Heather Wright/The Independent

Plympton-Wyoming paid Lambton Shores $7,000 per call for three fires its Forest department attended.

And, under a new agreement, the cost will be even higher. At least for now.

Lambton Shores’ Forest department has provided fire service for 174 homes near the community for years. Forest firefighters arrive on the scene and work until Plympton-Wyoming’s nearest station – Camlachie – arrives. In 2024, the Automatic Aid agreement cost Plympton-Wyoming almost $16,000 to have Lambton Shores to provide the service and about $2,800 in extra fees.

In March, Lambton Shores told Plympton-Wyoming it wanted a new agreement with the town based on a $126.64 fee per household. That boosted the price to over $22,000, not including the additional fees. 

That’s a $5,900 – or 36 per cent – increase.

“Given Lambton Shores’ steadfastness, staff do not believe continued negotiations would improve the town’s position. If Council wishes to maintain the existing levels of service, staff does not see a viable alternative other than to approving the updated agreement,” wrote CAO Adam Sobanski in a report  received at the Oct. 8 meeting.

But some councillors were unhappy with the new deal.

“Taxpayers of Plympton-Wyoming already pay high price for fire protection. We meet or exceed our obligations as a community to provide fire rescue and education coverage,” said Councillor Mike Vasey.

“Any enhanced coverage desired by the local residents who have the benefit by living near a neighboring department…they should be paying all the costs of this service,” he said adding it was like hiring a security service if you don’t think there is adequate policing in your neighbourhood. 

Councillor Kristen Rodrigues says firefighting “is a essential service that people rely on and whoever gets there first, people really don’t care where they’re from. 

But she added the cost is  “almost like having a third fire station in our fleet that not all of us are benefiting from.”

Rodrigues figured in 2024, with Lambton Shores responding to only three calls in Plympton-Wyoming, the cost per call came in around $7,000.

She also noted soon there will be up to 300 more homes in the area. 

While councillors were concerned about the cost for the service in an area its own fire department is able to reach in close to the same time, both Mayor Gary Atkinson and Councillor Bob Woolvett, who is the head of the fire board, warned residents in the area have voiced a lot of concern in the past about the prospects of losing the added protection from Forest.

In 2013, one resident said his insurance company would deny fire coverage if Plympton-Wyoming started covering the area since it was a greater distance from the fire hall. 

Fire Chief Will Davidson said he’s checked response times in different parts of the Forest coverage area. In some places, Forest firefighters would arrive three minutes before Plympton-Wyoming, in others, Camlachie firefighters would be on the scene two minute earlier.

But, he said, he understands the history behind the extra protection and that it is a sensitive issue.

“It would be totally different if we said, ‘Yes, we can cover it’ if there wasn’t Forest sitting right there. But when there’s another option, it adds a whole new dynamic to this.”

Davidson added when he was a chief in North Middlesex, they terminated an agreement with a neighbouring municipality for the same reasons. That agreement is back in place after an outcry in the wake of a large fire in the area.

Staff suggested the service could continue with the residents paying the fee from Lambton Shores.

Woolvett believes more study is needed to decide if Plympton-Wyoming can cover the northern part of the community.

“We have to go back to the drawing board,” he said. “Our people are already paying for fire protection. Now, if we go out there and tell them we want another $127 for more fire protection – it becomes quite complicated,” he said.

Woolvett says the department has to study the issue first. 

“We’re going to have to go to the people…and give them some options. If you want to pay this extra and have double protection. Well, then here’s what the cost is going to be.”

Council approved the Lambton Shores agreement recognizing there was a 90-day escape clause if a solution is found.