Yellowknife firefighters critical of city hall's handling of public safety document

The Yellowknife Firefighters Association says the city is withholding key parts of an important public safety report, and that the redactions are indicative of a lack of transparency at City Hall. 

"This is a serious concern. People have a right to know the details about something as important as how the city plans to keep them and their families safe from fires and other emergencies," Christian Bittrolff, president of the association, said in a media release on Thursday. 

"Being denied the full report undermines our ability to advocate [for] public and firefighter safety."

The city commissioned public safety consulting firm David Mitchell and Associates Ltd. to produce a report on community hazards, and the specific risks relevant to the Yellowknife Fire Department. The report also reviews the Yellowknife Fire Department's operational capabilities. 

The Fire Division Community Risk Assessment was given to the city in April 2022, but the copy that went to the fire department itself was heavily redacted. The city released a heavily redacted version to local media, as well.

The 143-page document offers a comprehensive examination of, among other things, various hazards in the city and the level of risk posed by those hazards, emergency preparedness, emergency response times, fire department staffing, training, equipment, and the interplay between the N.W.T. 911 and the city's dispatch centre.

The city says the report is part of a process to help it determine what the local risks are, and to develop a plan to reduce those risks deemed to be a high priority.

But with large portions of the report redacted, it's impossible for the public to get a complete picture of the risks in Yellowknife, and what should be done about them.

Bittrolff told CBC News that the content in the report that was left untouched is information that the firefighters or the city gave to the consultants — in other words, information the firefighters already have access to.

He said it appears that the useful stuff — anything that might be considered advice or recommendations — has been blacked out. 

The redacted sections pertain to "core functions of our job," said Bittrolff: dispatch, water availability, training, and how the fire department allocates resources and responds to emergencies.

"The essence of the report has been redacted," he said.

Having access to that information, he added, would allow firefighters and the public to know where the gaps are in emergency preparedness, and would allow emergency services to work on addressing them.

The city didn't provide CBC News with an interview. In an emailed statement, Kerry Thistle, the city's director of economic development and strategy, said some information in the report is "sensitive," so instead of giving over the full report, the city gave the fire department an overview in the fall of 2022, and updated the department on next steps after that.