Local 3021 was first created in 1985. Consisting of only 4 fulltime members, they staffed one fire hall in Spruce Grove only between the hours of 0800 and 1700. Outside of those hours, fire coverage was supplemented by a group of non-union volunteer firefighters that were on an on-call system.

At right: Rob Jonker, Ed Mclean, Don Degenhardt and Perry Romick in 1998 with Pump Four

In 1987, Local 3021 went through some difficult times. The City of Spruce Grove, fired all of the fulltime members for becoming the first city employees to unionize. Twelve weeks later they were reinstated by the Alberta Labor Board.

In 2003, local 3021 went from a fire service to an integrated Fire/EMS service. After completing their EMT course, three of the members were also promoted to Captain. After hiring another 5 paramedics, the membership more than doubled to 9 members. Now operating on a 4 platoon system, each platoon had 2 fulltime staff and staffed the single fire hall 24 hours a day, seven days a week. We continue to grow as the needs and demand on the fire service increases on a yearly basis.

In 2005, two more members, bringing the membership total to 11, were brought on in attempt to slowly get manning to 3 fulltime per platoon. Currently, only three of the four platoons have 3 fulltime members.

In 2009, the Alberta Government took over all pre-hospital care in the province. As an integrated fire/ems department, SGFS was contracted to provide 2 ambulances to the province system. As a result, another 16 members were hired to ensure there was adequate manning for the 2 ambulances (as part of the AHS contract) as well as for a pump response. This brought our membership total to 27.

Also in 2009, as each platoon now grew to 7 (one platoon still has 6) the city created the position of Lieutenants in order to keep the span of control within the NFPA standards. 3 members were promoted to Lieutenants from within.

In 2010 all platoons were brought up to 7 people per platoon bringing total membership up to 28.