Sault fire logo The President of the Sault Ste. Marie Professional Fire Fighters Association Marty Kenopic will have a chance to address city council at Monday’s meeting as council considers a recommendation from Fire Chief Mike Figliola to reduce fire fighting staff and reallocate the positions to the EMS operation.  The recommendation calls for reallocating up to 20 firefighting positions through attrition over a 3-year period.  It’s argued in the report that EMS medical calls in the Sault have doubled from 6-thousand to 12-thousand between 2004 to 2014 and staffing levels have not kept pace.  EMS delivery services have become even more acute in 2015 as there are presently no dedicated 24/7 supervisors on each EMS platoon and ambulances are regularly unavailable.  The report goes on to say if not addressed as soon as possible, the city exposes itself to significant penalities.  By contrast,  Fire Services calls involving property fires are down 80% over the 1984 to 2014 period working out to approximately 1 to 2 calls per week in 2014.  The curent staffing level is 88 fire fighters and it is suggested that response times under this recommended reallocation will be unaffected.