Campbell River's professional firefighters' union is refuting several statements made by a city councillor in a social media video where he discusses the staffing shortages in the fire department.
On Jan. 3, Coun. Sean Smyth posted a video to social media saying he was responding to reactions about the city's firefighter department being understaffed. Under the current model, Smyth said he thinks the department is understaffed.
"Here's the struggle," he said. "The firefighter department is the biggest cost we have in our budget. This year, we've made cuts to almost every department in city hall, and we made big cuts to the non-profits – it wasn't easy to do."
Smyth goes on to say that adding more firefighting staff would lead to a "double-digit tax increase."
"This comes at a time when we no longer have an industrial requirement to have a full-time requirement," Smyth said. "Every other municipality in B.C. – the size of Campbell River and larger – runs a paid on-call model."
A paid on-call model compensates a firefighters based on their attendance to calls and practices.
Reacting to the post, the Campbell River Professional Fire Fighters IAFF 1668 pointed out on Facebook that the RCMP's budget is the highest at about $11.4 million or 11 per cent – not the fire department, which is $6.7 million, or 6.5 per cent, of the city's budget.
"Emergency services are a significant expense, but also provide a critical service," reads the union’s post. The union adds that municipal fire departments typically receive 10 per cent of city funds.
The union has said the city's fire department requires about two or three more full-time firefighters to manage the roughly 5,000 overtime hours accrued by unplanned absences, which reflects the total hours overtime hours in 2024.
In the social media post, the union says staffing the No. 2 fire hall at Willow Point 24/7 requires 14 additional firefighters. According to the 2025 budget, one per cent of tax is equal to $425k, so one new professional firefighter would equal to 0.36 per cent of tax.
"This staffing would be a five per cent tax increase, not double digits," reads the post. "Our suggestion is to spread this over several years with a phased-approach strategy."
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Finally, in response to Smyth's comment about other municipalities of a similar size to Campbell River or larger adopting the paid on-call model (POC) rather than a composite or full career model, the union provided a list of B.C. municipalities with comparable populations – none of which have a full POC model.
The list includes Langford, which has a population of 46,584, with 35 full-time career firefighters; Vernon, with a population of 43,420, with 35 career firefighters; and West Vancouver, with a population of 42,112, which has 96 career firefighters. The list includes several others. Campbell River, with a population of 40,494, has 26 career firefighters.
Jesse Challoner, president of the Campbell River Professional Fire Fighters Association, told the Mirror Campbell River's neighbour to the south, Courtenay, is often used as an example of a city with a paid on-call model. But he said that fire department has eight career members.
"The big factor is that Courtenay happens to have an air force base five minutes up the road that has 40 career firefighters that have a mutual aid agreement," Challoner said. "Any time there is a significant structure fire in the Comox Valley, they have 40 career firefighters, alone, from the Canadian Forces, that help them fight fires."
The Mirror contacted Coun. Smyth for a comment but did not hear back with a comment before publication. The city is creating a Fire Master Plan for Campbell River later in 2025.
