The Edmonton fire department is having trouble meeting its response-time goals in many fast-growing suburbs near the outskirts of the city.
The goal is to reach the scene of a fire, accident or other emergency call within seven minutes, 90 per cent of the time.
The most recent statistics, from 2013, show the department reaches that goal on 78 per cent of calls. That’s up from 74 per cent in 2009.
The biggest problems are in newer neighbourhoods. In Windermere, for example, the department met its seven-minute goal just 10 per cent of the time. In other areas of the southwest, the department’s response times met the target on about 20 to 40 per cent of calls.
It takes ninety seconds for a call to be dispatched, and another ninety seconds for firefighters to roll out of the hall. That leaves just four minutes of travel time to meet the seven-minute goal.
Fire Chief Ken Block said the department is struggling with the city’s growth, especially in reaching areas outside the Anthony Henday ring-road.
“The good news is, the frequency of calls in those areas is very low. We may only go to two or three responses in a given year. If you have a incident … response times are important.
“I want to assure people that we do deliver a very good level of service,” he said. “Is there room to improve? Yes.”
Edmonton grew by 60,000 people over the last two years. That growth puts tremendous pressures on all city services, including the fire department.
Block credited city council with doing a good job in balancing the need for more services against the public demand for smaller tax increases.
“The reason we’ve been able to maintain and actually improve our first-unit response time over the last five years is through the investment the city has made,” he said.
