Communicator

COMMUNICATOR 27 ©DarrenRD trends. A national office would pull data from all the provinces and territories and develop the narrative from a national per- spective. That's important, and currently it's absent in Canada." Peter Sells, a retired district fire chief and president of NivoNuvo Consulting Inc., a company specializing in fire service manage- ment, says a lack of resources is a big chal- lenge for many municipal fire services. "Wealthier municipalities tend to have well- staffed and well-equipped fire services, but those that lack financial resources often do not, which means poorer communities can be more vulnerable to fires," he says. Sells is also concerned about the dispar- ities of service levels between provinces and territories and within provinces and territor- ies. "If a bad thing happens in the wrong place in Canada, fire services may be over- whelmed beyond their capacity to respond, and support from regional or provincial resources may be too little too late," he adds. Sells believes senior levels of government should be more involved in ensuring that have-not communities get the funding they need to establish a fire service that is adequately staffed and equipped. He agrees that Canada could benefit from a federal office similar to the U.S. Fire Administration. More resources for fire services, particu- larly in smaller communities and rural areas, is something that Graham Pawlett, president of the Canadian Volunteer Fire Services Association and a 30-year volunteer with Port Moody Fire Rescue in British Columbia, would welcome. Training and equipping volunteer fire services is a big challenge, he says. "Career departments are able to spend multiple hours each shift reviewing and training, but a typical volunteer department will have a practice night only once a week where they can train for two or three hours," adds Pawlett. "They also often lack the specialized training and equipment to deal with some situations. You have to keep in mind that incidents like the train derailment in Lac- Mégantic could potentially happen anywhere in the country and would no doubt push local volunteer fire departments to their limits." He points out that 80,000 of Canada's 106,000 firefighters are volunteers, and it's a tough job to retain them and keep them motivated. "Many of our customers – every pulp and paper mill, every manufacturer or gas plant – has emergency response and fire services needs and we are able to help with that… Motion Canada can provide almost anything except fire trucks" ~ Matt Gordon, Motion Canada's fire services specialist T h e FO R T M cM U RR AY FIRE by t h e N U M B ER S B ASED ON INFORMATION from Catastrophe Indices and Quantification Inc. (CatIQ), which provides detailed analytical and meteorological information on Canadian natural and man-made catastrophes, the Insurance Bureau of Canada says the May 2016 northern Alberta wildfire was by far the costliest insured natural disaster in Canadian history. $3.58 billion Estimated insured property damage 27,000 Personal property claims $81,000 Average amount of personal property claims 12,000+ Auto insurance claims $15,000 Average amount of auto claims 5,000+ Commercial insurance claims $227,000 Average amount of commercial claims @

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