Fraser-Fort George's emergency call service is set to manage emergency calls for the Bulkley-Nechako, Cariboo and Kitimat-Stikine regional districts starting next year.
According to a media release Wednesday, Fraser-Fort George 911, a service provided by the regional district, will manage calls for all four areas, determining the nature of the emergencies and transferring callers to emergency dispatch centres as needed.
“Fraser-Fort George 911 will provide our partner regional districts with a more autonomous 911 call answer service that can respond to the needs of northern communities and residents,” said Regional District of Fraser-Fort George chair Lara Beckett in the release.
Calls are currently answered by Vancouver-based Emergency Communications for BC Inc (E-Comm), with the regional districts having contracts with the group since 2014. When Fraser-Fort George 911 takes over this role next year, calls will be answered in Prince George.
“Bringing the 911 call answering service back to north central B.C. will create new job opportunities and economically benefit the region,” said Mark Parker, chair of the Regional District of Bulkley-Nechako.
In 2024, a total of 104,476 911 calls were made in the regional districts. Of that, 47,671 calls were in the Regional District of Fraser-Fort George, 23,013 in the Cariboo Regional District,19,591 in the Regional District of Kitimat-Stikine and 14,201 in the Regional District of Bulkley-Nechako.
“As our 911 call answer costs continued to increase, we needed to identify a more financially sustainable option for our residents,” said Margo Wagner, chair of the Cariboo Regional District.
When Fraser-Fort George 911 takes over, calls will continue to be transferred to the same dispatch centres as they were under E-Comm.
Calls for police services are dispatched by the RCMP Operational Communications Centre in Prince George, calls for fire and rescue services are dispatched by the Regional District of Fraser-Fort George’s Fire Operations Communications Centre in Prince George and calls for ambulance services are dispatched by the BC Ambulance Service in Vancouver, Victoria and Kamloops.
“We look forward to Fraser-Fort George 911 being able to apply local knowledge and provide a better experience for our residents when they need emergency services,” said Regional District of Kitimat-Stikine chair Cyra Yunkws.