Strasbourg Fire Cheif Greg Yung's presentation to council
September 8th, 2021
Yung proposed the purchase of ten new self-contained breathing apparatus harness packs for the fire department. He started his presentation by apologizing to council for bringing the request for the purchase forward as the purchase wasn’t in the budget. However, said the opportunity presented itself to purchase the packs at a significant discount. He called it a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity and was only available to order until November.
Yung said the base pack’s price is being discounted from $7,134 to $5,430 per unit, had a 15-year warranty and a lifespan of 25 years. He said the new bottles were significantly lighter as they are made of carbon fibre which is only 25% of the weight of the aluminum bottle. The more lightweight bottles would decrease the weight on the vehicle as well as on the person wearing it. Yung said the department’s current SCBA’s provide users with 30 minutes of air if the user is in excellent physical condition. In a structure fire, the bottles only actually give 22-24 minutes of air. The new bottles Yung wanted would provide 60 minutes of air. The total cost of the purchase with face masks and other needed additions would be 82,300 rather than 109,000.
Yung expected they would be able to offset the purchase by $20,000 through the sales of the components of the packs they have to nearby departments. He added that he believes the equipment would become mandatory through occupational health and safety in 5-7 years.
Yung said that it is rare that the equipment isn’t used when they attend a fire. He said they are not used just for structural fires, and their use is mandatory at vehicle fires or any other similar type environment.
Mayor Kelvin Schapansky noted that the lease program would make the purchase affordable.
He said that while there are other things he’d rather be spending money on, “This is a key piece if you want a reliable fire department, this is a once in a lifetime opportunity.”
Upon the conclusion of Yung’s presentation, Council discussed potential ways to pay for the purchase. Chief Administrative Officer Jennifer Josephson felt that it could potentially be more advantageous to purchase outright the equipment rather than the lease option the company had presented. She advised council to be mindful of the municipality’s debt limit as they are currently paying for the lagoon project and the backhoe lease.
Council questioned if there was a way to push the payment into 2022 to be included in the budget.
Councillor Peter Barry made a motion of intent which Councillor Rodger Yauck seconded, directing Josephson to make further inquiries around payment terms for the equipment and investigate if there is a grant available for the equipment.
- Jenifer Argue, Local Journalism Initiative reporter
Note: These reports may be abridged for content
