The South Porcupine Fire Department held an open house on Wednesday evening hoping put out the flames of ignorance and misunderstanding. What ensued turned into a civil, yet heated grill session of one member of council.
The whole reason behind the open house stems from bold comments made by Councillor Veronica Farrell at last week's council meeting. In a tight and hotly contested 5-4 decision, council voted to approve spending $2 million dollars to build a new fire hall on the campus of Northern College on Highway 101 East. A brand new emergency services training facility will be funded with major assistance from upper levels of government on the site, and it was deemed to be a good deal for the city to get a new, modern station for the $2 million investment. Four members of council - Pat Bamford, Mike Doody, Andrew Marks, and Farrell, along with Mayor Steve Black approved the deal.
The Whitney Fire Department, which is currently located on Dixon Street in Porcupine, will be relocated to the campus station 2.5 kilometres west. It will put the department within a kilometre and a half of the South Porcupine department. Northern College is essentially the boundary between the two departments, and this has raised major concerns over response times, particularly for residents east of the Porcupine bridge on Highway 101, where Timmins Fire Chief Mike Pintar said up to 75 percent of calls for the department originate.
Farrell told a large contingent of volunteer firefighters from South Porcupine last week that they will likely be forced to amalgamate to the campus station sometime in the not so distant future.
"It's going to happen. Because your building is going to start to have problems, and its going to work out that its going to be a place where you guys are going to have to go. Its not going to be a decision that you guys are going to make, its going to be a decision that we as a council will make. That's how I look at it. We're not told what to do. We try to listen to what you have to say, give you our opinion, and we try to make the right decision. And we like to be respected for the decision that we make," said Farrell.
The comments irked the entire gallery, and were referenced a number of times on Wednesday evening by firefighters and local residents.
A crowd of approximately 60 people were gathered on the upper floor of the station by 6 p.m. Four members of council in total attended. Three who voted against the $2 million expenditure - Rick Dubeau, Joe Campbell, and Walter Wawrzaszek, and one who voted in favor - Pat Bamford, who later said he knew he would be heckled, attended. New city CAO Dave Landers was also on hand.
According to SPFD Captain Tim Miller, Mayor Steve Black sent them an e-mail earlier in the day which stated that he was unable to attend due to a vacation, but that he would never vote for the amalgamation of the two departments.
Miller said the department has been getting a lot of support on social media since announcing the open house, adding that they handed out flyers during this weekend's Winter Carnival. He was pleased with the turnout.
"We're getting rid of a lot of misconceptions. A lot of people believed that we were a full-time hall. Now they understand that we're volunteers. They got to see the services that we can offer, and they understand what we're fighting for," he told TimminsToday.
"For some people its hard to believe that they want to possibly take away something that they're almost getting for free."
The South Porcupine Fire Department, which is run solely by a team of 30 volunteers currently, was founded in 1912. On the roster is a combined 385 years of firefighting experience, which averages 13 years per member. It currently costs somewhere between $12,000 and $20,00 annually to operate.
On Wednesday night, Pintar answered an audience question by revealing that there is no logistical way that the two east end departments could fit at the Northern College hall anyway.
"This design of this one was toned down from the original plan of amalgamation last year, when it was turned down. It's down a bay, and down in square footage, so it just suits the Whitney Hall. If there was an amalgamation, it wouldn't be enough. You won't have room for all the trucks," said Pintar.
Councillor Pat Bamford was still peppered with questions after stepping away from the microphone. He knew from the get go, he'd been in for a tough night. Andrew Autio for TimminsToday Bamford was picked out of the crowd and goaded into stepping up to the microphone to answer pointed questions by surly-adjacent audience members. He did his best to cool the hostility towards Farrell. He bizarrely claimed he 'didn't hear' her comments, but said that Farrell was merely responding to an editorial column in a local newspaper. The crowd didn't buy it.
Video clearly shows Farrell directly addressing the volunteer firefighters.
"Speaking for myself, I have heard nothing like that, and Mrs. Farrell, as far as I can tell, was reacting to the editorial where she's affirming council is boss. But I'm also affirming that the intention of council, as far as I can tell, is not to shut this place down," said Bamford.
Another question came from the audience.
"How do you support spending $2 million dollars that we don't have?" said the man.
"I'm not going to get into this," replied Bamford.
"Why not?" said an audience member.
"Because the decision has been made," said Bamford.
This led to a chorus of jeers and verbal jabs, which prompted Bamford to walk away from the microphone.
"You're the one that pushed for this. Excuse me, we're not finished with you," yelled a woman. "Hello? You are hard of hearing then," she continued.
Miller made it clear the purpose of the evening was not to 'bash' the Whitney Fire Department, and made it clear the two crews can indeed 'play together in the sandbox'. Members from all local stations, Whitney, Connaught, Schumacher, Mountjoy, and Timmins were on hand to show support and solidarity. A petition was also available which had many people rushing to sign it.
Miller also saw a potential silver lining to council's decision.
"We might be in the Guinness Book of World Records for having the two closest fire halls. You never know," he said.
