Langley City firefighters have the worst workload of any fire department in the Lower Mainland, handling more than triple the average number of calls.
Langley City Fire Rescue Service recorded 205 calls per suppression firefighter in 2024, up from an estimated 185 in 2023. That is far above the regional average of Metro Vancouver fire departments, who recorded 64 calls per firefighter.
It was roughly twice the next-busiest fire department, Maple Ridge, which recorded an average of 103 calls per firefighter in 2023, and close to three times the 72 reported by Langley Township firefighters that year.
As a result, in 2024, Langley City firefighters averaged 243 hours of overtime each.
That's according to estimates by the firefighters union, discussed at a Langley City Council meeting which unanimously voted to fund two more firefighter positions this year at their Jan. 27 meeting.
In proposing the $350,000 addition to the budget, Councillor Delaney Mack described 205 calls per firefighter as "quite egregious."
"I worry for [their] mental health and I worry about burnout for our firefighters," Mack commented.
Councillor Paul Albrecht agreed, saying Langley City firefighters face the largest calls in Metro Vancouver "by a significant amount."
"Working substantial overtime is also a concern and I'm just as concerned about the impacts on retention and recruitment," Albrecht remarked, adding "as a growing community, we can't continue in this manner."
At a Jan. 10 City council meeting, Coun. Mack pushed to make public the findings of an internal operational review of the fire department by an outside consultant, but the vote was deferred until after a report on the review could be presented by the fire chief.
CAO Francis Cheung described the report as a "very technical document" that "deals with labour relations, it deals with potential policy consideration that council may or may not undertake. So there are certain preliminary discussions that [need to happen] with council before we even consider releasing part or all of the report."
Mack wanted the report "to be released as soon as possible."
"I believe that I have the capacity to read and understand – and I actually think that as a member of council I have a right – to look at our operational review," Mack said.
The operational review was approved in the 2022 budget to make recommendations about future growth of the department and determine if the arrival of SkyTrain would require more staff.
In 2023, council endorsed the idea adding nine more firefighters by 2026.
Next door, Langley Township Council has voted to add 11 firefighters a year over the next four years
