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Fire inspections in Bashaw sparks heated debate

Burning issue among council is potential of duplicating service and costs
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Creating a balance between safety and not adding to the burdens of already somewhat strapped local businesses was at the heart of the discussion over inspection services in Bashaw.

At its Mar. 21 meeting, town council was asked to decide whether it wanted to simply renew the contract with IJD Inspections to keep conducting building, electrical, plumbing and gas inspections within Bashaw or put out a call to see if there is possibly a better deal to be had. The present contracted service agreement is set to expire in July.

However, with the departure from the fire department of the former chief, so went Bashaw’s ability to sign off on paperwork with regards to fire responses and fire inspections.

CAO Theresa Fuller further explained that since the department no longer had a certified fire safety codes officer, there is now no one to provide advice to town businesses on how to maintain and meet fire code standards.

This fact makes it harder to enforce these provisions, which directly relate to the safety of the public, employees and ultimately firefighters in the case of an incident.

Following an audit of the town’s inspection records and processes, it was recommended that contracted fire inspections be done at some of the higher risk businesses in town. Fuller added this being brought forward as information to see what the wishes of council may be.

And that’s when the discussion on fire inspections took off like an uncontrolled fireball.

Councillors Rob McDonald, Lynn Schultz and Darren Pearson all felt that forcing this on businesses is simply a duplication of a service that is already being done and an added cost no one needs.

Schultz was the first to speak up, focusing on the fact each of the supposed higher risk businesses or facilities carry fire insurance, which means they are required to pay for fire inspections already so why would the town impose yet another one on them.

“Anything that is a higher risk, they are being inspected pretty good,” he stated, “because of their insurance.”

Fuller did note not all of those type of inspections would cover everything, as it all depends on the operation and function of that particular business. She added there have been occasions the town has had fire inspections conducted on local businesses following concerns expressed by the fire department.

“In those inspections, there were significant contraventions found where exits were being blocked and areas were not being kept as clean as they could be from a fire perspective,” Fuller said.

“We could consider saying that we are not going to be fire accredited anymore and that we are not going to do it. Then it just kicks back to the province and other organizations.”

However, Fuller added that the safety of the town’s firefighters — having them know just what they are heading into — is another driving factor for having these fire inspections.

For McDonald, it’s more of an issue of seemingly picking on businesses that have annual inspections done and having them pay for it as well. However, after Fuller stated the town doesn’t know if those inspections are actually being done, he felt maybe start with the town requesting proof of those inspections.

“I just don’t think it’s fair to show up on someone’s doorstep and say we’re doing an inspection and oh, here’s the bill,” McDonald said. “It’s walking a really fine line here.”

Fuller acknowledged no one wants extra costs for what she described as evolutionary and safety purposes, but that annual inspections may have saved some businesses the added expense of being forced to fix long term concerns or experience catastrophic losses from a potentially preventable situation.

In the end, nothing was determined regarding the issue of fire inspections and council directed administration to request proposals for the town’s inspection contract.

Meanwhile, Coun. Rosella Peterman wondered if the town had an jurisdiction or mechanism to get those fire inspection reports considering the town has no business licence program or way of tracking businesses.

“The town has no grounds to request that,” Fuller said.

At that, McDonald asked on what grounds could the town have to send an inspector and they have to let them in.

“As per the law, we can,” Fuller noted.

“Not great for keeping businesses,” added Schultz, who was told it could take up to two years and cost into the thousands of dollars to have a firefighter trained and certified as a fire safety codes officer.

In the end, council felt it needs more information on just what a fire safety codes officer would do for the community.

As for the current inspection contract, council directed administration to put out a request for proposals.