Nova Scotia·NewWeeks after their department was shuttered over allegations including “misconduct and poor judgment” of leadership, a group of Cumberland County volunteer firefighters responded to a detailed list of concerns from the municipality.Concerns include criminal charges, possible cannabis impairment and infants at emergency sceneLuke Ettinger · CBC News · Posted: Nov 21, 2025 5:00 AM EST | Last Updated: 2 hours agoListen to this articleEstimated 3 minutesThe audio version of this article is generated by text-to-speech, a technology based on artificial intelligence.A public meeting was held Thursday in the Municipality of Cumberland County’s council chambers. After two presentations, the meeting went in camera. (Luke Ettinger/CBC)Weeks after their department was shuttered over allegations including “misconduct and poor judgment” of leadership, Cumberland County volunteer firefighters responded to a detailed list of concerns from the municipality Thursday.At a public meeting Thursday, Allen Cole, Cumberland’s director of protective services, highlighted issues involving the Joggins Volunteer Fire Department, including criminal charges against the chief and deputy chief. He said there were also concerns about members being under the influence of cannabis while on duty.In October, municipal staff revoked the department’s registration.In September, the municipality received a complaint of two infants accompanying a female member to an emergency scene. The mother, whose name is redacted, allegedly arrived on the scene on a main road with the twins in a side-by-side without car seats or safety equipment.John Reid, a member of the department for more than 40 years, said Thursday he was not aware of any cannabis use prior to calls. He said he did not attend the incident that was said to involve infants.”Most complaints from the county were both the chief and the deputy chief. They’ve resigned,” said Reid in an interview after the meeting. He also gave a presentation at the meeting.John Reid, a volunteer firefighter in Joggins for 41 years, wants to see a decision to close the community’s fire department overturned. (Luke Ettinger/CBC)Cole said there were also concerns about the handling of a structure fire and the controlled burn of an abandoned house in 2023, and a 2024 grass fire. He said the department also had financial issues, which added to the workload of municipal staff.On top of personnel issues, Cole said an engineering report this year found the building was not suitable for a fire hall. He said the Joggins fire district is also already being serviced by the River Hebert Volunteer Fire Department, which is about five kilometres away.Response timeReid worries the additional 10 minutes in response time could make a difference in emergencies. He said it was frustrating to only receive the county’s full list of complaints Wednesday night.”The writing was on the wall before we had this meeting. They didn’t give us any time to prepare for it,” he said.Cumberland Mayor Rod Gilroy defended the move to not provide information sooner.”If you turn it out to them many days ahead, it gets out into the community and gets turned upside down and twisted around and everything else,” he said in an interview after the meeting.”Certainly, we have lots of time between now and the decision to have further conversations with those folks.”‘An emotional thing,’ says mayorNo public comments were allowed at the meeting, which went in camera after the presentations by Cole and Reid. “This is an emotional thing for the community. It’s an emotional thing for council,” said Gilroy.”There’s not a person on either side of this that hasn’t lost sleep over what’s gone on here in the last number of months involving the fire department and there will be more sleepless nights in the next few days while council decides exactly where they want to land,” said Gilroy.The fate of the department is in Cumberland council’s hands. It will debate whether to reinstate the department Wednesday.MORE TOP STORIESABOUT THE AUTHORLuke Ettinger is a reporter with CBC Nova Scotia based in Truro. Reach him at luke.ettinger@cbc.ca.
Concerns over Joggins fire department discussed at public meeting
