Powell River is looking into an automatic aid agreement with Tla’amin Nation and qathet Regional District when it comes to fires.
Automatic aid differs from mutual aid as resources are sent automatically during a fire call – not requested by an incident commander on the scene of a fire – leading to fewer delays.
On Thursday (March 19), city council is expected to direct staff to start negotiations with the two other governments.
The agreement would only be for fires.
Fire Chief Martin Drakeley told council earlier this month city locations without a fire hydrant could see insurance premiums drop with a deal.
“Areas in Powell River that do not have a hydrant system, they will be able to take advantage of Malaspina’s superior tanker shuttle service that’s certified and that’s a decrease rating for insurance for them,” Drakeley said.
The two qathet Regional District fire departments bordering the city are the Northside Volunteer Fire Department, northwest of Wildwood up to Lund, and the Malaspina Volunteer Fire Department to the southeast.
The chief says it would also remove a lot of anxiety for regional fire chiefs “over members not showing up, especially in the volunteer departments. Powell River provides a stable base with regards to that because of our full-time staffing.”
“In one instance, with Tla’amin, they had a structure fire where they were it and they have 15 or less (sic) people to pull from, working two hours on a structure fire and it’s not good for firefighter safety,” Drakeley said.
Powell River had an automatic aid agreement with the Malaspina Volunteer Fire Department in 2016 but it was not renewed when it expired in 2021.
The city has a separate mutual aid agreement with Tla’amin Nation, qathet Regional District, Gillies Bay Improvement District and Van Anda Improvement District. Under a council policy, the city receives full cost recovery plus 25 per cent overhead from other departments who use city services.
Fire departments would also get full-cost recovery under an automatic aid agreement.
During the council discussion on March 3, Councillor Cindy Elliott declared a conflict and left the meeting because her daughter is a deputy fire chief for Tla’amin Nation.
