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THE CANADIAN STATESMAN, MARCH 14,2001 PAGE 3 Ontario Fire Marshal to review Clarington firefighter staff levels BY J:\CQUlEMclNNES StaffWriter CLARINGTON - The Ontario Fire Marshal's Office will be reviewing Clar- ington's fire department stalling levels following concerns raised by the local firefighters' association. Barry McKinnon, manager of fire protection services for the provincial Fire Marshal's Office, says his office became became aware of the association's concerns ' through a story in the Canadian Statesman Statesman and will be "looking into" Claring- ton's fire suppression staffing levels. He added he had not had any concerns brought to his attention previously. "We have a regular monitoring program" program" to ensure public safety is upheld within the province's municipalities, he says. The Fire Marshal's Office keeps track of lire loss, monitors media reports and undertakes to ensure a reasonable standard of service is provided, he says. The Fire Fighters Association contends contends the municipality needs to hire more staff to man trucks going out to fire calls. Association President Tim Calhoun estimates estimates about 30 per cent of the time, fire trucks arc leaving the station with only three men on them. He says the ideal, common practice is to send four per tmek, Mr. McKinnon says the number of personnel on a truck and staffing levels is "primarily a local decision." The Fire Marshal's Office created a public safety guideline in 1998 and a position paper in 1993 regarding staffing levels but these are recommendations, not legislation, for municipalities to follow. In their guidelines, guidelines, he says, the emphasis is more on overall response than on how many firefighters firefighters are on each truck. For a single family home in a subdivision with a fire FIRE CHIEF MICHAEL CREIGHTON Clarington is following provincial staff guidelines hydrant nearby, the desired total response response team number is 10, he says. That number increases for a rural response when water needs to be hauled to the scene. Still, he adds, "We strive to see four arrive (per truck). It's obviously better better than three. But that's not our primary focus. We're more concerned about getting getting 10 on scene but certainly we prefer to see four arrive (initially)." If the follow-up follow-up trucks arrive quickly after the first truck, the number is not such an issue but if back-up were to take 10 minutes, minutes, "we would have a concern," he says. Clarington Fire Chief Michael Creighton says the provincial recommendation recommendation is one full-time firefighter or three part-time firefighters per 1,000 population, a recommendation Clarington Clarington is clearly following. "Being a composite composite department (of both full and part- time) we need to take both those numbers numbers into consideration when establishing establishing a ratio," he says. The municipality has 32 full-time suppression (as opposed to prevention) firefighters and 125 part- time firefighters. The chief says about "30 to 40 per cent" of the time, pumpers are sent out with only three, instead of four men. He says the four-man truck is the established protocol for Clarington, but vacation time and sick days sometimes sometimes leaves the crews short. The minimum minimum working level is three firefighters on a truck, he says. Although the Fire Marshal's Office docs not directly legislate staffing levels, it does have the ability to enforce a standard standard on a municipality if "there is a potential potential serious threat to public safety," says Mr. McKinnon. Mayor John Mutton Mutton says the municipality will review concerns raised by the Fire Fighters Association Association once contract arbitration, currently currently ongoing, is completed. t it * your POT O' GOiDf Our wee St. Patricks Day Sale prices will have you thankin' your lucky stars. Coty Fragrances April Fields Vanilla Fields Calgon Smiley Body Spray McGregor Drugs 5 King Street West, Bowmanville Tel. 623-5792 For Him Preferred Stock Stetson Selection of Greeting Cards and Gift Items . Lasco reaches deal with workers • The lockout by Co-Steel ; Lasco that kept 460 workers ; on the picket line since Dec. i 18 has ended with an agree- 1 ment ratified Sunday in Os- ; hawa. • In a hastily-called meet- ling, 288 members of the j United Steelworkers Local j 6571 voted in favour of the • three-year agreement which 1 will see pensions improved ; and - wages increased >through cost-olRiving ad-, j j#im ( C %A)...;5ev6n-. . . ty-eight voted against the : .'deal, which will see em- : ployccs being recalled over • the next nine months. The J first group will return to ; work on . March 19, and a « total of 300 by April 1. ■ That, still leaves some ; 150 to be recalled, said local 'president Denis Kavanagh, < noting the company has - .until Dec. 2 to do so. !j "Acceptance of the deal •'iwas contingent on these employees employees being eligible for federal employment insurance insurance benefits," he said. '•"We're not going to abandon abandon them. Until they suc- • jceed in getting El the picket Î dine will remain." ;• ; Mr. Kavanagh said that • the plan also provides an additional additional $150 a week for the î first three months, $175 a jiweek for the next three ; months, and $200 a week • for the last three months. !l i The agreement addresses | attrition by providing a window window for early retirement. 'Employees yvho retire between between now and Aug. 31 will deceive an incentive to- ' jreceiv î i iv ';": : - tailing $30,000 ($10,000 in each of three years). As well, employees reaching the 30-year mark, will be able to retire with an unreduced unreduced pension if they leave during this period. : "Neither side got all that it wanted, but the new contract contract will be advantageous for those of our members who are close to retirement," said United Steelworkers Local 6571 president Denis Kavanagh.;. "It-,;sure beat£ picket' pay." he added. The labour disputé intensified intensified a few weeks ago when Lasco put out the call;for 200 replacement workers. After the union indicated it wasn't going to allow the replacements replacements to be ferried through the picket line, Lasco applied for an injunction. injunction. After several days of hearings, both sides agreed to a one-week cooling-off period to allow for the resumption'of resumption'of contract talks. "The agreement, addresses addresses the downturn in the steéï; industry without jeopardizing jeopardizing our members' futures," said Wayne Fraser, assistant to the USW's Ontario/Atlantic Ontario/Atlantic director Harry Hynd. "The lockout was a tremendous hardship for workers, but their solidarity meant we were able to negotiate negotiate a decent agreement with lire company." The lockout started Dec. 18 after months of negotiations negotiations following the expiry of the old contract in Feb. 2000. The new deal runs until Feb. 27, 2004. JAMES R. 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