The Burnaby Fire Department’s ability to do its job properly is “at risk” because of a lack of resources, technology and strategy, according to a recent review by an outside consultant.
Darkhorse Analytics, a consultant hired last September to conduct a comprehensive review of the fire service, found the department has done a good job of identifying its operational deficiencies over the years but has been slow to resolve them – mostly because of a lack of investment from the city.
The report, which cost about $122,000 and went before council last week, said Darkhorse found many of the same deficiencies in the department today as those identified in the city’s last comprehensive review 18 years ago.
“It is Darkhorse’s observation that BFD lacks valuable resource updates and maintenance that would allow for the organization’s ability to execute both effectively and meaningfully,” states the report. “There is a balance between maintaining adequate response and controlling expenditures, and an investment is required to maintain the level of service required by the growing city.”
'Vision'
Among the findings of the report are that the department’s response times to two “major high-risk areas” (Burnaby Mountain and Big Bend) are inadequate, its administrative division is understaffed, its fire prevention division is demoralized and lacking direction, and its technology infrastructure is inadequate for tracking performance, mitigating risk and creating efficiencies.
“In summary, the assessment exposed a variety of immediate concerns for the department and community,” stated the report.
Among the consultants’ immediate recommendations (for 2020 to 2022) are hiring more staff, building new stations on top of Burnaby Mountain and in the Big Bend area, replacing Station 4 on Duthie Avenue in its same location and creating two-year strategic plans.
“There’s a lot of things in there that will be very, very difficult to attain just because I’m not sure the tax base could handle it all, but certainly it gives you a vision for going forward,” Mayor Mike Hurley said about the review in an interview with the NOW.
But that doesn’t mean the report will gather dust without any action from the city, like the 2002 review did, he said.
“We’re going to sit down with the leadership of the fire service, whoever’s leading the department moving forward, and the leadership team there and develop a plan that will move us forward in a very positive way, so that the membership, our employees, all feel like they’re being heard,” he said. “Absolutely we’re going to take the report seriously and enact the parts that we can reasonably maintain within our tax base.”
'Wish list'
But the report is already getting pushback from one councillor.
In an eight-page letter sent to mayor and council Monday, Coun. Colleen Jordan lambasted the review.
She estimated the accumulated cost of the staffing recommendations alone would total $21 million by 2023, the equivalent of an 8% property tax increase, she said.
She also criticized the timeline for building new fire halls.
“The study somehow assumes that two additional fire halls can be built and staffed within three years, which, in my experience, is not a reasonable timeline,” she wrote.
Jordan also took issue with the consultant’s methodology, including who was consulted.
She pointed out the steering committee included three deputy chiefs and the firefighter union’s president.
And, of 14 people interviewed for the review, only five were not firefighters, she said.
“The vast majority of the consultation, however, appears to have taken place within the fire department alone,” she said.
Jordan also noted none of the five fire chiefs who led the department between 2007 and 2020 were interviewed.
“I find that this report was a very costly exercise which puts forward the equivalent of a wish list of the fire department for its future growth, and council will need to carefully study each and every recommendation and its budgetary implications in the next coming years,” she said.
Public safety director Dave Critchley said Jordan’s letter will be taken into consideration by staff as the recommendations of the report are prioritized and submitted to council as part of the budget approval process.
Mayor and council will get a chance to go over the report in detail at a workshop in the coming weeks, Critchley said.
