Brian Derbyshire's record on firefighter safety

Full title: Brian Derbyshire Firefighter Health & Safety · Written by John Farrugia

Written before the October 26, 2026 election. This report is kept as it was, for the record. To see who won and what they promised, go to Council 2026-2030.

First publishedOctober 15, 2026

Last updatedOctober 27, 2026

Records checked up toOctober 14, 2026

Full report25 pages, with every source

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This report looks at how Councillor Brian Derbyshire voted, asked questions and spoke about keeping firefighters safe and healthy from 2022 to 2026.

What happened

Town records show he voted against two key steps to replace Fire Station 1 in 2023, and his comments were about cost, taxes and which stations should come first.
He also proposed protective steps: independent air testing in all fire halls, which passed, and moving office staff out of Station 1 until the air was checked, which failed.
He seconded a motion to delay hiring a fire inspector, which passed, and later proposed doing fire inspections only when requested, which failed.
A local news outlet (myFM) reported he voted against second sets of firefighter gear in 2023, but no official list of who voted which way was found.
The report found no verified quote or vote in which he called cancer-prevention equipment a 'want' rather than a need; the need-versus-want language the review located was in a debate about medical calls.

Why it matters to you

Council decides how the town protects firefighters, for example with gear, clean air, showers and inspections. This report shows which claims about his record are backed by town records and which are not.

Words with a dotted underline: tap them to see what they mean.

What the evidence shows

Shown in recordsTown documents, minutes or other official records show this.Reported, not provenSaid in the news, by a person, or claimed in court. Not proven by records.Still unansweredA question the records do not answer yet.

Shown in recordsIn official recorded votes, he voted against the June 2023 Fire Station 1 tender direction (carried 5-3) and the December 2023 construction award (carried 5-4). page 3
Shown in recordsIn June 2023 he proposed moving administration out of Station 1 until the air quality could be assessed; the motion failed. page 3
Shown in recordsIn July 2023 he moved independent air-quality testing in all fire halls, including meeting rooms and offices; it carried. page 3
Reported, not provenmyFM named him and Greg Willsie as voting against second sets of bunker gear in September 2023; an official roll call has not been located. page 3
Shown in recordsIn July 2024 he explained why firefighters need decontamination showers and laundry, asked about cost and placement, and indicated he was not opposed; no named vote was located. page 4
Shown in recordsThe need-versus-want language found was about expanding medical-call response, not cancer-prevention gear, and his vote on that agreement is not identified. page 4
Shown in recordsIn March 2024 he seconded a motion to delay hiring a full-time fire inspector, which the Finance Committee carried; seconding is not a final vote. page 5
Shown in recordsIn March 2025 he moved to switch from regular (proactive) fire inspections to inspections only when requested; the motion lost. page 6
Reported, not provenA firefighters' Association letter supplied privately to this review says it does not endorse him; the report describes it but does not treat it as established, and readers cannot inspect it. page 9
Still unansweredHis campaign statement calls him a Captain and a Crisis Management Team member, a supplied graphic disputes both, and the report does not establish either. page 9

Still unanswered

How he voted on showers, laundry, air purifiers and the reported make-up air purchase - his individual votes remain unverified.
His formal fire-service rank, whether he was on a particular team, his service dates and why he left are not established.
After he moved to drop the request for Station 2 and 3 condition reports, it is not known whether the same information already existed or the assessment was ever done.
An official roll call for the 2023 vote on second sets of bunker gear has not been located.

What's in the full report

Publication details page 1
Summary of the public record page 2
Medical response and cancer-prevention measures page 2
Scope page 2
2023: station decisions and protection page 3
2024: exposure controls and response page 4
2024: staffing, vehicles and governance page 5
2025-2026: prevention and support page 6
Discussion timeline page 7
Findings by topic page 9
The supplied Association letter page 9
Statements in myFM interviews page 9
Credentials and departure remain separate questions page 9
Method and remaining limitations page 10
Study recommendations and council decisions page 11
Assessment page 12
Source access page 13
Sources - clickable links page 14
Recording coverage page 17
Updates and corrections page 22

Words used in this report

Bunker gear: The heavy protective coat and pants firefighters wear at fires.
PPE: Personal protective equipment - gear that protects the person wearing it.
Decontamination: Cleaning harmful dirt and chemicals off people and gear after a fire call.
Off-gassing: Chemicals from used gear getting into the air.
Tender: A request for companies to bid on a job; awarding the tender picks the winner.
Recorded vote: A vote where the minutes list how each member voted.
Moving and seconding: Putting a motion forward, and backing it so it can be debated; neither one is the same as a final vote.
Proactive inspections: Fire inspections the department schedules on its own, instead of waiting for a request.
Automatic captions: Computer-made text of what is said in a video; it can get words and names wrong.
Copy provided to this review: A document someone gave the author privately; the public cannot check it.

Updates and corrections

Every change to this report is listed here. An Update adds new information. A Correction fixes a mistake. A Minor change is wording, layout or branding only.

Minor change October 27, 2026
The contact email for questions and corrections is now [email protected]. Nothing else changed.
Minor change October 19, 2026
The publication logo was replaced with the new approved Council Watch logo; no text, findings or sources changed.
Correction October 18, 2026
The About box had described his campaign statement as not public; that was inaccurate, because a matching public Facebook post under his name was found.
Update October 18, 2026
The four privately supplied items were added to the sources with issuer, form and date where known, each marked as a copy provided to this review and not independently authenticated.
Minor change October 18, 2026
Council Watch branding, the standard About box, clickable citations and timestamp formatting were added; findings and the research cutoff did not change.
Update October 18, 2026
Recording references now give approximate caption time ranges, the speaker where identified and caption status, and new recording references were added.
Correction October 18, 2026
Wording on the fire-inspector hire was corrected to say he seconded a proposal to delay it, which is not a final vote; the finding did not change.
Update October 18, 2026
The budget section now says which evidence each budget vote rests on: an official recorded vote for 2024 and a myFM report for 2025.
Update October 18, 2026
Each Station 1 vote is now labelled as an official recorded vote, and his opposition to the advisory board is labelled as reported by myFM, with the minutes showing only 'Carried'.
Original publication October 15, 2026
First public release; the PDF was produced October 14, 2026.

This page is a short guide to the full report. If they ever seem to differ, the full report is the record. Questions or corrections: [email protected].