Greater Sudbury's emergency services committee approved a motion Wednesday that will explain who responds to emergency calls in the city -- and why.
The why was the main question for Ward 3 Coun. Gerry Montpellier, who says he gets many calls from residents who wonder why firefighters respond to vehicle collisions even when there doesn't appear to be a need.
“The public wants to know,” Montpellier said. “They see a small fender bender, and they wonder about it.”
Statistics he's seen show firefighters respond to more fender benders than the total amount of fires reported in the city each year.
“We need to be looking into this,” he said.
Ward 2 Coun. Michael Vagnini said residents ask him why firefighters arrive at the scene when other responders have been called off.
“One of the concerns I hear from citizens is, why is fire rolling when EMS and police have been called off, and the individuals are OK and can drive their vehicle to the reporting centre,” Vagnini said.
“EMS and police are called off, and fire continues to roll. Maybe that isn't what's happening in every call, but that is a possible perception in the community. This is what I'm hearing.”
Ward 11 Coun. Bill Leduc supported the motion, and said if that's the case, it makes no sense.
“If police and ambulance are called off, fire should be called off because there's clearly no injuries,” Leduc said.
A report will come back to the August meeting of the committee detailing fire response protocols when it comes to vehicle collisions.