Meadow Lake City Hall. (file photo/meadowlakeNOW Staff)

By Angela Brown

Billing insurance companies

ML hopes to recover some expenses when fire department puts out a blaze

Jan 17, 2024 | 5:11 PM

The City of Meadow Lake hopes a new resolution will help the Meadow Lake Fire Department recover some of the high costs it incurs fighting fires throughout the year.

Council approved a proposal to enter into an Agency Agreement with Fire Marque, and prepare the necessary changes to its Fire Services and Fire Safety Bylaw to enable the city to use Fire Marque for cost recovery purposes as proposed.

Meadow Lake Mayor Merlin Seymour said that currently residents or businesses within the city limits do not pay if the fire department is responding to a fire at their property.

“What we’re looking at is doing a cost recovery, because it does cost a lot of money to have a ready and able fire department, and when they do respond there are costs involved – whether it be equipment, manpower, etc. We’re not looking at sending a bill to the property owners themselves. It would be a cost recovery process going through the property owner’s insurance company. Again, there’s no additional cost to the property owners.”

Seymour said the city is looking at implementing this policy since the costs to fight a fire are high, so if there’s an opportunity to recover some of these expenses through insurance purposes it would be a help to the municipality.

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“Part of the money we receive through taxation goes towards having a ready and able fire department,” he said. “But when they are actually responding to a fire, the costs are over and above that. [There are costs for] equipment, manpower for fighting the fire, etc. That is the portion the city is trying to do a cost recovery on, responding to a fire.”

Through the Fire Marque company’s program, after the company receives details of the fire costs from the fire department, Fire Marque on the city’s behalf will then bill the insurance company for a portion of the eligible costs under the property owners’ insurance policy. If the property owner affected doesn’t have insurance, no bill will be sent.

Meadow Lake Fire Dept. Fire Chief Joe Grela said in his report to council that North Battleford, Swift Current and Moose Jaw already use the Fire Marque service.

“The [Meadow Lake] city manager reached out to her counterparts in the three cities currently using this service and all said they were happy with it,” he said.

“Normally the city’s authority does not extend beyond our geographic boundaries unless specifically worded by contract as with our regional fire agreement,” Grela noted. “We would recommend to the communities we have regional agreements that they also contract with Fire Marque to help them recover costs on insured perils within those municipalities.”

Council approved administration’s recommendation to enter into the agreement with Fire Marque. Grela noted the city also needs to amend its Fire Services and Fire Safety Bylaw and the associated fee schedule to include wording that allows for cost recovery for insured perils that are not just “extra ordinary costs” as currently drafted.

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Angela.Brown@pattisonmedia.com

On Twitter: @meadowlakenow