Toronto's fire department is lagging behind North American standards for emergency response time, taking two minutes longer to get to the scene, a report found.
A 2009 consultants report made public on Monday said that fire crews should be at a blaze in six minutes. It takes Toronto eight minutes or more.
Fire Chief Bill Stewart says that the department is aware of the time it takes to get to a scene.
"Regrettably this fire service does not meet the standard, we know that, and it's our goal to achieve that standard sometime in the future," Stewart told CTV Toronto on Tuesday.
The report, which was just made public, cites the delays at every stage.
The standard says that it should take dispatchers 15 seconds to process a 911 call; it is double that in Toronto.
Dispatching should take a minute but in Toronto it takes about 30 seconds more. It also takes Toronto firefighters 185 seconds to dress and get out of the fire hall. The standard says it should take 80 seconds.
"Forty years ago you basically threw your boots on and jumped on the back of the truck and got dressed going to the call," Stewart said. "Under health and safety today that does not work."
Once the call is dispatched and crews are dressed, it takes the truck four and a half minutes to get to the fire, 30 seconds longer than the standard.
However, Stewart said that many fire departments don't meet the standards. He also said that Toronto is short about six fire halls which partially affects response time.
Coun. Shelley Carroll said that it's time for Toronto to give more money to its fire department.
"We have been flat-lining firefighters for a number of years," she said. "We've opened two fire halls without hiring a single new firefighter."
Stewart said that better training and new technology is also helping to improve call dispatching.
With a report from CTV Toronto's Natalie Johnson
