Whitehorse firefighters have been performing illegal rescues

Whitehorse's fire chief was before city council on Monday night, offering a surprising revelation firefighters are regularly in violation of city bylaws when saving lives.

"I'd only be speculating if I tried to ascertain why this was not brought forward a number of years ago," said chief KevinLyslo.

He said the problem is that the city's Emergency Service Bylaw is out of dateand does not accurately reflect the true nature of a firefighter's job in 2016 when they're as likely to be pulling someone from icy water, as from a fire.

"It does have some legality issues,"Lyslosaid.

"We've gone from basically fire departments that just respond to fires.Now, we respond to all kindsof technical rescues."

That includes ice and water rescues, "confined space rescues" (for example, froman elevator), or even retrieving someone from atop a cell tower.

"People get stuck as they do their work up onthose, and they need to be rescued,"Lyslosaid.

An 'urgent priority'

The fire department wants the bylaw amended to include authorization for such rescues.

"In the absence of a written mandate, the Fire Department could be seen as conducting these rescues illegally, potentially putting administration and Council at considerablelegal and financial risk," says acity staff report.

Thereport says the amendment should be considered an "urgent priority" for city council.

"We want to make sure our people are safe where they are, what they're doing, and also protected as they go out and do theirjobs properly," Lyslo said.

A city official says if council approves it, the amendment could be in place by the end of June.