's there. People keep paying for insurance, even though they don't use it, right? That's how I equate a water rescue team. It's there when you need it, but hopefully you don't."