Future of Denbigh Fire Department In Question

Craig Bakay | Oct 25, 2023

There were two requests for Town Hall Meetings at the Oct. 17 regular meeting of Addington Highlands Council in Denbigh.

Council didn’t say no to Stephanie Marrisett’s request for a meeting on the Township’s proposed Unreasonable Behaviour policy but nobody moved a date or place either.

However, Fire Chief Casey Cuddy’s request for a meeting on the fate of the Denbigh Fire Department and mandatory certification looks like it will happen sometime in mid-January.

Then again, the suggestion did come from CAO/Clerk-Treasurer Christine Reed and Reeve Henry Hogg.

“We just thought we have to do something, start somewhere, otherwise we would be disbanding it,” Hogg said.

“I don’t want to see it gone by any means but under the legislation, we need to make some changes,” Cuddy said.

In his report, Cuddy said that Regulation 343/22 under the Fire Protection and Prevention Act came into effect last year requiring all firefighters be certified to the level of service provided or performed by the firefighter by July1, 2026. This means that a firefighter that provides exterior attack suppression only need to be certified to NFPA 1001 ff1 but a firefighter that provides interior attack must be certified to NFPA 1001 ff2. Every firefighter must be under the supervision of a certified officer NFPA 1021 and there are also requirements for certified pump operators, safety officers, hazardous materials response and auto extrication.

“Currently we have four fire department members that were grandfathered into certification equivalence of ff2 back in 2018 that are still with the department,” Cuddy said. “There does not seem to be much interest in taking the required courses and exams by the few members that are physically able to.

“Since the announcement (threat! sic) that the department may not be able to continue once the regulation comes into effect, there have only been a couple of expressions of interest in joining the department.

“This Town Hall would provide us with an indication on whether a fire department can be sustained in the Denbigh area or if we need to look at alternatives.”

Cuddy said they do have a number of members trained for medical assist and forest fires.

As for Marrisett’s request, Council passed a motion to ‘receive’ the request.

Marrisett said that initially her thinking was that the public could voice their concerns and/or support for this policy.

“I have spoken to people that are in favour of it,” she said.

She also said that a Town Hall would be good for the Township and Council to outline what the actual procedure would be.

“I think you would really struggle to describe every situation and how you would apply it,” said Dep. Reeve Tony Fritsch. “There may be some principles established in a document but the application of it is situation dependent.

“The document is relatively short and sweet but expanding it would probably not make it any clearer.”

Fritsch said that if a member of the public felt the policy was applied with “ill intent” they could always come to council with that concern, just as they could with any other Township policy.”

“I don’t think you’re going to learn anything new from a Town Hall,” said Coun. Ken Hook.

Northbrook ATM

CAO/Clerk-Treasurer Christine Reed reported that the Bank of Montreal building in Northbrook has been sold and the new owners “have committed to keeping an ATM there.”

Coun. Ken Hook said that the new owners are realtors Denise and Mark Brundage.

Denbigh Playground

CAO/Clerk-Treasurer Christine Reed reported that the Township’s application for an Ontario Trillium Foundation Capital Stream grant for the installation of playground equipment at Heritage Park in Denbigh was unsuccessful. Reed said the Trillium Foundation will be hosting an online session on how to make successful grant applications and the Township will be participating.

Road Report

Roads and Waste Manager Brett Reavie submitted third quarter budget summaries showing that spending is well within budget for both roads and waste.

The roads budget is at 63 per cent ($1,499,820.06) of a $2,368,600 budget.

The waste budget is at 69 per cent ($606,676.60) of an $878,605 budget.

The highest roads spending in recent years was 2021 when $2,449,430.51 was spent on a $2,206,568 budget.

For waste, 2019 was the highest year when $1,327,380 was spent on a $1,800,000 budget.