Community Articles
General News · 20th February 2023
Chris Walker
The Cortes Island Volunteer Fire Department (CVFD) is administered by the Cortes Island Fire Fighting Association (CIFFA) who are funded by Cortes Island residents via the Strathcona Regional District (SRD). CIFFA proposes a budget each year to the SRD and the Cortes community.
Our proposed budget for the CVFD is increasing significantly. In 2022 our actual expenses for Fire Fighting and First Responder were around $271,000 and for 2023 we are proposing a budget of $411,000.
Since the origin of fire fighting on Cortes the fire department has been managed by CIFFA. This is a community-run society with a board of directors elected by Cortesians. We’ve always been a volunteer fire department with around 95% of our human resources coming from volunteers. This has kept the cost of fire fighting on our island very low. However, due to circumstances outside of our control, the budget needs to increase significantly for 2023.
There are two main reasons our operating budget has to be larger: increased regulation and inflation.
Increased Regulation (Training, Duty Officers, Fire Chief)
Every fire department in BC has to meet the provincial standards, even very small ones like ours. Recently, the province has come out with a new training standard that fire departments must implement within the next year. CIFFA agrees with these new regulations and higher standards, but they are significantly increasing our operating costs in terms of training and salaries.
In advance of March 2024, we will be required to have completed new training for all drivers, team leaders, and incident commanders. To meet the increasing training demands, CIFFA proposes hiring a part time training officer. In 2023, our costs for training are projected to increase 221% over last year in order to remain in compliance.
Our fire department has to have a Duty Officer on call 24/7 who is able to respond within 5 minutes to any emergency. This responsibility is normally shared between the Chief and qualified Senior Officers. This position requires significant extra training and experience, and carries great responsibility. Most volunteer fire departments offer a daily honorarium for being on call, including ours. In 2022, we increased the honorarium from $100 to $150 per day, and are now proposing to increase that payment to $200 per 24 hour shift. Being a Duty Officer has an impact on the individual’s regular employment. In recognition of this, we are working to offer an amount that makes this commitment worthwhile. We are hoping that this increase will help incentivize more members to take on the training, responsibility, and time commitment associated with the position.
We are currently seeking a new Fire Chief, and we may need to increase the salary offer to $90K or more in order to attract a qualified applicant, and in order to match the Chief salary being offered at comparable departments. For comparison, a firefighter in Campbell River can make upwards of $120K a year.
Due to a change in regulations, we must replace all our Self-Contained Breathing Apparatus (SCBA) at a cost over just over $100k. We were successful in accessing grant money to cover 90% of this expense but will still need extra funding for the complete purchase. The new SCBAs require a new compressor station. We are also required to install new ventilation and air filtration systems for both fire halls. These upgrades are not discretionary and the regulators are steadily ramping up their requirements.
Inflation (Operating Costs and Equipment)
Rising costs have affected everyone over the past few years, including the fire service sector. For example, the cost of turnout gear has increased 12% this year, and our fuel costs in 2022 were almost double what we budgeted at the beginning of the year. Our capital budget also needs to increase, in relation to the increased cost of goods and services.
The CIFFA board, the volunteers and the officers are Cortes residents. We are your neighbours and co-workers. We want to avoid cost increases as much as anyone else but fire fighting is simply becoming a lot more expensive and if we want the same high quality service while maintaining our accreditation we need to spend more money. It's that simple.
We will soon be announcing a date for a budget meeting open house to be held at Hall 1.
Yours truly,
The Cortes Island Fire Fighting Association board of directors
Our proposed budget for the CVFD is increasing significantly. In 2022 our actual expenses for Fire Fighting and First Responder were around $271,000 and for 2023 we are proposing a budget of $411,000.
Since the origin of fire fighting on Cortes the fire department has been managed by CIFFA. This is a community-run society with a board of directors elected by Cortesians. We’ve always been a volunteer fire department with around 95% of our human resources coming from volunteers. This has kept the cost of fire fighting on our island very low. However, due to circumstances outside of our control, the budget needs to increase significantly for 2023.
There are two main reasons our operating budget has to be larger: increased regulation and inflation.
Increased Regulation (Training, Duty Officers, Fire Chief)
Every fire department in BC has to meet the provincial standards, even very small ones like ours. Recently, the province has come out with a new training standard that fire departments must implement within the next year. CIFFA agrees with these new regulations and higher standards, but they are significantly increasing our operating costs in terms of training and salaries.
In advance of March 2024, we will be required to have completed new training for all drivers, team leaders, and incident commanders. To meet the increasing training demands, CIFFA proposes hiring a part time training officer. In 2023, our costs for training are projected to increase 221% over last year in order to remain in compliance.
Our fire department has to have a Duty Officer on call 24/7 who is able to respond within 5 minutes to any emergency. This responsibility is normally shared between the Chief and qualified Senior Officers. This position requires significant extra training and experience, and carries great responsibility. Most volunteer fire departments offer a daily honorarium for being on call, including ours. In 2022, we increased the honorarium from $100 to $150 per day, and are now proposing to increase that payment to $200 per 24 hour shift. Being a Duty Officer has an impact on the individual’s regular employment. In recognition of this, we are working to offer an amount that makes this commitment worthwhile. We are hoping that this increase will help incentivize more members to take on the training, responsibility, and time commitment associated with the position.
We are currently seeking a new Fire Chief, and we may need to increase the salary offer to $90K or more in order to attract a qualified applicant, and in order to match the Chief salary being offered at comparable departments. For comparison, a firefighter in Campbell River can make upwards of $120K a year.
Due to a change in regulations, we must replace all our Self-Contained Breathing Apparatus (SCBA) at a cost over just over $100k. We were successful in accessing grant money to cover 90% of this expense but will still need extra funding for the complete purchase. The new SCBAs require a new compressor station. We are also required to install new ventilation and air filtration systems for both fire halls. These upgrades are not discretionary and the regulators are steadily ramping up their requirements.
Inflation (Operating Costs and Equipment)
Rising costs have affected everyone over the past few years, including the fire service sector. For example, the cost of turnout gear has increased 12% this year, and our fuel costs in 2022 were almost double what we budgeted at the beginning of the year. Our capital budget also needs to increase, in relation to the increased cost of goods and services.
The CIFFA board, the volunteers and the officers are Cortes residents. We are your neighbours and co-workers. We want to avoid cost increases as much as anyone else but fire fighting is simply becoming a lot more expensive and if we want the same high quality service while maintaining our accreditation we need to spend more money. It's that simple.
We will soon be announcing a date for a budget meeting open house to be held at Hall 1.
Yours truly,
The Cortes Island Fire Fighting Association board of directors
