SPRINGWATER FIRE AND EMERGENCY SERVICES Midhurst Resident Liaison Group – April 14 th 2014
Springwater Fire and Emergency Services ◦ 20 years old ◦ Previously Vespra, Elmvale-Flos and Oro Medonte Serving some communities for over 86 years! ◦ Centre Vespra - 1990 to 2004 ◦ Midhurst - 1956 ◦ Minesing - 1973 ◦ Hillsdale - 1973 ◦ Elmvale - 1928
Chief Administrative Officer Deputy Fire Chief
Midhurst – 1453 Snow Valley Road 25 firefighters Minesing – 2303 Ronald Road 20 firefighters Hillsdale - 1 Albert St. E 20 firefighters Elmvale – 7 Paterson St. 25 firefighters
92 Firefighters (inc. Chief, Deputy and FPO) 4 Fire Stations 5 Pumper Trucks 4 Tanker Trucks 6 Cars (pick-ups, SUVs, passenger vehicles) 1 Rescue Truck 1 ATV
700 585 600 497 526 538 511 503 488 464 500 400 300 200 100 0 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013
Education ◦ Fire extinguisher training, fire safety training, fire drills Enforcement ◦ Annual inspections, fire safety plan review, code enforcement Response ◦ Arrival at scene of fire ◦ Firefighter familiarization with buildings ◦ Appropriate number of personnel and apparatus ◦ Purchase of appropriate equipment
Has the Town directed the Fire Chief or other Town staff members to call on other municipalities who have gone through development similar to what Springwater now proposes and ask how they managed to keep a 100% volunteer Fire Department or what triggered their move to a partial paid Fire Department or full time Paid Fire Department?
The Fire Chief has discussed staffing and “trigger points” with several other municipalities Other Considerations ◦ The increasing number of calls for service ◦ Availability of Firefighters / Firefighter turnover ◦ Local needs and circumstances (types of hazards and construction) ◦ Success of Fire Prevention programming
Springwater has a Master Fire Plan (MFP) ◦ North American best practices ◦ Standards set by the Office of the Ontario Fire Marshall’s Fire Safety Guidelines ◦ National Fire Protection Association (NFPA) ◦ Fire Underwriters Survey (FUS) ◦ Council direction MFP will be reviewed and revised in 2014
In the future, Township Council will continually evaluate the needs of the community and establish the desired level of fire protection (Inc. staffing levels, scope of expertise and equipment) This can be done by Council revisiting the establishing and regulating bylaw and changing the level of service
Has the Town looked into the Financial liability of not moving to a full time paid Fire Service, at least for the new high density homes areas where numerous lives will be put at risk if we rely on a 20 minute response time?
The Fire Protection and Prevention Act (FPPA, 2007) does not distinguish between full time and volunteer firefighters for the sake of financial liability The current response time in Midhurst is not 20 minutes
Response times (FD Not’d arrival) Midh dhurst urst Minesin sing Hi Hillsdale llsdale El Elmvale ale Departmen artment Average 14:59 12:54 10:26 8:15 11:18 Response time ◦ Factors effecting Response: Availability of Firefighters Weather Location of Firefighters homes Distance of resident’s home from station Other calls for service Note: We anticipate that the response times in Midhurst will improve as more homes are built closer to the station on Snow Valley Road.
Fire Underwriters Survey (FUS) ◦ Establishes fire protection classifications for insurance companies ◦ FUS will continue to evaluate the Midhurst area as a medium sized community into the foreseeable future Population Dens Population Density ity Total Population otal Population Major Cities >400 people / km2 >=100,000 AND Medium Communities >200 people / km2 >=1,000 AND Small Communities >200 people / km2 <1,000 AND
Currently all residents within 8 kms of the Midhurst fire hall receive a fire protection grading of 3A or 3B (hydrant vs non-hydrant) A grading of 1 or 2 is possible with full time staff Grade Grade Water ater Apparatus Apparatus Firefighters irefighters Syst System 1 Hydrant <8 km away Min. 3 on duty +1on call Chief + 15 on call FFs 2 Hydrant <8 km away Min. 1 on duty + 15 on call FFs 3A Hydrant <8 km away Min. 15 on call FFs 3B Tanker <8 km away Min. 15 on call FFs Shuttle
Will higher density homes in the community change things? Things to consider: ◦ Training ◦ Arial truck (current agreement in place) ◦ Risk of fire spread ◦ New light weight construction
What are the financial liability risks if a fire disaster occurs under the above if we do not have a paid fire service?
Under the FPPA there is no distinction between full time and volunteer firefighters for financial liability Currently, all of the Townships fires are reported to the Ontario Fire Marshall in accordance with legislation The Township continuously demonstrates compliance with the legislated standards and expectations
The Master Fire Planning process will continue to define the scope of the Fire Department into the future. Township Council will be responsible to establish the level of service.
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