A report outlining plans for fire and emergency services in Chatham-Kent for the next decade is coming to council in the new year.
The Chatham-Kent Fire and Rescue Service master plan will look at every aspect of the fire department in CK. It will aim to support fire risk reduction and mitigation through public education and prevention, fire safety standards and code enforcement, and emergency response.
The report is currently being drafted by Dillon Consulting.
“They’ll be coming to council with a report detailing some of the things we need to change, some of the things we need to do. Because the one thing that we’ve continued to see throughout 2023 is high levels of growth,” said Fire Chief Chris Case. “I believe we’re something like 400 per cent above our provincial targets in terms of home building and that doesn’t show any signs of slowing down.”
Taking into account CK’s growing population and infrastructure, Case said the master plan will make several recommendations about additional personnel and equipment that may be need.
“We need to be ready to have an efficient and adequate fire and rescue service so we can not only look after the Chatham-Kent of today, but we’ll also be ready to deal with the Chatham-Kent in 10 to 20 year’s time,” said Case.
The report, which has been in development for the last three years, is expected to be delivered to CK Council for consideration sometime in the first quarter of 2024.
“We then have to go away to create a plan to implement it,” said Case. “We’ll have to put a lot of resources into planning and budgeting how we’re going to do this, to ensure that we can provide that level of service that’s recommended.”
The local community was given the opportunity to provide input on the master plan back later 2021. Over 290 people completed the online survey.
