Athabasca County Fire Services delivers an essential public service, helping make Athabasca County a safer place to live, work, and play. The services provided by Athabasca County Fire Services are essential in responding to fire, rescue, and emergency situations, fire prevention, public education, and in responding to life threatening emergency medical situations in an assistance role. The role and expectations placed on Athabasca County Fire Service has also evolved to include responding to disasters when requested and fostering increased positive partnerships both inside and outside of our County borders. To ensure that the service continues to deliver the best possible service and to find areas that require improvement, a Fire Services Review was required in order build the Fire Services Master Plan.
At the June 29th County Council Meeting, Council approved the Regional Fire Services Review and Master plan. These documents are the beginning steps to ensure that the fire services within the region can grow and continue to provide the best possible service for the community.
In June 2022, Athabasca County requested Transitional Solutions Inc. to conduct a Regional Fire Services Review. The purpose of the review was to provide guidance and ensure that the area’s fire service providers are well positioned to achieve a service that meets the community’s expectations. After several months of research and review, TSI compiled a list of 78 recommendations for consideration to support fire service capacity for Athabasca County.
The recommendations from the review have been analyzed and utilized in updating of the Fire Services Master Plan. As the recommendations from the review are put into actions and practice through the Master Plan, it will ensure a more uniform quality of fire protection for the entire county and give direction in moving forward for a fully integrated and standardized County Fire Services.
“The more we are able to train together, the more we are able to work together. If you trained with the same people, then you know you can do the same things on the fireground. Training together builds trust.”
Steve Hamilton, Interim Regional Fire Chief
The Master Plan is the long-term vision and guiding document for the fire services moving forward. The goals presented are the groundwork for the future of the Fire Services, ensuring that the right equipment and training are available for volunteers to help build for tomorrow. Athabasca County wants to ensure that the volunteer firefighters within the region are supported now and into the future.
“The Fire Services Master Plan is a living document. It will adapt to the needs of the County as they change. I think we are really fortunate to have dedicated volunteers who are committed to training. We are already seeing indications that the strong leadership at the local level is driving renewed interest in volunteering, which is reason for us all to be optimistic. Council is committed to emergency services within the County.”
Brian Hall, Athabasca County Reeve
The Fire Services Review and Master Plan are available to view at Athabascacounty.com.
