The Municipality of Lakeshore's Fire Service is converting 10 unfilled volunteer positions to two full-time positions, signaling a strategic shift away from a fully volunteer department. The move aims to provide more consistent coverage, especially during daytime business hours, and is expected to be completed by the fourth quarter of this year.
Recruitment and Retention Challenges
Fire Chief Jason Suchiu told the April 28 council meeting that the service faces significant challenges in recruiting and retaining volunteer firefighters to maintain its contingent of 100 volunteers across five fire stations. Increasing call volumes and stricter provincial training and certification requirements have made it difficult to keep a fully staffed daytime contingent ready to respond to emergencies.
“The demands on these individuals have changed significantly in the last four or five years,” Suchiu said. “Volunteer firefighters are juggling full-time jobs or family commitments during the day, which is precisely when we are most challenged to have sufficient staff to attend to emergencies.”
Call Volume and Response Standards
Of the approximately 700 responses each year, nearly half occur between 8 a.m. and 4 p.m. About 67 percent of calls are related to rescues, alarm activations, and fire-related incidents. Typically, only one out of every two or three volunteer firefighters is available to respond at any given time.
Under the National Fire Protection Association's NFPA 1720 standards, most of Lakeshore—classified as a rural municipality—should have a minimum of six staff responding within 14 minutes, 80 percent of the time. The department is currently not meeting this standard, especially during daytime hours. Some areas of Lakeshore qualify for suburban criteria, which have even stricter response requirements.
Current Staffing and New Hires
To attempt to meet response times, Suchiu, deputy fire chiefs, and training officers have personally responded to calls, pulling them away from administrative duties. The department currently has one full-time firefighter, hired in January. The two new full-time positions will be filled from the existing volunteer pool.
In recent years, the department has struggled to maintain its goal of 100 volunteer firefighters. Volunteers must complete over 400 hours of training over 18 to 24 months to meet certification standards.
Community Motivation
Suchiu emphasized that volunteers are primarily motivated by a desire to help their community and often assist people they know. “It is a lot to do with wanting to help people in the community,” he said. “But I think it goes bigger than that. In areas like Lakeshore, these are neighbours, family members, and friends that our staff go to help.”
