Fire Chief Releases Report on Private Lines into Firehalls

City of Vancouver Fire Chief Ray Holdgate today released a report by an independent investigator that concluded there is no widespread misuse of private phone lines at Vancouver’s 20 firehalls.

Local lawyer and arbitrator Robert Blasina was asked by the City of Vancouver and the Firefighters Union to investigate after an article in the July 2000 issue of Chatelaine magazine alleged the lines were being used to run an informal dating service.

Blasina’s 13-page report was completed July 31, and presented to City Council at its first regular meeting after the summer break on September 12.

The report found "There is no dating service, nor is there any evidence of any systemic or organized distribution of private telephone numbers for the purpose of inviting the public to ‘connect with’ firefighters."

After extensive interviews, Blasina concluded that the primary purpose of the private lines was to "enable firefighters to communicate, with, or receive communication from, their families without intruding upon the firehall’s office phone" and that "actual inappropriate usage of firehall lines arising from individual members of the public calling for social/sexual purposes is negligible..."

Blasina’s report makes five recommendations on setting guidelines for phone line use to avoid potential problems in the future.

Fire Chief Ray Holdgate said "We took the Chatelaine allegations very seriously and investigated. This report confirms there is no widespread problem with the private phone lines into our firehalls. There have been reported isolated incidents of inappropriate behaviour, and we will deal with these. We are also taking Mr. Blasina’s recommendations very seriously. We are going to revise our code of conduct to ensure interactions between Fire and Rescue Services staff and the public are always professional."

Copies of Blasina’s 13-page report are available from the Fire Chief’s Office at Firehall #1, 900 Heatley in Vancouver.

Media enquiries: Ray Holdgate                                   
                                Fire Chief
                                665-6051

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