Denbigh Fire Station May Close Says Fire Chief

Craig Bakay | Feb 08, 2023

Although the Jan. 31 special meeting of Addington Highlands Council was billed as a “General Discussion on Strategic Priorities,” nobody expected the bombshell that Fire Chief/Community Emergency Management Coordinator Casey Cuddy dropped when the discussion turned to Emergency Services, Planning and Management.

Following a presentation from three OPP officers, a discussion on Health Services and Doctor Recruitment and Affordable Housing, Cuddy laid out the situation regarding the Denbigh Fire Department.

“You want me to be a doomsday person tonight?” Cuddy said. “With mandatory certification for firefighters, I don’t know that you’re going to have a fire department up there in two years time.

“Unless we find some people that want to take all of the courses.”

Under Ontario Regulation 343/22 made under the Fire Protection and Prevention Act, all firefighters must be certified by July 1, 2026.

“Unfortunately, you don’t have the population to draw from in the north end of the Township,” Cuddy said. “A lot of the able-bodied people in the area work out of the Township and just don’t have the time it takes to take all of these courses they’re going to have to take to become certified.”

“We can’t be alone in this,” said Dep. Reeve Tony Fritsch. “There’s a lot more to rural Ontario than Ward 1.”

Cuddy said he’s asked the Fire Marshall’s office if there are options here such as having some members of the department available only for medical calls (which have more than doubled in the last two years) but he’s not getting any answers.

“You must have a fire prevention program but not a fire suppression program,” he said. “To have a department that can attack fires, you have to have 10 certified firefighters, and that’s if you have hydrants — which we don’t, so you also have to have people trained to operate tankers.”

He said the current situation can’t wait until the last minute because certification can take up to six months.

“If we can’t be a fire department, can we be a first response department?” he said. “I know other chiefs have talked about closing down departments.”

If the Denbigh department were to close, calls would have to be handled from the Northbrook department.

“The worst situation with that is that would be people trapped in a car wreck waiting for Kaladar/Northbrook to get to Denbigh (more than 30 minutes depending on location).”

Cuddy said losing the Denbigh Fire Department is a real possibility.

“I saw what happened to the ambulance service up there and I don’t want that to happen to the fire department,” he said. “I know it’s a challenge for some people (the courses) because it’s schoolwork but maybe there are some people in the Denbigh area who haven’t considered joining the fire department who might consider it now.”

Doctor Retention

Like just about every other rural municipality, Addington Highlands is facing a doctor shortage.

The staff report included in the agenda said there are more than 700 residents without a family doctor. The Lakelands Family Health Team has two doctors but both would like to retire soon.

Council asked for a meeting with the health team to discuss measures for doctor recruitment.

Emergency Prepardness

Further with emergency services, Fire Chief/Emergency Management Coordinator Casey Cuddy said they’ve drafted a brochure outlining emergency procedures and preparation suggestions that should be available soon.

When told that information is on the Township website, Cuddy responded: “depending on the emergency, the power most often goes out too, making it very difficult to access the Internet.”

Short Term Rentals

When the subject turned to short-term rentals (which Reeve Henry Hogg called his “our favourite subject”) Council didn’t seem to think a bylaw regulating such things was necessary just yet.

“We did print up a ‘renters guide’ which has proven quite popular,” Hogg said.

The Township office gave out about 90 renters guide last season.

Special Meeting

Council planned one more special meeting (Feb. 7 at 5 p.m. in Flinton) with discussions on a Communication and Ratepayer Interface, Roads and Waste Sites, Community Facilities, Parks and Playgrounds, Tax Rates, Economic Development, Cell Coverage and Broadband, and Organizational Structure and Staffing.