2023 Municipal Highlights - PROTECTIVE SERVICES DEPARTMENT

PROTECTIVE SERVICES DEPARTMENT

The Protective Services Department includes View Royal Fire Department (VRFD) which is a composite paid and volunteer fire department responsible for fire suppression, fire inspections, and related training and education. It also encompasses policing provided under contract with the RCMP through the West Shore detachment, emergency planning and preparedness, and bylaw enforcement.

HIGHLIGHTS:

• In May, the VRFD realized its 75th Anniversary as an organized Fire Department.
• The Westshore Fire initiatives included changes to response logics and streamlining of mutual response in how the Westshore attends mutual emergencies. The goal is to achieve NFPA 1710 requirements for first alarm residential structure fires by 2024.
• The Fire Chief recently initiated the renewal of the Fire Dispatch agreement with Surrey Fire Dispatch. The Town has received exemplary service from Surrey at substantial savings to the Town. Currently six of the seven local departments have renewed their contracts with the final department in process.
• The Labour Relations Board (LRB) considered an application from Fire Fighters at the Town of View Royal. The LRB has certified the View Royal Fire Fighters’ Association, International Association of Fire Fighters, Local 5419 for a unit of employees employed by the Town. Collective bargaining began in July.
• The View Royal Fire Department hosted its annual Open House on June 10. An estimated 300 people attended the event.
• The Town, although small geographically and in population, is not immune to the issues of the downtown core or other metro areas. 2023 continued to see an upward trend in overdose calls, homeless camp and transient population influxes, and deaths associated with toxic drugs. We continue to pivot and adjust our service delivery models to tackle these ongoing challenges, as well as provide staff with the equipment and training they need to fulfill their duties safely.
• Relationships with both Songhees Nation and Esquimalt Nation remain strong and respectful. Service contracts for fire protection were each renewed for 5-year terms; staff look forward to many more years of providing parallel service to these communities.
• Working with partners in Colwood and Langford, View Royal Fire launched a new integrated fire protection model. Firstly, alignment of response logics which will realize the deployment of up to sixteen on-duty fire fighters to all reported structural fires in the Westshore, followed by logics that will justify adequate staffing resources to high-risk emergencies and specialty calls. These adjustments have been in planning and refinement since 2020 with plans to go live in early 2024. Additional initiatives will share paid on call staff between the communities, deployment, and scheduling of Westshore Chief Officers, followed by aligning fleet and equipment resources to better represent the needs of the Westshore and offer financial savings to all three municipalities.

Portage Park Pathway