Concerned residents have called a meeting for Thanksgiving Monday after the resignation of volunteer firefighters in Connaught.
According to a Facebook post, the Oct. 8 meeting at the Hoyle Community Centre is “to discuss our concerns and how to proceed with rectifying this situation.” It starts at 7 p.m.
Earlier today, Timmins CAO Dave Landers confirmed that eight volunteers at the station resigned yesterday.
Since then, Mayor Steve Black said the volunteers and the city met. He said they are going to work and will be responding to emergencies.
He said the decision shows how much they care for that part of the community.
In the social media post from residents announcing the public meeting, it said that the resignation of the volunteers was because of the “unjustified termination” of the station’s chief.
“As residents of the area we need to band together in support of the volunteers,” it reads.
Although the volunteers are returning, the Monday meeting is still happening.
The city employs full time professional firefighters, and there are also six volunteer stations.
Landers confirmed that “there have been a few individuals released from the volunteer fire system within Timmins.”
Because it’s a human resources matter, however, he couldn’t speak to the specifics.
“We’ve made some internal staffing changes that we feel are warranted and put in some administrative changes to reflect best practices in public sector organizations like transparency and accountability,” he said.
He also confirmed that he received the resignation of the eight volunteers at the Connaught station.
He said he’s reached out to the volunteers to address the concerns.
“I’m hoping that I’ll be able to meet with the volunteers to talk about this at greater length and I appreciate the fact that they were up front because when the bell goes we need to know who’s going to respond to the call. And they let us know and so we’re able to make sure that we can provide a reliable fire service in the absence of their attendance, so their candour is appreciated,” said Landers.
For the City of Timmins, he said it’s business as usual.
“The rest of our force is still active, the volunteers in Whitney are dispatched to calls in Connaught and the response times will likely remain the same. So we will continue to deliver a full level of service as usual while we work on this matter,” he said.
He added that two weeks ago, if there was a call in Connaught, Whitney would respond as well.
“As of right now it would be only Whitney that would be responding, depending on what would be required though apparatus from Timmins might be sent to the scene as well to support it or South Porcupine might be dispatched to provide some backup services,” he said.
