Langley City Firefighters Association IAFF L3253

08/21/2026

It is with great sadness that we share the passing of retired Fire Chief Jim McGregor (pictured on the far right).

Jim dedicated 36 years of service to Langley City Fire Rescue, ultimately serving as Fire Chief.

Throughout his career, he helped shape generations of firefighters and played an important role in our department and the Langley community.

Even after his retirement, Jim remained a valued part of the community and continued to give back in so many ways. His commitment to service extended well beyond his years in uniform.

Our thoughts are with Jim’s family, friends, former colleagues, and everyone who had the privilege of knowing and working alongside him.

His dedication to Langley City, Langley City Fire Rescue, and the fire service will be remembered and deeply appreciated by those who follow in his footsteps.

Rest easy, Chief. Your service and your legacy will not be forgotten.

Langley City Firefighters
IAFF Local 3253

City of Langley
Langley City Fire Rescue Service

08/20/2026

08/13/2026

🚒 Firefighter and Public Safety Must Come First

Proposed changes allowing single-egress stairwells in buildings deserve serious scrutiny and strong pushback.

For firefighters, a second means of egress isn’t a luxury—it can be the difference between life and death when conditions deteriorate, crews become disoriented, or one stairwell is compromised by fire and smoke.

Municipal councils have a responsibility to stand up for the safety of their residents and the firefighters who respond to protect them. We should not be lowering safety standards for convenience, cost, or development speed.

🏠 Safer buildings protect occupants.
🔥 Better egress protects firefighters.
🚒 Strong building codes protect everyone.

Public safety should never be an afterthought. Say NO to single-egress stairwell changes.

City of Langley
BC Professional Fire Fighters
Langley City Fire Rescue Service

With the province refusing to back down on its controversial move to allow single-exit stairways in residential buildings, British Columbia IAFF affiliates

07/23/2026

Township and City crews worked together today to extinguish a large brush fire on the border of the two municipalities. The fire quickly spread from a parking area, to the elevated courtyard/lawn area of an apartment building.

Crews were on scene within 6 minutes of the call, which was vital ensuring it did not spread into neighboring structures 🔥

Great work by all crews involved! 💪 🚒

📷 Credit: Bystander

City of Langley
International Association of Fire Fighters 6th District
BC Professional Fire Fighters

07/23/2026

🔥 🚨 CREWS STRETCHED THIN 🚨 🔥

Today marked the hottest day of the year so far, and our crews were stretched thin with 2 significant fires within 12 hours.

Crews were able to quickly extinguish a house fire early Wednesday morning, before spreading to a neighboring condo building under construction 🚧

With Squad-1 OUT OF SERVICE Wednesday from 07:00-17:00 due to staffing shortages, our single staffed Engine battled a stubborn 40-foot dumpster fire.

With no paid-on-call firefighter response, 5 firefighters battled the summer heat until the bin could be emptied and extinguished.

Thank you to our crews for your hard work and resilience, especially on days like today. Stay safe, stay hydrated, and look out for one another 🔥 🚒

City of Langley
International Association of Fire Fighters 6th District
BC Professional Fire Fighters
Langley City Fire Rescue Service

07/21/2026

🚒 The IAFF's TAIR Division recently partnered with Terrace Professional Firefighters Local 2685 to study how the department's reliance on off-duty fire fighters affects emergency response.

The results are clear: relying on off-duty to respond from home causes critical delays when seconds matter most.

Two cannot safely fight a structure fire alone. That’s why international standards call for at least four fire fighters on every engine company – and why the IAFF is fighting for across North America.

07/20/2026

07/16/2026

07/13/2026

🕙 24 hour shifts 🕑

In 2024 our Fire Association Local 3253 negotiated through mediation the inclusion of a 24-hour shift schedule for Langley City Firefighters, removing the historical 10-hour days and 14-hour nights schedule.

The 24-hour shift has become the standard across Canada. In particular, for larger career fire departments—and for good reason.

Local 3253 polled our members 1 year after the change, and highlighted what firefighters across the country have already experienced: more time to recover between shifts, better work-life balance, stronger crew cohesion, fewer commutes, and more time focused on training and serving our community.

Modern fire departments continue to evolve, and shift schedules are no exception. As more departments adopt 24-hour operations, the evidence continues to point toward a schedule that supports firefighter wellness while maintaining the high level of service our communities expect.

Healthy firefighters. Stronger crews. Better service.

Langley City Fire Rescue Service
City of Langley
BC Professional Fire Fighters
International Association of Fire Fighters 6th District

05/05/2026

Pitt Meadows Firefighters - IAFF Local 4810 doing more with less.

This is yet another example of how composite paid-on-call call fire departments continue to fail to meet the demands of rapidly expanding urban communities.

These communities must make significant investments to ensure community and firefighter safety.

Wishing a speedy recovery to the injured firefighters 🙏

BC Professional Fire Fighters
International Association of Fire Fighters 6th District
City of Langley
Langley City Fire Rescue Service

Letter to our community,

Over the weekend our members responded to another structure fire in a residential neighborhood. Crews worked diligently to knock down the fire and save adjacent homes.

A single crew of 4 firefighters worked to save 3 homes, essentially doing the job of 15. Eventually only 3 paid on call members with limited qualifications responded. Only 7 firefighters continued to battle the fire and interior operations had to be delayed until Maple Ridge responded to help due to limited resources.

A small number of qualified firefighters worked every phase of the incident without rehabilitation or medical assessment as outlined by NFPA standards.

Two 2 firefighters were injured. Both injuries were not severe but will still result in time loss and a recovery period.

Our members will always go above an beyond to protect our community.

However this incident like many others highlights the challenges of the current staffing model. We recognize there have been significant investments in ensuring a fully staffed first engine. However, that assumed there was adequate back up for larger incidents.

The Paid On Call model is failing to keep up. It can no longer be relied upon. A lack of qualified resources directly effects our ability to keep you safe and keep ourselves safe.

This incident is not a one off, it is the unfortunate state of the current response model. It is not the fault of any Paid On Call members individually, but rather the reality of the challenges that the POC model has as a whole to meet standards required for emergency response in a growing community.

Change is needed.

We are committed to working with admin staff and City officials to navigate these issues

Public Safety Matters
Firefighter Safety Matters