Emergency help is just three digits away for most Flin Flon area residents, but 911 won’t arrive in cottage country until year-round fire protection is secured.
Though some cottagers hoped they would reconsider, 911 officials are firm in their requirement that fire protection be in place before the phone service is made available.
Allison Collins, communications director for the City of Brandon, which operates the 911 call centre for rural Manitoba, said the absence of year-round fire protection could
leave dispatchers unable to send help.
“This is not a position we would ever place our dispatchers in,” said Collins.
“When and if the area in question is able to successfully negotiate a fire service contract with any of the surrounding fire departments, then [911] call-taking from that cottage area could occur via a service contract with us.”
Collins added that unlike police or ambulance service, access to 911 is not a legal right under provincial law.
Some cottagers are hopeful they can reach a deal for fire protection with the City of Flin Flon under the newly minted mayor, Cal Huntley.
“I do feel that we are going to be able to reach some kind of an agreement with the city and the province at this point,” Dale Powell, a director and negotiator with North of 54 Cottage Owners Association, told The Reminder in October.
“I think with the new mayor we can look forward to some positive, professional and cooperative dialogue between the city, ourselves and the provincial government, because of course they’re a player in all of this as well.”
Cottagers who live between Flin Flon and Cranberry Portage have been without year-round fire protection since July 1, 2013.
That’s when the City of Flin Flon ended its decades-old practice of responding to cabin fires even though cottages pay no direct taxes to the municipality.
That left cottagers with seasonal and limited fire protection through Manitoba Conservation.
The Town of Creighton has said it will try to respond to cottage fires near Flin Flon if asked by 911, but only if resources are available. Creighton has stressed that cottagers should not rely on this possibility.
As for police and ambulance, area cottagers continue to access those services by dialling 10-digit phone numbers.
