Calgary’s firefighter union calls for action from fire chief amid funding concerns

In a letter to the Calgary Firefighters Association membership, the union's president said decisions by the city and the fire chief have firefighters at a "breaking point."

The Calgary Firefighters Association is calling for action from Calgary Fire Department Chief Steve Dongworth amid concerns over the fire department’s funding in the upcoming city budget.

In a letter sent on Monday to the union’s membership obtained by Global News, association president Codey McIntyre said decisions by city administration and the fire chief “are continuing to push Calgary Firefighters to the breaking point.”

“The fire chief has not been allowed to speak about these cuts nor to these ongoing issues,” McIntyre said in the letter. “The fire chief is not standing up for public and firefighter safety.”

The letter outlined a “history of cuts” the fire department has undergone since 2015 and “under-resourced” divisions like training and hazardous materials.

According to McIntyre, the fire department budget has been reduced by $30 million since 2015, including the elimination of 185 department positions since that same year. McIntyre said five fire trucks were also cut in 2019, and added that Calgary has the lowest staffed metropolitan fire department in the country.

Despite this, the 2022 Spring Pulse Survey of Calgarians resulted in a 96 per cent satisfaction rating for the fire department’s emergency response amongst residents.

In the most recent budget adjustment in 2021, city council voted unanimously for a $13 million increase to the fire department’s budget to cover the addition of 56 firefighters and training officers.

The letter to members comes just days after revelations of a request from the fire department to help reduce response times may largely go unfunded in the upcoming four-year budget.