Through a new signage campaign across rural Ottawa, the City is making an effort to remind motorists that vehicles with green flashing lights are being driven by volunteer firefighters who are responding to a call. As a courtesy, all road users are asked to allow these vehicles to pass quickly and safely.

Ottawa’s rural communities are served by 470 volunteer firefighters. Through the Green Light program, volunteer firefighters are equipped with green flashing lights for their personal vehicles. When you see a green light flashing from a driver’s vehicle, it means the driver is a volunteer firefighter responding to an emergency.

Drivers are asked, to please yield the road to these vehicles with green flashing lights. This may mean pulling over, if it is safe to do so, to allow the vehicle to pass.

Volunteer firefighters responding to an emergency typically need to drive their personal vehicles to a nearby fire station where they can transfer into a fire vehicle before responding to the scene of an incident. Pulling over when you see a firefighter’s green light can have a big impact because every second counts.

Volunteer firefighters are also expected to follow the same rules of the road as all other drivers. The Highway Traffic Act allows volunteer firefighters to display a flashing green light when responding to emergencies. The use of the flashing green light on or in vehicles is restricted to fire services.

To increase awareness of the Green Light program, the City launched an awareness campaign recently. Drivers in rural areas may notice additional road signs and billboards reminding them of the program. This program has existed in rural Ottawa for several years and similar programs exist across North America in communities that are served by volunteer firefighters.

ReCollect Calendar App

The City of Ottawa is pleased to launch the ReCollect Collection Calendar app, in collaboration with the Service Innovation and Performance Department. The online ReCollect calendar has been in use since September 2012 and provides residents with a reminder of their collection day and the type of material scheduled for collection.                                                  

The new mobile app is now available free of charge through Apple and Android stores. By downloading the collection calendar app, residents will be able to receive notifications about their collection and quickly reference their collection calendar on their Apple and Android devices. ReCollect apps are used by over 100 municipalities across North America. Each of these mobile apps is unique to the municipality (name, artwork, content, etc.), and has been very well received by residents. In addition to weekly calendar reminders, customized waste diversion messages can also be incorporated into the app. 

In addition to the ReCollect app residents can access the ReCollect calendar on Ottawa.ca. They can download and print the collection calendar, upload it to personal calendars or sign up for email, telephone or Twitter notifications.

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If you have any comments, questions or concerns, please feel free to email me at [email protected] or contact me by phone at 613-580-2491. For information on Rideau-Goulbourn issues, please visit RideauGoulbourn.ca.