Protecting our community
The Rotary Club of Brampton welcomes Chief Clark. The Chief has been with the Brampton Fire Department for 33 years. In 1968 he moved to Bramalea and in July 1982 he joined the Brampton Fire Department. He spent 20 years on trucks as a Captain became Division Chief, then Deputy Chief and now he is Chief. His father was Chief before him.
 
Chief Clark thanked the Rotary for their $110,000 contribution towards defibrillators and Brampton was the first to have defibs. Also, Brampton was the first to have cameras on fire trucks, with Rotary contribution. Brampton provides one of the highest rates of survival of heart attacks.
 
The Brampton Fire Department has changed over the years. It was disorganized and not much knowledge. Today they have skilled and knowledgeable technicians. There are two issues that make fire fighting quite dangerous; the nature of the material that homes are made of and the construction of the homes. As a result, fires burn hotter and faster than before. There are protection of smoke alarms and residential sprinklers in homes. Brampton approves up to 90% more calls than other municipalities and the Department is most interested in the level of service they provide to their customers.
 
How do we stack up with other municipalities? In Brampton, the calls are equal to the population, same in other municipalities; half are medical calls, fire calls small number, the most common cause is cooking and they receive about 22,000 calls per year.