Council reviews current fire service levels, plans for future

Cold Lake, AB – Building code requirements can depend on established fire service response times, which may mean the building codes in Cold Lake could change for certain neighborhoods depending on and how fast Cold Lake Fire-Rescue is able to respond, given specified zoning designations.

Currently, Cold Lake Fire-Rescue operates with a paid-on-call fire service model, meaning members of the community are recruited and paid for time spent responding to calls. Cold Lake Fire-Rescue performs at the top-tier level of service possible under this service delivery model.

“We are extremely proud of our Fire-Rescue members and the level of service they provide our community,” said Mayor Bob Mattice. “Cold Lake Fire-Rescue is an excellent example of what can be achieved with a paid-on-call fire-rescue service when you have dedicated members and a pool of talented, motivated, and well-trained volunteers.” 

Although the two stations have a large roster of firefighters potentially available, a universal 10-minute response standard is still not achievable in all corners of the municipality under the service delivery model. 

If a fire service cannot respond in a certain amount of a time, it can impact the materials required for constructing new buildings outside of the main response area to mitigate the spread of fire, as per the National Building Code – 2023 Alberta Edition (NBCAE). Specifically, where the response time is typically greater than 10 minutes, NBCAE applies construction-based fire risk mitigation, potentially raising building costs. 

A 2025 study of Cold Lake Fire-Rescue’s response performance identified a five-year 90th percentile total response time of just over 18 minutes, with a 10-minute arrival achieved approximately 24 per cent of the time. This study and its findings point to the potential for a tiered level of service where the use of construction-based fire risk mitigation in areas comes into play in areas where a consistent 10-minute response cannot be reliably demonstrated.

Tiered service levels keep the 10-minute total fire service response time at the 90th percentile, while establishing longer, percentile-based response objectives for secondary and peripheral areas. These definitions, measurements, and response times will be outlined in the revised Fire Services Level of Service (LOS) Policy – Fire Suppression Response Time (10-Minute Standard).

The other option to meet a 10-minute response time across the City of Cold Lake would be to establish a full-time service, where firefighters are at the station, ready to respond, without paid-on-call members having to drive to the station when a call is received, or a blend of both methods. However, these options both come at a substantial cost, bringing on several full-time staff on board to ensure shift coverage.

“We want to minimize the costs for the taxpayers for as long as possible,” said Mattice. “But at some point, while the red areas of response time continue to grow, and we will need to consider alternative options.”

Council directed administration to develop the Fire Services LOS Policy framework, which will be reviewed again at a future meeting.

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