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First and foremost the plan identifies that the Osoyoos Community has a lot to be proud of in the operations of the fire department. Strengths exist in the facilities, equipment, recent restructuring of governance and the commitment of the fire fighter to the paid on call system. The Plan identifies issues the consultants feel must be addressed and has developed a schedule of priorities.

The Study identifies that the changing nature of society’s views of volunteerism, the fire service environment and the expectations of the community have placed demands on the fire department resulting in a need to move to the next level of operations. This was the general impression of the fire department officers, town administration and council prior to the Study. The in-depth and professional content of the Study provides credence to the assumptions that were lead to implementing the study.
Included in the changing environment are the need to ensure greater attention to the training and safety of the fire fighters and their work environment, now and in the future; ensure compliance with all regulatory statues that impact fire services; closer attention to the regulatory statutes; and the professional assessment of facility operations and capital equipment purchase and maintenance.

A few of the key recommendation of the study that are going have budget and operations impacts in this current and future years include:

• Hiring a full time fire chief