Fire & Rescue Services

FIRE & RESCUE SERVICES Operating Budget: Capital Budget: Staffing Complement: Supports Strategic Focus Areas:

$1,292,900 $50,000 6.0 FTE (full-time equivalent) 25-30 Paid On Call Volunteer Firefighters Community Building & Engagement, Public Works & Safety, Governance & Policy

Overview Fire and Rescue Service provides 911 emergency response and acts as a first point of contact with citizens and visitors for many incident types. Fire & Life Safety Education sessions, directed at a wide variety of community demographic and social groups, provide valuable information and exposure to the dangers of fire and other hazards as well as methodologies to prevent or minimize damage and injury. Direct contact and influence are provided to citizens and business through related bylaw enforcement, legislated fire safety inspections at public and commercial properties, during formal fire investigations, and within the pre-incident planning process. The core of the department remains a highly dedicated and trained group of paid on call volunteer firefighters. They perform all aspects of department operations related to fire suppression and public education. The paid on call firefighters are supplemented by a career staffing contingent of 5 responsible for department management and supervision, City of Pitt Meadows - 2015 Business Plan Pg. 127

Fire & Rescue Services inspections, training, public education and operational readiness. An administrative assistant provides technical and administrative support to all members of the department as well as to the City’s Emergency Program. A major work area for the department is the ongoing need for recruitment, retention and maintenance training of the paid on call volunteer firefighters. Under Council direction, the service levels Pitt Meadows Day 2014 provided by the fire & rescue service somewhat differ from most career-based Metro region departments, particularly in the areas of technical rescue and dangerous goods (Hazmat) response. However, the innovative and technically strong skills of our membership related to core emergency service delivery, as well as our fundamental commitment to education and prevention, make Pitt Meadows an extremely fire safe community to live and work in. The success of the current service delivery model is critical to the financial stability of the City. Continuous efforts are made to minimize unnecessary burdens on the volunteer membership and to support them with state of the art training, technology, equipment and procedures.

At A Glance 

32 active members (6 regular and 26 paid on call volunteer) in the department workforce, including an administrative assistant

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The average age of career employees is 46.5 years with an average of 17.1 years service.

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The average age of the Paid on Call firefighters is 35.7 years with and average of 7.7 years service

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Combined department knowledge base (in years of service): 490

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The department has responded to 365 incidents as of September 30th

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There have been 173 training sessions for members in that same time period

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The have been 447 inspections, and 26 re-inspections for that time period

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There have been 80 fire prevention and life safety education sessions in that time period

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The fire department website has received 129,815 “hits” between Feb and Oct 2014

City of Pitt Meadows - 2015 Business Plan Pg. 128

Fire & Rescue Services Staff Complement

2014 Achievements 

Training Ground development of fire building and rescue training ditch

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Painting of firehall apparatus bay area

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18 City staff members completed fire extinguisher training

 Honorary Member Ring of Honor creation and presentation night 

Respectful Workplace Training Program completion

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Completed vast majority of initial airport facility fire inspections

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Integrated 4 more new recruits

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Revised and implemented new Burning Bylaw in Spring

 Initiated review of Fire Protection and Fireworks Bylaws in preparation for update in 2015  Transitioned Emergency Program to new position located at City Hall under direction of CAO

Key Challenges for 2015 

Fire & Rescue Service Review by Consultant – comprehensive analysis is necessary to plot a path for the department into the next 10 years. Many

New Training Ground City of Pitt Meadows - 2015 Business Plan Pg. 129

Fire & Rescue Services pressure points exist that challenge the current model and methods to support it, or alternatives to it, 

Implementation of actions arising from recommendations of Fire service review process

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Integration of 4 new Recruits starting in February

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Completion of Fire Training Ground fit-out

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Review and preparation for renewal of Paid on Call Compensation Structure OG # 5.01.01 – to be implemented January 1, 2016

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Consistent disruptions with computer and network technologies, especially around the DM document management system, create inefficiencies and errors within the work group on a regular basis

Key Initiatives for 2015 Division Operations

Training

Initiative

Target

Adopt the 16 Firefighter Life Safety Initiatives (as applicable) through enhanced Health and Safety practices

Q2

Reinforce safe work practices and familiarity with operational guidelines for all members of the department

Q2

Completion of major Fire Training Ground fit-out

Q1

Transition to FDM-based training records management

Q1-2

Train and integrate up to four new recruits

Q2

Prevention

Transition to field-based reporting for inspections via laptop access to FDM

Q1

Education

Katzie First Nation Smoke Alarm campaign

Q1

Administration

Coordinate with consultant completion of comprehensive Fire Service Review and Strategic Priorities recommendations Prepare for departments 75th Anniversary in 2016. Develop celebration components and plan for implementation Initiate adoption of recommendations from Fire Service Review Initiate apparatus replacement process for Rescue 1 – contingent on 2016 Budget provisions being accepted Initiate POC remuneration process review for January 1, 2016 implementation Core Business Systems Renewal. Support IT in the procurement and implementation of a modern municipal business system

Q1-2 Q2-3 Q2-4 Q3-4 Q3-4 Q1-Q4

City of Pitt Meadows - 2015 Business Plan Pg. 130

Fire & Rescue Services Proposed Operating Budget

City of Pitt Meadows - 2015 Business Plan Pg. 131

Fire & Rescue Services Proposed Capital Budget

City of Pitt Meadows - 2015 Business Plan Pg. 132

Fire & Rescue Services Decision Package A: Fire Services Review and Strategic Master Plan Development Department/Division:

Fire & Rescue Services

Submitted by:

Don Jolley

Estimated Capital Cost:

$50,000

Estimated Annual Operating Costs:

One time: $

N/A

Ongoing: $ N/A

Description Development of a Request for Proposal (RFP) to engage a professional consultant to undertake a detailed review of the current fire & rescue service operation and administration and to develop a comprehensive list of Strategic Priorities. Produce a guiding document, based upon those priorities and recommendations, to assist Council in providing direction for the next 510 year period.

Recommendation THAT Council: A.

That Council direct staff to engage a professional consulting firm to undertake a comprehensive review of the current operations and administration of the fire & rescue service and to provide detailed recommendations for strategic priorities, in the form of a Strategic Master Plan, for the department and City to undertake moving forward for the next 10 years.

Financial Implications RFP budget request is preliminarily set as $50,000. Funding will come from the Future Capital Reserve Fund. It will be one time funding. Associated funding impacts will likely come from the Service Review process recommendations and will be brought forward as separate operational or capital budget items in 2015 and beyond, as applicable.

Discussion The City is looking to optimize service delivery of the Fire & Rescue Service within the context of an affordable City budget envelope. There is a desire to review the operation to ensure duplication is minimized; services are validated, enhanced or reduced where appropriate; internal controls are maximized; and service level delivery, monitoring and analysis is optimal. The City will invite qualified firms with extensive experience regarding the provision of municipal and fire services to explore the current delivery of fire services to the community and to develop, in cooperation with the CPM, a comprehensive list of 5-10 year Strategic Priorities for the Pitt Meadows Fire & Rescue Service (PMFRS). Specifically, should the PMFRS City of Pitt Meadows - 2015 Business Plan Pg. 133

Fire & Rescue Services be providing all of the services that it currently does? Are there other services they should be providing? Is the current level of service provided in each of the core and non-core services being delivered in a way that controls costs yet adequately addresses the risks identified in the community? Are there recommended actions to improve delivery of these services while maintaining fiscal prudence for the City and taxpayers? What risks are there presently? What costs/savings will be associated with the recommended actions?

Alternatives It is proposed that an internal process, utilizing recognized formats and templates from other jurisdictions could be undertaken. This would ensure local knowledge is comprehensively considered and provide for maximum input from internal stakeholders within the department, City and Council. The skills necessary to undertake this are likely present, but also already heavily engaged. Costs would be minimal above the existing department budget envelope, thus being very appealing during a time of fiscal restraint. An internal process would, however, consume a very considerable amount of work hours for multiple employees as well as volunteers. It would also principally minimize the amount of external knowledge that could be injected thus hampering innovative solutions and comparative analysis. In addition, a significant drop in other work performance outside the review would occur for multiple employees, principally the Fire Chief, which would negatively impact overall operations during the term of the review. A scaled back 3rd party review is also possible. This would reduce the overall analysis scale and impact potential recommended actions. It would require lower funding thresholds, but would also require reduced participation levels, analysis of data and other traditionally time consuming consultant actions. This could result in a “cookie cutter” template based report similar to previous examples undertaken by the department. These resulted in some recommendations being auctioned, but many more significant ones were dismissed because they were either ill-advised or unpalatable economically; thus poor conceived in the important context of our City.

Summary The recommendation of the Fire Chief, CAO and Corporate Leadership Team is to undertake a full and comprehensive review utilizing well experienced consulting specialists who can provide a solid and broad perspective to our current situation. The fire & rescue service here is in a period of transition. The speed and direction of that transition needs to be very carefully considered and executed. The impacts of whatever transition occurs will be felt deeply across the entire corporate organization for many reasons. It is crucial that adequate consideration be given to all relevant factors and stakeholders and that a full thickness review, not just a superficial one, take place. It is therefore recommended that Council direct the Fire Chief and CAO to issue an RFP as soon as practically possible to engage such a firm or individual. City of Pitt Meadows - 2015 Business Plan Pg. 134