CITY OF ABBOTSFORD FIRE DEPARTMENT. Deployment of Quick Response Team (QR1)

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1 CTY OF ABBOTSFORD FRE DEPARTMENT Date: February 19, 1996 Report: File: TO: FROM: SUBJECT: Mayor and Council Lex Haagen, Fire Chief Deployment of Quick Response Team (QR1) PURPOSE: The purpose of this report is to provide Council with the fire/rescue defence deployment for the City. The report will identify fire hall locations, staffing offire halls and the deployment strategy of fire fighting resources. BACKGROUND: There are seven fire halls strategically located in the City. Fire hall locations are contingent on several factors. Examples of these are the area being protected by the fire hall, area topography and street desigru;, population density and realized demand. Fire department records also provide valuable information for plotting future fire hall locations. Each of the seven fire halls is staffed by auxiliary firefighters. Council's policy is a strong emphasis on retaining a composite fire!rescue defence deployment strategy; therefore, each fire hall location draws their auxiliary fire fighting force from within the fire hall zone. Two of the seven fire halls, Clearbrook #1, (32270 Dahlstrom Avenue) and Abbotsford #6 (2427 West Railway Avenue) deploy career fire fighting tearns llll an auxiliary force. These halls were selected for their central strategic locations within the core of the City and their proximity to higher density and occupancies such as business, industrial, mercantile, institutional and multi family residential structures. The three career fire fighting teams operate assigned apparatus to respond to>.emergencies and carry out the fire safety inspection program. Career firefighting teams are commonly called Quick Response Teams (QR1) and consist ofa minimum of two career firefighters. One team is stationed in fire hall #6 and operates a pumper apparatus. The second and third QRT are stationed in fire hall # ; one of these also operates a pumper apparatus and the other operates the rescue squad. :5.:5.\

2 Mayor and Council The pumper apparatus is designed to carry 500 gallons of water for initial fire attack, a complement of ground ladders, a pump and miscellaneous fire/rescue equipment. These units are designed to facilitate the diverse duties performed by the career firefighters. The rescue squad is a multi-functional unit designed to meet a variety of uses. t can provide lighting at all evening incidents, carries extensive rescue equipment, is equipped to provide first responder medical care, and is a stand alone air compressor providing breathable air to firefighters when necessary. The rescue squad was an auxiliary response apparatus before the activation of the third QRT. During its first year in service it responded to all major incidents, including rescue calls. The history of this unit while operated by auxiliary firefighters, demonstrated it's versatility, value and need, therefore, it is now operated by career firefighters to provide quicker initial response to incidents. DSCUSSON: The fire department functioned with volunteer firefighters until 1981 when the first ten career fuefighters were hired to form the fust Quick Response Team. The first team was stationed in fire hall # 1 (Dahlstrom Avenue). Early in 1986 a complete second team was added to respond from fire hall #6 (West Railway Avenue). Based on the growth and the needs of the City, Council approved the activation of the third QRT. Activation of this team took place in November 1995, after firefighters completed one month of basic training. The thlrd Quick Response operates the rescue squad due to the frequent demand for it at most emergency calls. Based on an incident analysis of the community, the third team was stationed at fue hall # 1. ncident statistics in 1995 indicate 78% of all calls are to fire hall #1 and fire hall #6 zones. These two zones cover most of the core area of the City. The remaining 22% of the incidents occur in the fire halls 2, 3, 4, 5 and 7 zones (appendix A). Potential for the greatest fire loss, both for life and property, occurs in the core area of the City. The population density is greater in the core in comparison to the outlying areas. t is staffs' opinion, based on statistical data and experience, that career fire crews should respond from the core (where most of the incidents occur) until there is a clear shift in incident statistics. An evaluation of the response location and apparatus used by the third QRT will be done following the first year of operation. f statistical data demonstrates a team should be relocated and perhaps respond on a different apparatus, this will be done. Council will be kept apprised of this.

3 Mayor and Council The response policy for the fire department, is "any incident that can be controlled or brought under control with limited resources, such as waste container fires, vehicle fires, rescues and small grass fires will be handled by the QRT. f an emergency of a proportion that may require resources beyond the scope of the career fire fighting team, such as structure fires, the auxiliary fire hall in the zone where the emergency is located will be paged to respond." Usually one Quick Response Team will respond with the auxiliary firefighters to any incident as well. n the past year, of the 2,165 incidents, 317 were dollar loss fires. Of those, auxiliary firefighters responded 281 times (89%) indicating a strong presence by auxiliary firefighters exists for all major incidents The 1995 average response time for the department was 7:43 minutes. This response time is broken down to six minutes for the QRT and eleven minutes for the first responding unit from an auxiliary fire halj(s). The reason for the difference in response times between career and auxiliary firefighters is auxiliary firefighters, when paged, must first respond to their fire hall to man the equipment and then respond to the incident. COUNCL POLCY: "That the fue/rescue service for the fire protection area will be of a composite type with a strong emphasis on the auxiliary fire fighting force." "That the Quick Response Teams (QRT) handle most of the incidents not requiring many firefighters, perform fire prevention duties such as inspections and public education programs, and that the QRT will ~aintain a presence in the core area of the community." Note: The above direction was provided by the Joint Fire Committee and communicated to staff. MPLCATONS: The implications of having three Quick Response Teams stationed in the core area of our City are that they provide good response times for the most densely populated area of the City, including the industrial areas. Of residents and businesses receiving fire prevention programs, the majority are located within the core areas as well. f one of the three teams were stationed in an outlying fire hall, such as fire hall #2 in the Whatcom Road overpass area, the current inspection program would suffer. Most buildings requiring fue safety inspections are in the core business area

4 Mayor and Council The decision to station the three fire fighting teams in the core will not improve the response time in outlying areas. These areas will be contingent on the time required by the auxiliary firefighters in that zone to respond. n most situations, at least one career team will also respond to incidents with auxiliary fire halls. Frequently, the QRT will be first to arrive at those incidents. Based on the mobility of the QRT to provide all other services above emergency response, they may not necessarily be at the fire hall they are stationed in. The team may respond to emergency incidents from anywhere in their assigned zone. While stationing career firefighters (QRT) in either fire hall #2 (Whatcom Road overpass area) or fire hall #7 (Clayburn Road) would reduce response time to those immediate areas, delayed response to where most of the incidents currently take place would occur. Although the QRT are stationed in the core area of the City, there is still a direct benefit to llll of the protection area. RECOMMENDATONS: For Council's information. LAH:ms Attachment 1:lcouncillreport96.04

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