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Most members of a city council committee, rejecting the fire chief’s objections, agreed to stretch fire response standards in new Calgary communities in a bid to make way for more development.

Councillors voted 6-3 Monday in favour of increasing targeted fire response times from the current standard of seven minutes to 10 minutes in newly developing communities.

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The relaxation aims to make it easier for planners to green-light developments on Calgary’s periphery where there currently isn’t sufficient tax base to support the city’s seven-minute standard for fire services.

The proposal would see the gap in fire response times in new communities narrow as the community builds out, eventually bringing them closer in line with the existing seven-minute standard in other parts of the city.

The new guidelines must still go to council for final approval on March 19, but Monday saw a volley of concerns raised by fire officials about the risks involved to Calgarians under the proposed guideline.