A proposed shake-up of the fire service in a rural Manitoba municipality is drawing mixed reactions from the people who run its fire halls. The Rural Municipality of Prairie Lakes is weighing a move to a single fire chief who would oversee three separate communities, a change that would fold the leadership of three departments into one and could take effect as early as September.
The idea is not entirely new. According to CBC News, the plan to have one fire chief oversee the three communities was pitched by the previous council but was extinguished before it took hold. Now it is back on the table, with Reeve Seymour saying this is the time to cut costs by sharing tanker and rescue trucks, along with certain volunteer firefighters who have taken additional training.
Seymour was quick to try to calm fears about what the change would mean for the local halls themselves. "There is this misconception that we want to get rid of or downsize a couple of the halls," the reeve said. "That is not in the works at this point," stressing that the proposal is about leadership and shared resources rather than closing any of the existing stations.
Even so, there are real concerns about amalgamating the three fire departments in Ninette, Belmont and Dunrea. One of the chiefs summed up the resistance with a familiar phrase, saying that if it ain't broke, don't fix it. "We still haven't received a really good answer of why they want just one chief," he said, warning that the change was "going to destroy the morale in some places."
That skepticism was echoed by Belmont's Rod Durham, who has served as fire chief there for the past six years and said he feels the same way about the proposal. "To me that's just not right," Durham said, explaining that a local chief knows exactly what he has in his own hall. He made clear he was not comfortable with a setup where he would be telling everybody what to do, adding, "No, that's not me."
Not everyone is opposed, however. Ninette's fire chief is interested in applying for the new job and sees the upside in bringing the departments together. "Amalgamation to me is a great idea," he said. "It's going to be a few little glitches off the start making sure everybody cooperates. But from that point on, I think it's going to be fine."
For now, the decision rests with local officials. Moving to a one fire chief system involves a bylaw change by the RM of Prairie Lakes Council, and it could happen as early as September. Until then, the three halls in Ninette, Belmont and Dunrea continue to operate under their own chiefs while the debate over shared leadership plays out.