CORNWALL, Ontario – City hall is firing back when it comes to assertions made by its firefighters and accusations of “dysfunction” with the Cornwall Fire Service.
Last week the Cornwall Professional Firefighters Association suggested there are concerns within the service – which finally drew an official response from city hall nearly a week later.
“The Cornwall Fire Department has a well-trained complement of staff and state-of-the-art equipment to build on its proud record of service in the community,” the city said in a statement. “At present, the fire department’s average response time for a call is under four minutes.”
Which is something fire chief Richard McCullough is proud to report.
“Our focus is the safety of the community and our firefighters,” he said.
Mayor Leslie O’Shaughnessy defended McCullough, whom Coun. Andre Rivette said last week was “hung out to dry” by fire association members.
“Both the CAO and I fully support Fire Chief McCullough and the leadership he has brought to the fire department,” said O’Shaughnessy.
The city weighed in on suggestions that there is insufficient staffing levels within the service, and that training is insufficient in some cases.
“During my time as fire chief, I have taken steps internally to try and improve morale among various divisions of the fire service and enhance the lines of communication with the chief’s office,” said McCullough. “The fire fighters association and its leadership has been invited to participate in numerous initiatives within the service.
“Despite the criticism of some of the association’s leadership, the association members who form part of our training, fire prevention, suppression and mechanical divisions have done a tremendous job for our community.”
In 2012, in order to improve in the areas of training and prevention, the fire chief sought the assistance of the Ontario Fire Marshal to conduct a review. This review was supported by the Fire Fighters Association. The review identified a number of shortcomings, and action has already been taken on a number of those items.
Firefighters association president Jason Crites has disputed this claim, but the city is set to unveil a a new fire master plan that could address problems within the service.
The plan was developed with input from both management and the firefighters association, will provide recommendations on staffing, fire suppression tactics, training and prevention, equipment and resources and much more.
The master plan will provide the city with a long-term strategy to build an even more efficient and effective fire service. Moving forward, the city said in its statement the goal will be to implement and achieve the recommendations set out in the plan as resources become available.
