The town of Fort Frances is signing a new agreement with the Kenora Central Ambulance Communication Centre for fire dispatch service.
The fee is going up from $40 to $50 for each call out for the next six years.
Fire Chief Tyler Moffitt says it up 25 per cent because the rate hadn’t changed in several years.
“They decided to leave the rate where it was instead of doing increments over the years. That way it was a savings to municipalities but in 2020 it would be going up,” says Moffitt.
Moffitt says the department is only charged when they are called out to a fire or rescue. No charges are levied against ambulance assists or medical calls as those calls a subsidized by the province. The Communication Centre received no government funding for fire dispatch calls.
This year, Fort Frances Fire has been called out 107 times to the end of October.
Moffitt adds other providers are charging much more.
“Dryden was actually looking to go with a different server or service provider down east and it was getting towards $100. So guess what? They decide to stay with Kenora at $50 a call.”
Town council agreed with the fire chief’s recommendation at their meeting Monday night.
