April will mark one year with the Fort Frances Fire Rescue Service for interim Fire Chief Dave Robertson. Robertson says that so much has happened in his time in the role, it feels like more than a year, but in a good way.
“We’re a little shy of a year but it feels like it’s actually been, and I mean this in a positive way, it feels like it’s been more than a year,” Robertson said.
“I definitely hit the ground running, the crew embraced me right away. We have a new CAO and HR since then but they were very much about the changes I wanted to make. They very much trust what I’m doing here and have been very happy with how things have been going.”
Robertson says he has tried to revitalize the department, adding to the budget to make improvements rather than maintaining a status quo.
“I don’t think there was a level of rigour prior, which is incredibly common,” Robertson said.
“It’s like ‘well, we spent this much last year, I guess we’ll just spend the same this year.’ That’s not about anybody doing anything bad, sometimes people fall into that. So I think I added a level of rigour to the budget bringing the crew up to North American Fires Service standards. They were already very good, but bringing them up that extra notch.”
In recent months the department announced that they would be working on water rescue training, which is a rigorous program in itself, requiring fire rescue team members to be up to snuff on their swimming skills and endurance in the water.
Robertson is also in the process of bringing in more full time firefighters, bringing the full time complement to a staff of eight which came out of the recent collective bargaining process, Robertson said.
“What prompted bringing the two on, that was really very much driven by the collective bargaining that went on recently,” he said.
“The union wanting more, and they were able to work very well with our incoming HR Manager and CAO. From everything I understand, it was a positive collective bargaining, and out of that came these two new positions.”
The addition of the two new firefighters will simplify the shift structure and make life easier for the team.
Robertson says he appreciates the relationship with other departments around the region.
“We’re part of the Rainy River Mutual Aid Association, and that runs departments all the way from Rainy River to all the way up to Atikokan and Niobe and all points in between,” Robertson said.
“We actually just had a meeting recently where we sat down and it became less of a meeting and more of a meeting of the minds ‘here’s a problem I have, why don’t we work together on it?’ or ‘here’s an issue that I’m having with my radios or communications’ and then we try and solve it together. That’s been a positive experience, there’s a lot of experience out there, some of these people have been with these departments for a very long time. I think the chief in Atikokan has been that chief for 20-plus years and he’s one of the brighter minds in the region. He used to travel all around Ontario teaching with the Ontario Fire Marshal. He’s a very, very sharp individual and we’ve got great access to him being part of that Mutual Aid Association.”
Robertson has also worked towards renovating the Fort Frances Fire Department building.
The hope is to replace the exhaust system at the fire hall. Given the chemicals that firefighters can be exposed to on a call, the prevalence of cancer is much higher among firefighters and having an upgraded exhaust system can only help the firefighters stay healthy, Robertson says.
“Firefighter cancer is far, far more prevalent than than day to day citizens,” He said.
“It takes us one exposure at one fire in our career, and that’s enough to dump enough carcinogen in our bodies to start the ball rolling. Recognition of that is the Ontario government has a whole bunch of the cancers listed as presumptive and so we’re working very hard towards making this a clean station, leaving as much of the carcinogen out as possible.”
Despite the uncertainty of his own role in the future of the Fort Frances Fire Rescue Service, as he remains on interim status, Robertson is also hopeful that the department will continue with its current direction.
“Another hope is that the direction that this crew is headed, maintains,” he said.
“Just in the last few weeks, I’m having them come into my office and talk about workout plans and swim practice and just generally having operational ideas. So they’re embracing the open door. If they stay on this path they’re on a very good path, so that would be my greatest hope. If they continue to harness their forward momentum, they’re gonna go great places.”