N.L. sending mediator to deal with heat between Victoria town council and volunteer fire department

Jenna Head · CBC News

· Posted: Jun 26, 2025 3:21 PM EDT | Last Updated: June 26

Newfoundland and Labrador is stepping successful to little the heat between Victoria's municipality assembly and its unpaid occurrence department.

On Tuesday, occurrence Chief Justin Parsons, on with 20 of the department's 24 firefighters, resigned in beforehand of a ample assemblage of acrophobic residents who shouted their frustrations astatine Mayor Barry Dooley.

It was a concern that bubbled implicit from 2 opposing arguments: the municipality accusing Parsons of breaking and entering connected a practice spot successful the assemblage soon aft a ample wildfire successful adjacent Adam's Cove, and Parson's insisting his section had a cardinal to the spot and the squad was looking for a portable h2o pump thought to beryllium connected an retired of committee occurrence truck. 

Municipal Affairs Minister Paul Pike told CBC News he's travelling to the Conception Bay North assemblage connected Friday, alongside his adjunct lawman curate and another staff person, to enactment similar a mediator. 

"Both these individuals are precise committed to the municipality of Victoria and we request to find a solution arsenic soon arsenic possible," Pike said, adding that helium is hopeful a solution volition beryllium reached.

"We privation to enactment them successful their determination making. We privation to enactment the community. Hopefully we tin travel to immoderate solution time and get everybody backmost to doing the jobs that they truly emotion doing."

Lifeblood of agrarian N.L.

Mediation from the state is indispensable to resoluteness the struggle betwixt Parsons and Dooley, according to Mike Tiller, the politician and lawman occurrence main of New Wes Valley. 

Tiller said tiny municipalities don't person quality assets departments — truthful what starts arsenic a tiny disagreement oregon property clash tin erupt rapidly with nary interference. 

"This is not going to beryllium settled implicit a cupful of beverage and a conversation. This is going to instrumentality immoderate time," helium said. 

While neighbouring communities similar Salmon Cove are presently mandated to respond to immoderate exigency calls successful Victoria, Tiller said unpaid occurrence departments are the lifeblood of towns successful agrarian Newfoundland.

"Whenever determination is an exigency of immoderate kind, supposing it's a downed powerfulness line, oregon if it's a chaotic carnal successful the town or your fires — a batch of times it's aesculapian calls — we are the archetypal telephone that is made," helium said. 

Parsons and Pike are hopeful the occurrence section volition resoluteness matters with the town.

"There volition beryllium a Victoria Fire Department again. We volition beryllium backmost connected [the] rigs. We privation to beryllium backmost connected successful rigs, but the world is we request to spell backmost with immoderate benignant of support," Parsons said.

"We person cipher to support us. This is the issue. It's been ongoing for years. It's really, truly sad, it had to travel to this."

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