Lantzville council picked a fire service protection level that allows firefighters to conduct rescue operations.
On Monday (June 28), District of Lantzville councillors voted to set the Lantzville Fire Rescue service to Level 2.
Recommended by Lantzville fire chief Rob Chatton, Level 2, or interior operations level, allows the department to undertake fire suppression or conduct rescue operations in more complex situations.
In 2014, the provincial Office of the Fire Commissioner issued a new a training manual to ensure a standard level of training throughout the province. Municipalities are required to adopt and declare one of three levels of fire service by June 30.
Exterior operations, or Level 1, requires departments to provide the most basic level of service and bars firefighters from an interior attack or rescue operations. Interior-operations-level service is the same as Lantzville had previously, except with better-trained staff. The highest service level requires a fire department to be fully staffed and trained.
Chatton said a full service level would not have been necessary for a community of Lantzville’s size.