GREENSTONE — Fire services in Greenstone are set to receive some major upgrades.
SNnewswatch caught up with director of fire services Adam Lopatka earlier last week as the Greenstone Fire Department’s 2024 operating budget and fleet management service delivery review were tabled at the Greenstone municipal council meeting held on Dec. 11.
Lopatka took over the role in September, moving to Nakina – a community in Greenstone – from Sudbury, along with his wife and three daughters.
He’s come a long way, not just geographically speaking, but career-wise, having gone to school for accounting, running his own side business, getting into restaurant management, switching it up by working in the security field, and then emergency medical services, before he got into firefighting.
Lopatka says Greenstone Fire and Emergency Services has a challenging mandate, with resources “scattered” across numerous communities in a large geographic area.
Many of the calls the department responds to are highway-related, with a coverage area spanning over 300 kilometres of Highway 11, in addition to Caramat and unorganized territories.
There are currently 16 vehicles in the fleet. The municipality has submitted an order for a new pumper truck that they expect to arrive sometime in March 2024, which would add to their numbers.
The newest fire truck the department currently operates with is a 2008 model, and Lopatka said the municipality has traditionally bought used models.
"Unfortunately, sometimes they come with quirks," he said. "They’re not necessarily designed for the unique circumstances and the unique environment that we operate in up here."
Mayor Jamie McPherson said replacing that fleet is necessary, but will come at a steep cost.
“It’s millions of dollars to replace all of our trucks, [which have] a 20-year lifespan," he said. "Most of the trucks we have now are close to or at the 20 years, so we’re looking at what type of a fleet we want and then how we’re going to pay for that fleet… We will be digging into some of [our] reserves. One of them is dedicated to fire vehicle replacement – many millions of dollars."
“And you can’t get a firetruck tomorrow. You can’t go to a lot to pick it up, it’s two-years plus delivery. So we need to be ordering now what we want in two years or three years from now.”
With the fire department’s budget and service delivery review approved in principle, Lopatka will soon be able to move forward with plans to order “an additional three pumper-tankers and another tanker unit – followed by a batch order in 2029/2030.”
The service delivery review recommends the service adopt a mini and rescue pumper fleet model which means that the trucks would be outiffted with a hybrid design that includes water-pumping capability and the full suite of other life-saving tools.
Coun. Elaine Mannisto sought clarification on that point at the Dec. 11 meeting.
“That model was taking what under the fire master plan was strictly rescue vehicles – meaning it carried equipment and personnel only, no water, no pump capability whatsoever – and, basically adding that ability to the vehicle,” Lopatka responded.
“They’re not meant to have the most amount of water or the strongest pumps, they’re meant to be generally capable of multiple different call types... If you have an option between the truck with water on it or the truck with tools on it, we want to give firefighters the best possible tools… something that can mitigate the most amount of… hazards."
Lopatka noted the move would also extend the lifespan of the larger pumper trucks, which could be deployed less often.
Hand-in-hand with firefighting, Lopatka is passionate about fire prevention and public education.
"We’ve made a big push lately," he said. "We’ve seen a decrease overall in calls over the last year and, especially, less serious [calls]… less property fires, less fire losses in terms of dollar value as well, no injuries this year from fires as well."
Te department has held 13 public education sessions which reached over 579 residents since September.
Lopatka also focused on the department’s social media presence to expand its reach, producing safety videos and public service announcements.
The most recent video about safe cooking practices garnered over 800 views.
Prevention and enforcement programming will also be looked at in next year's service delivery review.
"In the meantime… we’ve been really making pushes into vulnerable populations. People who are disproportionately at-risk or can’t react appropriately to emergency situations – children, elderly, people with different developmental handicaps," he said. "We’ve bene utilizing different opportunities like that to really meet people face-to-face, deliver the message, and make a lasting impression."
Lopatka sums up those efforts succinctly, saying, “The best fire is the one that never happened.”