The already established partnerships shared by area fire departments will get a little stronger now as last week Strathroy-Caradoc Council approved an Automatic Aid agreement for its fire department and the Adelaide Metcalfe Fire Department for emergency response to Highway 402 between Exit 65 (Centre Road) and Exit 69 (Hickory Drive). We talked to Strathroy-Caradoc Fire Chief Brad Bigrigg.
There are current service agreements in place between both fire departments in terms of geographical boundaries but those relate to structure fires for example if a call was to come in for the corner of Pannell Lane and Drury Lane even though distance wise, Strathroy-Caradoc is closer, that area is Adelaide Metcalfe.
The section of Highway 402 between Exits 65 and 69 falls within the Adelaide Metcalfe Fire Department’s response area. However, due to the distance from the Kerwood Road station, response times to this area are often delayed. To improve emergency response, Adelaide Metcalfe Fire Chief Dan Parker requested that Strathroy-Caradoc Fire enter into an Agreement.
Currently, SCFD responds to all incidents on Highway 402 east of Exit 69 (Hickory Drive). With this agreement in place, SCFD would also respond to emergencies west of Exit 69—reaching the scene faster than AMFD due to their proximity.
Past incidents on this stretch of highway have raised community concerns about delayed response times. Implementing an Automatic Aid Agreement would help address those concerns and enhance public safety. Bigrigg has only been in office for a little while but he’s not surprised it’s taken until now to incorporate this particular agreement.
All SCFD response costs on Highway 402 would be recovered through the Ministry of Transportation (MTO) under the cost-recovery model. If SCFD responds but is not required (e.g., due to a false alarm or early release by OPP), they may seek reimbursement from AMFD for one hour at the MTO rate for two apparatus.
The Fire Chief was also asked for a call to an area with an automatic agreement in place, who is in charge on scene arrival.
Written by: C. Soares