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| City Council is set to review a report from the Fire Chief that will outline options for the City Bylaw on the delivery of Fire Service levels in the community |
What level of fire protection to provide for residents in the City of Prince Rupert will be the topic for a portion of this evening's City Council session, as Council members receive a report from Fire Chief Dave McKenzie that will request a change in the bylaw to reflect a shift in focus for how the Fire Department now handles Fire calls in the city.
The Report to Council from the Fire Chief charts some of the background to the request and outlines the current scope of performance for the members of Prince Rupert Fire Rescue and how they are governed in their duties by procedures and regulations.
The City currently operates an 18 person career department, with a Chief and Deputy Chief. Firefighters respond to approximately 1500 emergency responses annually. The Office of the Fire Commissioner has developed a British Columbia Structure Firefighter Competency and Training Playbook designed to ensure that appropriate minimum levels of training are established to make firefighters effective and safe on the ground.
The Playbook permits local governments in BC to determine the level of service that they want for their community.
Currently the City Bylaw that governs Fire Service in the community calls for the Fire Service to be deliver Full Service Operations -- which is described as a Service Level that includes activities that are undertaken by firefighters and officers trained in the full spectrum of Competencies outlined in the NFPA I00I Firefighter 2, Standard for Fire Fighter Professional Qualifications as well as the relevant competencies o f NFP A 1021 Standard for Fire Officer Professional Qualifications for officers.
Should Council accept the proposed change to the Bylaw, the city's Fire Department would then formally shift its requirements to Exterior Operations -- That Service Level includes firefighting activities restricted to the controlling and/or extinguishing the fire from a position external to the building or object in question, and outside of any IDLH environment.
For the most part however, from reading through the Fire Chief's notes for council, the report would seem to suggest that of the two service levels; the Exterior Operations model has made for the default approach for much of response in recent years.
The reasoning behind the request for the change was included as part of the Analysis of the current state of operations for the PRFD and some of the challenges that have been found in the delivery towards Full Service Operations.
The Fire Department currently relies on call-back staff to come back to the station while off duty when assistance with fire tactics is required. Over the past number of years the department has been unsuccessful in getting enough staff to be effective to meet our firefighting needs in these instances. There is no obligation that off duty staff will come when asked.
Meanwhile, Work Safe BC requires that we have a minimum number of staff before we can make first entry at the location of a fire. If we do not meet the appropriate level of staffing, we are required to stay outside and maintain an exterior operation (described in the "Exterior Operations" level of service).
The main thrust of the recommendation for council to consider is to maintain the lower end of the three service levels for the most part restricting operations to exterior fire fighting only, unless numbers allow for entry to structures.
Amending our level of service allows us as a Department to still fire fight from the exterior of structure fires, and continue to meet one of the levels of service required by the Playbook.
In addition, we can still make entry to the structure if we have the additional resources on scene to do the job as per WorkSafe BC requirements, however this will no longer be the anticipated or mandated level of service.
The WorkSafe BC guidelines can be explored here, while the Office of the Fire Commissioner documentation can be reviewed here.
You can review the full report below, or from the City's Agenda package for tonight on pages37 and 38.
What impact such change may have on residents and taxpayers isn't quite clear from the report and hopefully as they consider the request, Council members will expand on some of the details in their public session
Among some of the areas where the public might hope for some expanded review on: what residents can expect when the Fire Department arrives at their home should they be required, any implications towards home insurance that may be found from a service change and if the city plans on an information campaign to advise residents of the new reality of their Fire service level, should the decision to make the shift be made.
The topic should also provide Council members the opportunity to outline what other options, if any, may be available to the community, should they wish to continue with the concept of a Full Service Department as outlined in Chief McKenzie's report.
A look at some of the past work of Prince Rupert Fire/Rescue can be found from our archive page here.
A wider overview of tonight's City Council Session is available from our Preview here.
More notes on past City Council Discussion topics can be explored here.
To return to the most recent blog posting of the day, click here.
This whole exterior fire fighting service, how is this going to work? If my suite is on fire on the fourth floor of my building? Does this mean my building will burn down because no one will go in to fight the fire? Will the residence be displaced for months or years while we wait for repairs or rebuild.
ReplyDeleteThis seems pretty drastic, what happens in other communities like Terrace and Kitimat?
We have an efficient, professional fire department, to me this is taking our community backwards. If there is a cost to keep our present service level, council should investigate this thoroughly. Public safety should be a council priority, if this means spending money to maintain this service so be it.
Service level reductions to the public will not be good for industry, business and most importantly the residents of Prince Rupert.
Council step up and do what you were elected to do. Look out for what's best for the people of Prince Rupert, and our safety should be your #1 priority.