Each month, Saugeen Shores Men’s PROBUS club hosts a guest speaker who is considered an expert in his or her field.
On July 4th, the club welcomed Saugeen Shores Fire Chief, Ed Melanson. Melanson, who came from the Fort Erie Fire Service, and who will celebrate his one-year anniversary as the Saugeen Shores’ Chief on July 12th.
Melanson graduated from Fleming College with a diploma in Geotechnical Technology and began working in the Metal Finishing Industry before entering a partnership in his own electroplating/anodizing business in 2004. In that same year, he was recruited as a volunteer firefighter and hazardous material responder by the Fort Erie Fire Department. He found the fire service so intriguing that he went on to earn a diploma in Fire Service Administration from Dalhousie University. Then in 2016, he divested the shares in his company and began pursuing a Fire Service Senior Officer position that led him to the Brampton Fire and Emergency Services as a training officer and back to Fort Erie as Chief before coming to Saugeen Shores.
“I have an absolute passion when it comes to the Fire Department. It’s invigorating to do what I do and I wear many hats. I represent the Ontario Fire Marshall, answer to Council, operating under a regulatory By-law and am directed by the Town CAO.
As an assistant to the Fire Marshall, I also investigate fires and determine cause if possible, here in Saugeen Shores. I am also a Director of the Fire Service Association, must be available at every Council meeting, develop training programs, keep accurate records at all times and send a quarterly report to the Fire Marshall’s office. Every community must also have a Community Emergency Management Co-ordinator and it is usually the Fire Chief. I also prepare a plan that says what happens in the even of an emergency and identify all critical infrastructure as well as prepare a business continuity plan. I also create and maintain the budget, sit on the Bruce County Fire Chiefs’ Committee and attend all high risk calls. In other words, working 60 – 70 hours a week, the Fire Chief wears a lot of hats.”
Melanson said that the Town CAO is taking the municipality to a whole different place when it comes to efficiencies. “Coming with private industry practices, it’s a whole different ball game when it comes to public practices and media training is important.”
Melanson said that, while most communities are having a difficult time recruiting volunteer firefighters, when Saugeen Shores advertised for volunteers it received 62 applications for 12 positions. “We have approximately 25 at each Station, Port Elgin and Southampton. While they are volunteers, they are also paid ‘on-call’ and all of them carry a pager. They receive $35 per hour during a response and $26 per hour when in training and which they all must take.”
“Historically, the retention rate has been very good and the Service actually won an award for retention but the issue in the future will be demands by the province on the level of training required,” said Melanson. “It will be difficult to see someone stay 30-40 years given the demands on training and, by 2026, every firefighter must be certified on every piece of equipment, therefore the average stay be six or seven years.”
He explained that there are only four full-time staff – Chief, Deputy Chief, Administration and a Fire Prevention Officer.
“There has been a steady increase in calls,” said Melanson, “and my job is to get the department future-ready. It’s anticipated that by 2040, the population of Saugeen Shores will be larger than Owen Sound. We are now spending a significant amount of time on medical training as our medical response calls are going up. We also have had numerous smoke alarm and COs calls and compliance for these alarms by the public is very weak. People don’t seem to realize that the law requires a smoke alarm on every level of a home and within the date on the unit. CO2 alarms are to be on every floor where you sleep and is required if there is an attached garage or a fuel-burning device in the home.”
Melanson was asked if there was an agreement between Saugeen Shores and Saugeen First Nation fire department. “Saugeen Nation is in a unique situation in that they are Federal in a Provincial world. I have spent significant time with the Deputy Fire Chief discussing the problems that SFN struggles with and have told him that we will support them whenever possible.”
He also explained that Saugeen Shores and Bruce Power also have a mutual agreement that is part of the Port Elgin Nuclear Response (PENR) and that the local department is also trained in decontamination. “I have spent a significant amount of time at Bruce Power and did not realize just how safe the CANDU system is. With other systems, they do everything they can to keep them running but, with CANDU if safeties fail, the CANDU will not work. It really is a superb system.”
“Living on the shore of Lake Huron, we are also trained in water rescue,” said Melanson. “We recently trained with the OPP, Coast Guard and Marine Heritage Society out at Chantry Island to put together a plan in the event there was a medical emergency on the island or up in the Chantry Lighthouse. Also, with the OPP having boats in Meaford and Kincardine and the Coast Guard out of Tobermory and Goderich, Saugeen Shores can provide a more timely water rescue with the Fire Service 14 foot inflatable and working with the Marine Heritage Peerless II.”
When asked about the department’s inclusive policy, Melanson said that it’s about capability. “We have two women in the department. Jenna Underwood was recently promoted and will take on the Public Education portfolio. We should be as inclusive as possible and our job is to convince young women in school that they are, in fact, capable.”
“We have to support our firefighters in every way possible,” added Melanson. We are very fortunate here to have a Council that is very supportive and a Mayor who wants to see us effectively manage the impact on our volunteers.”
The Chief responded to the question raised about the Port Elgin fire station’s location. “There is no doubt that the Port Elgin station is tight for space and it would be difficult to expand in that location. I believe however, that the two station model should be retained even if a new station were to be built in Port Elgin. In Fort Erie for instance, they amalgamated two stations into one and it hasn’t worked to meet the response time standard.”
He pointed out that under provincial law, every municipality must have a Public Education plan. “You are going to see more public education being rolled out at events and the community should be prepared for a door-to-door education plan that will start in high risk areas of the community.”
