Firefighters in Mississauga are sounding an alarm over staff shortages brought on in part by several outbreaks of COVID-19 among firefighters.

There are currently 85 Mississauga firefighters who are isolating due to possible COVID-19 exposure and 14 staff members have tested positive for the virus.

Speaking with CP24 Thursday, Mississauga Fire Fighters Association President Chris Varcoe said he’s concerned about the strain on the system.

“The impact of that is a significant staffing shortage,” Varcoe said. “It's a real challenge right now to get enough firefighters to properly staff the fire trucks and keep the residents safe and be able to respond timely.”

He said combined with pre-existing factors, the situation is concerning. Varcoe pointed out that around 10 per cent of the service’s fire trucks are out of service and a study several years ago said the fire department’s resources were not keeping pace with population growth.

“They're moving ahead now quickly in the budget. This administration, this council, this mayor, and this commissioner are working quickly to rectify that position, but decades of neglect of investments in the fire service have left us very short handed."

“And when a numbers like that impact us we're left scrambling when there's not a lot of room, not a lot of extra space in the margins to pull enough firefighters and to get trucks on the street.”

Speaking with CP24 Thursday, Mississauga Fire Assistant Chief of Operations Stephane Malo said that while the service is trying to contain the spread of the virus among its members, it continues to provide the service level that residents expect.

“We're in decent shape. In fact, in spite of the fact that we have a staff shortage due to COVID-19 -- there's no doubt that it has an impact -- but I can assure you that the safety of the public, and that of our firefighters is our number one priority, the priority and has not been compromised in any way, shape, or form,”Malo said.

He pointed out that four stations out of 21 are currently affected by outbreaks. He also noted that call volumes are down about 20 per cent compared to this time last year.

“I can assure you that tonight, as of five minutes ago, we were able to deliver the service and when someone calls 9-1-1 in Mississauga, they will have the service that they are expected to receive,” Malo said.

He said the service has implemented more extensive mask use and other measures to try and curb the spread of the virus, but he added that the outbreaks are consistent with rampant community spread of the virus in the province.

COVID-19 case counts have been soaring in recent weeks, hitting an all-time record of 2,447 infections Thursday.

Peel Region has been under a provincially mandated lockdown for weeks in order to help curb the spread of the virus.