Editor's Note: In our March 31 print edition we pay tribute to the city's first responders as we pass the two-year anniversary of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Responding to the ever-shifting demands of the COVID-19 pandemic was a challenge for the Delta Fire Department, but a challenge they met with great success.
And now that restrictions are being lifted, the department is looking forward to resuming enhanced training opportunities and more importantly, increased interactions with the public.
Delta is home to seven fire halls with approximately 185 members and 15 non-suppression staff serving the residents of the community.
Deputy Chief of Operations Tim Ipsen said the pandemic changed the way the department not only responded to calls, but how they conducted other duties in the community.
“Being in the forefront and dealing directly with COVID presented challenges within itself let alone directly here in our fire halls,” he said. “Early on we took extreme measures to not only protect all of our staff, but the public as we responded to calls, so that necessitated changes in our PPE and also in our emergency response.”
He said the department, through the city and their union, created a task force where they met regularly.
“We worked very well together and found ways to overcome any challenges that came up,” he said.
“This is one of the things coming out of the pandemic that is a good thing. Finding ways to work more collaborative with other agencies, that will be a legacy of the pandemic and a good legacy.”
Ipsen said training and interactions out in the community were very limited during the pandemic with a lot of training done via Zoom or in smaller groups. And meeting with the public was next to impossible.
Now that is changing as restrictions are being lifted.
“The fire department has a history of good community involvement and that basically took a back seat the past two years,” he said. “Moving forward, we will be able to have inter-hall training, off-site training, and inter-agency training as well, more public involvement whether it is festivals or parades, an increase in our fire inspections as well.
“Overall, to get our crews outside of the four walls, it’s going to be very uplifting for our members.”
Ipsen said the community response to the pandemic and interacting with the department has been very good.
“Delta has a history of coming together and working together and we have been very fortunate to be well respected by our citizens. We continue to get letters of thanks and support and not just us, all the first responders here in Delta,” he said. “That was quite uplifting for our guys that they were appreciated, because they were struggling themselves, but still it was recognized that these are tough times and we as citizens, appreciate what you are doing.”
