2025 Annual Fire Service Report | 2024 Annual Fire Service Report
The Wembley Fire Department provides fire, rescue, and medical first response services to the County of Grande Prairie Regional Fire Service under a service contract and serves as the Primary Emergency Response Agency for the Town of Wembley.
The fire service contract with the County of Grande Prairie was renewed in 2022 and includes administrative services provided by the County Regional Fire Service. The County's management team includes two administrative staff, one Fire Chief, three Deputy Chiefs responsible for Operations, Training, and Logistics, and two District Chiefs stationed in Wembley and Sexsmith. The County also provides a Fire Marshal and Fire Prevention Officer responsible for fire investigations, inspections, code compliance, fire prevention, and public education.
With the support of the Mayor and Council, the Wembley Fire Department maintains a high standard of service with the goal of providing the highest quality emergency response services possible to the citizens of Wembley and surrounding communities.
The department has a roster of more than twenty five volunteer firefighters, two Lieutenants, and four Senior Firefighters. Daily operations are managed Monday through Friday by one full-time Station Captain and one full-time Firefighter. During the spring and summer fire season, additional firefighters are employed under contract to assist with annual testing, maintenance, training, and daytime incident responses.
In 2024, the department transitioned to a paid-on-call compensation model for emergency responses. Firefighters receive hourly compensation for the time they spend responding to emergencies. The goal of this model is to ensure that firefighters do not experience a financial disadvantage as a result of serving their community.
The Wembley Fire Department, in partnership with the County of Grande Prairie Regional Fire Service, trains all new members to NFPA 1001 Level 2 through the Alberta Office of the Fire Commissioner’s Public Safety Division.
The department is fortunate to have multiple certified NFPA 1041 instructors, along with a certified First Aid instructor, two Basic Life Support instructors and two High Performance CPR instructors. In addition to recruit training, members meet every Thursday evening for three hours of regular training focused on specific skills and topics. This ongoing training ensures our members continually develop and demonstrate competency in the skills required to provide effective emergency response services.
The Wembley Fire Department Training Grounds houses multiple training structures and props. Many of these facilities have been purchased and constructed through a combination of donations, grant funding, and volunteer work.
Our facilities include a two-story Class A burn facility, shown below, which was upgraded from a single-story structure in late 2023 thanks to a $30,000 contribution from Ovintiv. The training grounds also include vehicle fire props, dumpster fire props, cold-smoke structures, forcible-entry training props, and other specialized training resources.
These facilities provide our members with the opportunity to train in realistic environments and help ensure the Wembley Fire Department is prepared to respond to the diverse emergencies faced by our community and surrounding areas.
Have you ever wondered why the fire department sometimes arrives when you call 911 for an ambulance?
The Wembley Fire Department recognized that, due to our community's location between the City of Grande Prairie and the Town of Beaverlodge, ambulance response times can sometimes be delayed. To help provide a faster response to residents experiencing a medical emergency, the Wembley Fire Department operates as a Full Medical Co-Response Agency within the Town of Wembley.
This means that our firefighters respond to medical emergencies within the Town of Wembley, regardless of the severity of the call. Our goal is to provide early basic life support and care while ambulance crews are responding, helping to ensure that residents receive support as quickly as possible.
The Wembley Fire Department is prepared to respond to a wide variety of emergencies. Our firefighters are trained in structural and wildland firefighting, motor vehicle collision response and extrication, water rescue, hazardous materials operations, and medical co-response.
If it is not a fire or medical emergency, you have likely seen us responding to an incident on Highway 43, the twinned provincial highway that runs through the middle of our response area. We are fortunate to have several members with advanced training in vehicle extrication and stabilization. This specialized training is supported by a Heavy Rescue truck and an Engine, both equipped with complete sets of hydraulic rescue tools, commonly known as the "Jaws of Life."
We are prepared to serve not only those who live in our community, but also those who work, visit, or travel through the area.
You may have heard the large, roof-mounted siren at the Fire Hall sound from time to time. This "air raid"-style siren was once the primary method of notifying firefighters that an emergency response was required.
When a response was needed, the Fire Chief would receive a telephone call from the local switchboard operator or a citizen reporting an emergency. The Chief would then travel to the Fire Hall and activate the siren. Upon hearing the alert, firefighters would make their way to the station to respond.
Today, cellular notification systems and portable radios have replaced the siren as our primary methods of alerting firefighters. However, the siren remains in place as a secondary alert system in the event of a cellular network failure. It may also be activated at the discretion of the responding officer when an incident poses an immediate threat to the community, such as a confirmed structure fire, gas leak, or environmental emergency.
Testing of the siren is limited to approximately once per year. When a test is scheduled, the Wembley Fire Department will provide advance notice through our Facebook page, including the date and time of the test.
Facebook: @wembleyfiredepartment
Instagram: @wembleyfiredepartment
Address: 9928 100 Street, Box 325, Wembley, AB, T0H 3S0
Office Phone: 780-766-3170
Office Hours: Monday - Friday from 0800-1700
As we are a primarily volunteer station, please note that staff are only in station during business hours.
*For Emergencies please call 9-1-1*
Interested in joining? Click this tab to see the recruitment page.