Review of Thunder Bay's fire department 'not about cutting services' consultant says

The consultant retained by the City of Thunder Bay to review the municipal fire department and present a decade-long strategic plan for it to city council says he's examining all aspects of the service but adds his work is not solely focused on cuts.

"The city manager and anyone I've spoken to said this is not about cutting services," said Lyle Quan, the senior fire consultant for Emergency Management and Training the company doing the review. "This is about looking at the fire service as a whole: how good of a job is it doing? [Are] there areas for efficiencies?"

"If I come back with a report that says the fire service is doing an excellent job, this is why it's doing an excellent job and we're not recommending any cuts, that's OK."

City officials say Thunder Bay Fire Rescue is overdue for a new strategic plan to guide how the service expects to operate and what to prioritize over the next decade. Development and emergency services general manager Mark Smith said that, while he doesn't "want to jump to the finish line until we've done the work," the review is "looking for any opportunities that are out there in terms of cost containment and savings."

Smith said that the review is examining things like what the fire department does and how, existing standards and procedures as well as the equipment used. Quan added that the department's footprint in the city how many fire halls and where they're located is also being examined.

The consulting team held an open house in Thunder Bay on June 18 to get feedback from the public on the fire department and the ongoing review. Quan said the review process will also include input from firefighting staff through internal surveys.

City officials "really want to know, based on good quantitative data, how the fire department is doing," Quan said.

"Based on our experience as a company that's done many fire service reviews over the years, do we see areas for improvement?"

Each fire service 'unique'

The purpose of the review isn't to develop a one-size-fits-all plan, Quan said.

"One of the things I tell all the clients that we have is each city and each fire service is unique within its own right," he said. "Thunder Bay is no exception."

Quan said, part of what Thunder Bay Fire Rescue has to deal with is that there are no other large neighbouring municipalities that can offer support with their own fire services, like in southern Ontario.

"We try not to look at a department through kind of a template or a boiler-plate kind of a review."

Smith said a draft of the new strategic plan, based on the consultant's review, will be presented to city council over the summer for review and, if necessary, modification, with a final plan scheduled to go back to council for adoption in the fall.