Lethbridge Fire Station 1. (Photo: Lethbridge News Now)

By David Opinko

Eight additional firefighters to be hired in Lethbridge

May 24, 2022 | 3:35 PM

LETHBRIDGE, AB – The City of Lethbridge has moved to bolster its fire service.

At the Tuesday, May 24, 2022, regular meeting of city council, members voted unanimously to approve the hiring and training of eight additional firefighters in 2022.

The $884,600 required for this will be funded through unspent operating dollars in Lethbridge Fire and Emergency Services (LFES), meaning that there will be no impacts on taxation or upcoming city budgets.

Back in 2014, LFES entered into a contract with Alberta Health Services (AHS), which allowed EMS personnel to aid in fire suppression. Due to changes in the EMS system since, paramedics are no longer able to aid firefighters in that way.

These changes, as outlined by the City of Lethbridge in a media release, include:

What's Happening in Lethbridge this weekend: April 19, 2024

3h ago

What's Happening in Lethbridge this week: April 15, 2024

Apr 15, 2024

Week-in-review: Street sweeping, policing in Coaldale and #SlowYourRoll

Apr 13, 2024

• Increased long-distance transfers
• Responding to emergency calls outside of Lethbridge
• Increased EMS call volumes
• Relocating LFES ambulances to outside communities as their ambulances are unavailable
• Loss of situational awareness of the LFES ambulances due to the loss of EMS dispatch to AHS
• No additional EMS resources added since 2015

In addition to hiring additional firefighters, the city also elected to move to a “parallel service” model for LFES. Greg Adair, Chief of LFES, says this will allow them to more adequately respond to emergency calls.

Adair thanked council for their commitment to maintaining strong staffing levels.

“To ensure a sustainable, safe and effective fire/rescue response force, LFES must continue to move forward with the implementation of a parallel fire/EMS system. Moving to a parallel service requires additional personnel to maintain the current service level,” says Adair.

LFES continues to transition from three-person to four-person fire apparatus, as previously directed by Council. This transition started in 2021 to ensure LFES has a standard deployment of 24 firefighters on each platoon.