Latest news with #WinnipegFireParamedicService

CBC
5 days ago
- General
- CBC
Lithium ion battery or charger causes North End house fire
A house fire in Winnipeg's North End that forced people to flee from the home Thursday night has officials warning the public of possible hazards associated with plug-in lithium ion batteries and chargers. Fire crews arrived at a home on Magnus Avenue, between Salter and Andrews streets, just after 10 p.m. to find smoke billowing from a 1½-storey home. Everyone inside safely escaped prior to their arrival, a news release from the Winnipeg Fire Paramedic Service said Friday. The initial findings suggest the fire was accidentally caused by a lithium-ion battery or charger that failed. The city is reminding the public of the potential fire risks associated with plugging in lithium ion batteries. The city recommends: Following manufacturer instructions. Only using cables and device batteries that come with items at point of purchase. Unplugging items when they're done charging. Charging items on hard surfaces, like tables and countertops. Avoiding charging on beds, couches, under pillows or on soft surfaces. Unplug if you ever notice an item giving off too much heat, making strange noises, leaking, changing colour or showing signs of corrosion, the city said.


CTV News
18-06-2025
- General
- CTV News
‘Very impressive new facility': Winnipeg's newest firehall now open
Winnipeg's newest firehall is officially in operation. The city unveiled the new Winnipeg Fire Paramedic Service (WFPS) Station #9 in Windsor Park. WFPS Chief Christian Schmidt said this new station has been designed to fit how Winnipeg is growing. 'This particular station combines two different older stations; the previous Station #9 on Marion Street and the previous Station #15, which was on this exact site,' Schmidt said. 'These two smaller stations had gotten older over time and had less space and capacity. This station places response efficiency and environmental efficiency at the forefront.' The new station has five bays with a fire engine and crew. A rescue unit, the hazardous materials team, an ambulance and its crew, and a fire investigator are all housed at the station. The station is also the first city building to have geothermal ground source heat pumps for both heating and cooling. The building is expected to reduce emissions by 98.6 per cent compared to other buildings its size. 'The team has worked hard to reclaim wood from the previous buildings for use in this station and includes details down to ensuring that the shrubs around this property are drought resistant,' said Schmidt. Winnipeg fire Station #9 The bays doors opened at Station #9 in Windsor Park on June 18, 2025. (Daniel Timmerman/CTV News Winnipeg) 'This is a very impressive new facility. It's one of the greenest buildings in the city's inventory, and it's going to help us deliver faster, more effective emergency service to Windsor Park and the surrounding neighbourhoods,' said Winnipeg Mayor Scott Gillingham. The $16 million building also features recovery ventilators, a training room, an air compressor, and bifold bay doors, which are supposed to reduce response times by 15 seconds. 'This reflects the kind of investment that we are making as a city and that our city needs to keep making as we grow - investments that strengthen public safety, public health, investments that modernize our infrastructure, investments that reduce our long-term impact on our environment,' said Gillingham. This station is part of the WFPS master plan that came out in 2020, which highlights the need for stations in more strategic locations, which in turn will help with response times.


CTV News
17-06-2025
- General
- CTV News
‘Reckless and indefensible': Firefighters union president opposes decision to remove equipment in Winnipeg
The president of the union that represents Winnipeg firefighters is calling out a decision to remove one apparatus and relocate a four-person engine. The two pieces of equipment were removed on June 11. United Firefighters of Winnipeg President Nick Kasper voiced his concerns in an open letter to members, saying the decision 'undermines public safety and the operational integrity of our service.' The fully staffed apparatus was at the Winnipeg Fire Paramedic Service (WFPS) Station 6, which is located on the north side of the city. 'Removing an apparatus during a period of record-breaking structure fires, unprecedented medical call volumes, and a historic spike in vacant structure fires - especially in Winnipeg's North End - is reckless and indefensible,' Kasper said in the letter. Kasper noted the North End and Point Douglas lose more properties and lives because of fires compared to anywhere else in Canada. Removing the apparatus puts people's lives at risk and impacts the safety of firefighters, Kasper said. The four-person engine was from WFPS Station 23 in the Fort Richmond area. Kasper called the decision to relocate the engine 'equally troubling.' 'That engine is required to provide critical support to both our water/ice rescue unit and out-of-water district tanker apparatus in a community that already suffers from the worst response times anywhere in Winnipeg.' Kasper said there have already been incidents where response times have suffered from these decisions. 'The residents of Winnipeg deserve better. The firefighters who protect them expect better. And your union will not stop demanding better.' This is a developing story. More details to come.


CTV News
16-06-2025
- Health
- CTV News
Celebrating 50 years of saving lives
Christian Schmidt, chief of Winnipeg Fire Paramedic Service, looks back at the 50-year evolution of paramedicine in Winnipeg.


CBC
11-06-2025
- Health
- CBC
Workers' compensation costs for City of Winnipeg employees doubled over last 5 years
Workers' compensation costs for emergency responders and bus drivers with the City of Winnipeg have soared in recent years, with more than half of claims made last year related to psychological stress. Over the last five years, workers' compensation costs for the city have more than doubled from $11.8 million in 2020 to $25.5 million in 2024. That year, those costs rose by $6.1 million — a 31 per cent jump, according to a new report to be presented at the executive policy committee meeting next Tuesday. "What the Workers Compensation Board claims really reflect is the health of our city staff," Mayor Scott Gillingham told reporters at an unrelated media event on Wednesday. The city is working with the compensation board, Winnipeg Transit and the Winnipeg Fire Paramedic Service to bring down those costs, he said. "There has to be this balance between making sure we're doing all we can to get our city staff healthy, rehabilitated where possible, and back into the workforce as quickly as possible," Gillingham said. The same report noted there were 914 accepted time-loss claims in 2024, an increase of four per cent, while psychological injury claims rose 14 per cent, accounting for 54 per cent of all time lost. Fire-paramedics and Winnipeg Transit drivers made up the bulk of that increase. Union leaders representing City of Winnipeg workers called the compensation numbers concerning but unsurprising. The Manitoba Government and General Employees' Union conducted a survey of 205 paramedics and dispatchers from April 2 to 9. If found 93 per cent had experienced violence on the job, and 71 per cent have considered leaving their job in the last year. The head of the Winnipeg Transit union says it conducted an assessment in December and found 44 drivers were off for mental health injuries. "And those 44 people alone … resulted in the city losing over 19,000 days of work productivity, and that I think has raised an alarm bell with the city," said Chris Scott, president of the Amalgamated Transit Union Local 1505. United Fire Fighters of Winnipeg president Nick Kasper says staffing ratios haven't kept up with the demand for service. From 2019 to 2023, structure fires increased by 87 per cent, medical calls went up 23 per cent, and vacant structure fires rose by 244 per cent, Kasper said. "Simply put, our population has grown, our call volume has skyrocketed," he said. "The men and women that are riding our fire trucks are being exposed to unsustainable volumes of calls during their shift." Public works committee chair Coun. Janice Lukes says the nature of the jobs has changed. "It's just a really strange world out there right now," she said, adding that the change is related to drugs and drug-related psychosis. A report on reducing workers' compensation costs is expected to be delivered to council later this year. Replenishing rainy day fund Workers' compensation claims have been blamed for draining the city's fiscal stabilization fund, also known as the rainy day fund, in recent years. In a new report, also on the agenda for the executive policy committee meeting next week, the city says it has found money to begin replenishing it, thanks to operational surpluses of $5.4 million from Winnipeg Transit, $1.8 million from animal services, and $3.7 million in leftover capital funding from the provincial government for the Southwest Rapid Transitway and Pembina Highway underpass payment reserve. The city now expects to have $36.4 million in the fund by the end of the year, nearly double the $18.6 the city had expected earlier this year. Although Gillingham says the city is still well below the target balance of $85.1 million in the fiscal stabilization reserve, the added funds "moves us significantly in the right direction." Compensation costs for City of Winnipeg workers more than doubled in last 5 years 1 hour ago Duration 1:44 Fire-paramedics and bus drivers are among the City of Winnipeg workers who experience some of the highest rates of workplace injuries. The cost of those claims is weighing heavily on the city's finances, according to a new city report.