Municipal Reimbursement for Northern Fire Services

On March 19th, the province announced a new program, through the Northern Fire Protection Program, to reimburse municipalities that provide fire protection services in unincorporated areas. These funds will help northern municipalities recover costs associated with responses in areas without fire protection services such as search and rescue, medical, motor vehicle collision, and property fires that are not covered by any other funding agreements.

“This is welcome news for Timiskaming,” says Chair Derek Mundle. “In the past, local fire services have incurred significant costs for participating in search and rescue missions in remote areas without fire protection. Such significant costs can have a detrimental effect on the budgets of smaller fire services and the municipalities as a whole."

The program will be administered by Ontario’s Office of the Fire Marshal. The types of calls that are eligible for reimbursement include:

• Structure fires and carbon monoxide-related incidents

• Search and rescue operations and emergency medical care

• Motor vehicle collisions occurring on roads that are not provincial highways

• Hazardous material requests

Local fire services can possess an immense amount of knowledge and expertise in regards to assisting OPP and EMS to locate, access and assist ill and injured patients when located in the remote areas of our District. The DTSSAB EMS looks forward to strengthening our partnerships with local fire services in the best interest of providing care to individuals in need throughout our District.

“We were pleased to see this announcement and are grateful for the advocacy efforts of Danny Whalen on behalf of FONOM, John Vanthof’s office, and James Township in bringing this issue to the forefront with the Province” said DTSSAB Chair Derek Mundle.