South Stormont replaces 100 spreadsheets
Township of South Stormont Fire and Rescue uses First Due to unify incident documentation, training, investigations, Community Connect, and Assets—replacing fragmented spreadsheets with a phased rollout that fits a volunteer-heavy organization.
"Before we worked off of 100 different spreadsheets—and now we’ve got everything down into First Due."
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Operational Impact & Key Outcomes
100+ Spreadsheets Replaced
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4 Stations, Standardized
Full-Department Access in 4 Months
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The Story
Background
Township of South Stormont Fire and Rescue is a combination fire service serving rural communities and major transportation corridors in Eastern Ontario. With four stations, a volunteer-heavy roster, and response demands that include rail, highway, and water incidents, the department needed a modern system that could scale with operations and support its move toward more full-time staffing.
Challenge
Before First Due, the department managed critical information across spreadsheets, email chains, and older RMS workflows. That fragmentation made it harder to standardize documentation across stations, keep maintenance issues visible, and coordinate operational data. Leadership also needed to protect payroll-linked permissions and avoid an implementation pace that would overwhelm users or create unnecessary risk.
Solution
South Stormont launched First Due in December 2025 and adopted a deliberate, module-by-module rollout. The team started with incident documentation, fire investigations, and inspections to create immediate operational value, then expanded into training, events, Community Connect, and Assets & Inventory. To support adoption, James Walker built an internal implementation team that gave training officers and station-level leaders ownership over their workflows while First Due’s implementation team helped align best practices to the department’s day-to-day realities.
That phased approach also helped South Stormont replace spreadsheet-based asset tracking with structured checks, deficiencies, and work orders that are visible inside dashboards instead of buried in inboxes. By moving slowly and assigning ownership across the organization, the department made implementation practical for a volunteer-heavy agency.
Results
Within roughly four months, South Stormont expanded access from command staff to firefighter-level users without pushing change too quickly. The department consolidated more than 100 spreadsheets into one platform, standardized workflows across four stations, and began integrating asset deficiencies into daily operations through trackable dashboard-driven work orders. With Assets underway and incident documentation continuously improving, the team is positioned to expand Community Connect and strengthen long-term preparedness and risk reduction.
About
South Stormont Fire and Rescue
Quick facts
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Make Asset Deficiencies Impossible to Miss
South Stormont’s move from email-based maintenance issues to dashboard-visible deficiency reporting shows how First Due’s Assets & Inventory module helps agencies track vehicle, equipment, and station checks with work orders tied directly to operational workflows.
In their own words:
- What is the department’s staffing model today?
- The department is combination staffed, with about 100 volunteers, 4 stations, and 4 career staff roles including the chief, deputy chief, fire prevention officer, and a part-time administrator.
- How many calls do you run each year?
- The department reported breaking 350 annual calls, with an estimate of about 365–370 calls in the most recent year referenced.
- How does EMS work in your system?
- South Stormont operates within a three-tier system of police, fire, and ambulance. Fire crews often arrive first, begin initial assessments, and then county EMS takes over patient transport.
- When did you go live on First Due?
- The team onboarded in late November 2025 and officially turned on First Due on December 15, 2025.
- What modules did you start with?
- The initial rollout focused on incident documentation, fire investigation, and inspections, followed by events and activities, training, Community Connect, and Assets.
- What rollout advice would you give another department?
- The recommendation was to treat implementation as a one-year project and integrate modules slowly rather than trying to onboard everything at once.
- How did you prep your data for Assets & Inventory?
- The department consolidated information that had previously lived across more than 100 spreadsheets into First Due.
- How did you handle ownership across stations?
- Leadership distributed tasks across multiple people and relied on local subject-matter owners instead of expecting one person to manage the rollout alone.
- Why did you roll out permissions slowly?
- Because many workflows were tied to payroll, leadership wanted to avoid broad access too early and reduce the risk of costly mistakes.
- How has your experience been with the First Due team?
- James Walker described the implementation team as knowledgeable, helpful, and highly engaged throughout the rollout.
Modernize your operation—without overwhelming your team
See how First Due helps departments roll out powerful modules step by step, building adoption, accountability, and operational clarity along the way.
