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High Fire Risk Facilities to Come Under Stricter Inspection Requirements

Jun 3, 2016 | 12:13 PM

LETHBRIDGE – Lethbridge’s Fire and Emergency Services Quality Management Plan is about to undergo a long overdue update.

The document is part of an important accreditation process under the Safety Codes Act. It must outline the extent of safety services a municipality intends to provide.

Council agreed to move to a new matrix that ranks different facilities based on their risk, while maintaining current man power within the city’s fire department. (Pictured to the right)

“Firstly, it was from 2006, and so we thought that we should re-visit it,” noted Heath Wright, Chief Fire Marshal. “With the amount of infrastructure that’s going on in Lethbridge, we decided that we’d look at a way to streamline the process, so that we can work with the same amount of staff, and concentrate on the higher life safety facilities.”

Council had a lot of questions about residential areas, though. Wright added that the fire department has jurisdictional boundaries that only allows them to visit residences if there’s imminent danger, or upon request or complaint.

That being said, Wright ensured that they always have residences in mind, and will keep them as safe as possible.

Now that the plan has been approved by Lethbridge City Council, it will be sent to the provincial Safety Codes Council for final approval and accreditation.