Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I have a return to an oral question asked by Mr. Antoine on June 15th regarding the status of community water pumps for fire protection.
The Department of Municipal and Community Affairs has followed up on the suggestions of the Member and the recommendations of the Standing Committee on Finance to review options for fire protection in small communities.
Mr. Speaker, our review of the options for using portable water pumps, of a Wajax or similar type, found there were limited supplementary benefits to the fire suppression equipment currently in small communities. Cold weather problems with pumps and hoses limit their use in winter, set-up time for pump and host systems is too lengthy for quick response, the size and weight of pumps necessary to pump water any distance is a distinct disadvantage and, the pressure from these types of pumps provide marginal water flow rates for tire suppression. The office of the fire marshal has not sanctioned pump and hose systems as a reliable means of lire suppression.
The department believes that a rapid, coordinated response with the dry chemical fire truck, the water truck and the loader is the most effective means of containing and controlling fires in small communities. These methods could apply to the small brush fires in communities that the Member mentioned.
As Members will appreciate from our experiences with fires in the Sahtu and other areas, community fire suppression equipment is a minor component of the efforts of forest fire management. In my reply to the honourable Member for Thebacha, I noted work is being undertaken to upgrade and rebuild community fire breaks as one measure to improve protection from major forest fires.
Mr. Speaker, the department is also focusing on means to improve fire protection within communities. Several of these initiatives were announced last session in presenting our 1995- 96 budget and include the firefighters training program now being developed. A course is scheduled this fall for the Fort Simpson area, and the firefighters from small communities in the region will be trained in the use of dry chemical fire trucks and brush firefighting. Other initiatives include public education, on such matters as minimizing the burning of community garbage, and a current study on ways to improve fire alerting in communities. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.