The City of Revelstoke Fire Department service review initiated in February of this year is now complete and contains 26 recommendations. The Davis Consulting Group, the successful proponent amongst the thirteen received, divided the recommendations between council and administration. Recommendations were based on expected service levels as determined by Council.
The goal of the review was to prepare recommendations on means to improve the overall effectiveness of the Fire Department in a cost effective manner, while continuing to provide the quality services citizens expect.
In summary, it was recommended that Council approve services and service level that include:
*Continuation of 24/7 dispatch
*General response time for first pump/engine on scene within 8 minutes, 80% of the time
*Medical first response for life threatening calls
Other recommendations to Council include:
*Limiting response to structures fires outside city limits to those that receive matching fire inspections as those within the city.
*An increase in the number of volunteer positions
*Adoption of a policy of providing NFPA standard training.
Some key recommendations to administration include reporting protocols, enlisting community leaders to assist in volunteer recruiting, training improvements, implementation of rank structure, policy development and data collection.
Mayor David Raven, in commenting on this review stated, “It was our responsibility to ensure that we left no stone unturned when looking at ways to improve our services to our citizens, as well as our bottom line. Council asked for this external review to provide an objective opinion about what’s working well and what needs to change in order to provide the best value to our community. The report makes some great recommendations that will assist Council and the Fire Chief in improving the services we provide today”.
The operational review looked at all aspects of the Department’s operations; for example, a review of shift patterns, changes to the current Fire Service delivery model, a comparison to services provided by comparator communities, fire equipment replacement plans and impacts of the Fire Underwriters Survey rating.
Fire Chief, Rob Girard commented that, “Revelstoke Fire Rescue Services has an outstanding history of providing good emergency services for our community and the 26 recommendations contained in this report is a positive step forward. Simply put, it makes something good that much better with regards to the emergency services we provide our community”.

Roger Echlin, President of the Local Interior Association of Fire Fighters, stated that “Our membership is encouraged to see one of the key recommendations in the review is maintaining the current level of career staffing and are happy this process is behind us so we can move forward in working with management to implement the positive recommendations in the report and continue to provide a quality service the citizens of Revelstoke deserve.”.

Volunteer Firefighter and President of the Revelstoke Fire Rescue Society Brad Faucett, said “the Revelstoke Volunteer Firefighters are pleased with the completion of the review and the resulting recommendations. We are encouraged to be able to continue our work alongside the career staff, and look forward to assisting in implementing any recommendations which improve our ability to provide emergency service to our city.”
Council formally received the report and directed staff to review the recommendations and formulate a plan for implementation.
The Fire Department currently employs 8 full-time staff and has 33 volunteer firefighters.

For Further Information Contact;

Rob Girard, Fire Chief, 250-837-2884
David Raven, Mayor, 250-837-2911
Roger Echlin, IAFF President Local 1746, 250-837-2884
Brad Faucett, President/Volunteer Fire Rescue Service, 250-837-2884