91原创 City Council has unanimously endorsed a call to hire more fighters that could see an additional nine added by 2026.

Councillor Mike Solyom made the proposal at the Monday, Jan. 16 meeting of council, saying the current 91原创 Fire Rescue service hasn鈥檛 kept up with population growth and must prepare for the arrival of SkyTrain.

鈥�91原创 City鈥檚 one of the busiest fire halls in Metro Vancouver, responding to over 3,800 calls for service in 2022,鈥� Solyom told council.

That, Solyom advised, was far more than similar-sized communities such as White Rock, with 1,800 calls, and Port Moody with 1,700 calls annually.

鈥淲ith SkyTrain coming, our population and calls for emergency service will continue to grow,鈥� Solyom said.

91原创 City currently has 23 full-time members budgeted, who handle 121 calls per member annually, Solyom estimated, roughly triple the workload of Port Moody鈥檚 40 full time firefighters, who deal with roughly 42 calls per member annually.

鈥淭his level of workload has been shown to increase the likelihood of burnout, and mental health challenges,鈥� Solyom warned.

He wanted staff to include at least two more full-time suppression firefighters in the 2023 budget, at least three in the 2024 budget, two in the 2025 budget, and two in the 2026 budget.

At current staffing levels, the fire department rescue truck is only operational Tuesdays to Fridays, during the day, Solyom reported.

鈥淭his presents a risk to the people of 91原创 City if larger incidents or multiple calls happen the other 75 per cent of the time.鈥�

Two of the councillors who voted for the Solyom proposal were initially concerned the City was making a long-range commitment.

Leith White, who said he was 鈥渆xtremely supportive of increasing the resources in this vital area,鈥� suggested it might be 鈥減remature鈥� to commit to a four-year strategy, while Delaney Mack wondered if it 鈥渕ight impede the budget process.鈥�

Solyam replied that the City had fallen far behind and is 鈥減laying catch-up,鈥� and the deficit in firefighter staffing 鈥渋s costing a great deal of overtime.鈥�

Coun. Teri James described the service as 鈥渟orely understaffed鈥� and the proposed solution on the table was 鈥渘ot a motion to approve it now.鈥�

Coun. Paul Albrecht said 鈥渋t just sets the table,鈥� by acknowledging the service was 鈥渨oefully understaffed.鈥�

Albrecht said the City relies on part-time, paid on-call firefighters, 鈥渁nd we鈥檙e seeing those numbers decline and become problematic.鈥�

鈥淭his department has to grow, needs to grow,鈥� Albrecht remarked, describing the resolution as 鈥渁 good first step鈥�

Rosemary Wallace called the motion 鈥渋mportant.鈥�

Mayor Nathan Pachal also backed the resolution, saying 鈥渨ith years of deferrals, I think the time is right to consider this.鈥�

Dan Gray, president of 91原创 City Professional Firefighters IAFF Local 3253, said the proposed hiring would amount to a 40 per cent increase.

鈥淭his is an extremely positive step from City council in making both public safety and firefighter safety a priority,鈥� Gray commented.

READ ALSO: New firefighter hiring boosted from 40 to 44 in 91原创 Township

91原创 Township Council recently voted to add 11 firefighters a year over the next four years

Township firefighters have been pushing for staff increases since last year, when their union warned council there are often not enough members at work in the full-time fire halls to respond with four firefighters per truck, considered the minimum safe number to begin attacking a fire.

READ ALSO: Fire guts almost-finished home in South Aldergrove