PUBLIC SAFETY
OVERVIEW (NFR) provides emergency response to fires, medical and rescue incidents, natural disasters, and provides specialized services such as hazardous materials and technical rescue response. Additionally, community risk reduction is achieved through fire prevention programs and public education. Currently, five fire stations are located throughout the city. Four are operated 24/7 by 81 career firefighters supported by on-call firefighters. Fire prevention and education consists of four career members who manage the permit, fire code, investigations and education activities. These services provide for the preservation of life, property and the environment, which contributes to the well-being of the community. 911 services are provided through two functions: 911 Public Safety Answering Point (PSAP) and 911 FireComm. The Central Island 911 Partnership manages 911 services for the City of Nanaimo, the Regional District of Nanaimo and the Cowichan Valley Regional District. DEPARTMENT S SHARE OF CITY S OPERATING EXPENDITURE BUDGET As required by legislation, the City is required to support, maintain and fund an emergency management organization. The Emergency Management section develops and supports the City s ability to respond to major emergency and disaster events. The section responds to and supports recovery from emergencies, develops emergency plans, coordinates City departments in response and recovery, trains staff, provides public education, manages a volunteer program and supports interagency and interdepartmental initiatives. The Emergency Program Manager is responsible for one part-time contractor and 40 Emergency Social Service (ESS) volunteers. Core Services Fire Operations Fire Prevention & Education Fire Communications - emergency call answering and dispatch (911) Emergency Management Services & Supply Contracts 5.4% Internal Charges & Other 4.1% Materials & Supplies 3.5% Debt Servicing 2.9% Utilities 0.8% Wages & Benefits 83.3% NANAIMO FIRE RESCUE 12.7% REMAINING CITY BUDGET 87.3% 2 Operating Expenditure : 18,234,912 City of Nanaimo 455 Wallace Street 250-754-4251
Fire Chief Administration 2.8 FTEs Manager, Emergency Program Deputy Fire Chief, Administration Deputy Fire Chief, Operations Captain, Preplanning Captain, Prevention Assistant Chief, Education & Training Assistant Chief, Operations Assistant Chief, Operations FireComm 9.46 FTEs Fire & Loss Prevention 3 FTEs On Call Firefighters (6 at Stn 2) (13 at Stn 7) A&B Platoon 41 FTEs C&D Platoon 40 FTEs www.nanaimo.ca @cityofnanaimo 3
KEY SERVICES Fire Operations Respond to emergency and non-emergency incidents. Train fire personnel. Fire Prevention Officers are an integral part of the business license, building development and planning review and approval processes. Fire Communications - emergency call answering and dispatch (911) Conduct public education. Implement the Smoke Alarm installation program. Design and train the public in bystander cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR). Dispatch and monitor responding fire crews for 27 fire departments from Lantzville to the Malahat. 911 secondary service answering point (SSAP) for fire. Conduct community outreach and education. Emergency Management Fire Prevention & Education Deliver emergency response training to staff and ESS volunteers Check commercial plans. Manage and maintain Emergency Coordination Centre Inspect hotels and public buildings. Design and deliver public education to the community. Develop and facilitate training and exercises for City staff and work with external organizations Ensure fire code compliance and enforcement. Public education on emergency preparedness Undertake smoke alarm installation and education. Identifying risks, maintaining Emergency Response and Recovery Plan Enforce fire bylaws. Review and approve fire safety plans and preplans for commercial and public occupancies. Planning for response and recovery with other City departments and external organizations. Conduct fire investigations. 4 City of Nanaimo 455 Wallace Street 250-754-4251
2018 ACHIEVEMENTS Fire Services Fire Prevention officers partnered with Snuneymuxw First Nation to complete a door-to-door campaign on IR#1 to test and install smoke alarms. Fire crews expanded their door-to-door campaign for testing and installing smoke alarms to a further 1,000 homes in the areas where more house fires occur. As part of day-to-day response, fire crews verified and tested over 100 smoke alarms and installed more than 50 new smoke alarms. 2017 2018Aug 31 Benchmark 90% 77.4% 2017 2018Aug 31 96.21% 96.63% 77.4% Firefighters completed Hazardous Material Operations refresher training which provides them the knowledge and skills to respond to incidents and identify the products, isolate the product and determine evacuation zones based on the materials. Took delivery of a replacement rescue boat for inland waters inside the City of Nanaimo. Selected project manager (owner s representative) and Architectural firm for the Fire Station #1 rebuild. This multi-year project began in 2018 and will be funded by borrowing of up to 16.9 million approved by Council and electoral assent. participated in approximately 300 Community events, station tours and public relations interactions to educate the public on fire and emergency safety programs. Projected to complete 1,900 fire and life safety inspections on commercial and public buildings. Projected to provide Bystander CPR to over 700 citizens, engaged all Nanaimo high-schools. TOTAL INCIDENT RESPONSES 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018* 6,704 7,019 7,180 7,733 8,795 9,664 8,251 * 2018 Projection www.nanaimo.ca Arrival of First Unit on Scene at Emergency Incidents within 6:00 minutes Arrival of Full Alarm Assignment at Emergency Incidents Arrival within 10:00 minutes In 2018, BC Emergency Health Services reconfigured their response requirements for first responders. As a result, has had nearly a 50% reduction in overall medical aid calls. These calls were ones BC Emergency Health Services determined a lower acuity and not requiring a first responder in addition to an ambulance. The overall impact to the fire rescue department is a reduction in duplicate incidents and over-resourced incidents. Fire and public assist calls continue to remain consistent with previous years. Emergency Management Updated Emergency Response and Recovery Plan Working with Public Works to formalize a department operations centre for emergencies Fourteen training courses for City staff and two table top exercises Up to August call-outs for ESS Assisted 37 adults, 3 Children and 13 Pets Supported RDN in with wildfire in EOC as well as provided ESS support. @cityofnanaimo 5
KEY CHALLENGES FOR 2019 Fire Services Administrative capacity - Resourcing and decreased administration and exempt staff, through attrition. One exempt chief was removed from the organization in 2015, a second exempt chief was removed from the organization at end of 2017. It is a challenge to continue compliance and strategic planning, with limited resources. Maintaining compliance with NFPA standards for response times of first arrival, with increased call volumes, due to City population growth and expansion. Fire Operations resources - There has been an emphasis, since the early 2000 s, to increase the number of firefighters, to achieve four-member engine response. In 2015 Council directed staff to implement a minimum of four-member engine staffing. Resourcing for increased numbers of fire inspections and compliance for plan approvals, fire safety plans, building permit approvals and plan checking of commercial and public occupancies required under the Fire Services ACT, BC Fire Code, and BC Building Code. - As the city grows, staffing has continued to be an issue. Fire Station #1 rebuild maintaining business continuity of communications, operations and emergency operations centre during demolition and construction phases. - Increased sickness related to workplace injuries, including stress-related injuries are more common. Non-occupational injuries, requiring longer recovery times, are also common. Emergency Management - NFPA (National Fire Protection Association) 1710 standards require a minimum of 14 members at a single-family residential structure fire to conduct operations. Currently, a minimum of 16 firefighters are on duty at any given time. This does not leave additional resources to respond to any other incident duration, without jeopardizing safety, and compliance to the standard and industry best practices. Profile of division needs to be elevated internally and externally. Due to organizational changes, ECC has capacity issues and lack of trained staff. Will take a few years to train and regain capacity. Division has one employee and minimal budget. No transfer of knowledge and limited by lack of resources. City is responsible to fund emergencies up front. - There is a decline in paid on call firefighter (POC) participation; decreasing POC attendance over the past few years. An increase in training standards and time commitment is required by on-call staff, to comply with provincial requirements and minimum standards. 6 City of Nanaimo 455 Wallace Street 250-754-4251
KEY INITIATIVES FOR 2019 Q1 Administration Q2 Q3 Q4 Fire Station #1 (multi-year) Replacement of existing station at same location. Complete detailed design and begin phased demolition and temporary relocation of fire crew to alternate location. To include project management planning and templates based on Core Review recommendations. Complete updated 3-year service delivery plan for 2019-2022. This will support the council adopted 10-15 year fire plan and will include recommendations based on an all-hazards risk vulnerability assessment. Continue to develop and expand support for all staff facing occupational stress-related injuries. Resilient Minds training and continue to be leaders across the fire service. Design, build and delivery of Aerial apparatus as per fleet replacement plan Fleet Continue to increase the amount of public trained in bystander CPR through public education by Operational firefighters. Public Outreach and Education www.nanaimo.ca @cityofnanaimo Continue to reduce fire deaths and injuries and property dollar loss at structure fires by expanding the smoke alarm program to test and install smoke alarms to the most vulnerable and highest risk homes in the City. 7
Q1 KEY INITIATIVES FOR 2019 Q3 Q2 Q4 Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) maintenance and compliance - advanced cleaning and inspection process in compliance with WorkSafe BC. Operations Preparation for adoption and changes to the BC Fire Code, BC Building Code and Fire Safety Act Fire Prevention and Education ONGOING Operations 8 Continue to provide emergency responses (2018 projected 9000) and working towards meeting council adopted response times. Emergency Management Public education and advertising. Three Emergency Coordination Centre (ECC) exercises. Participate in Public Safety Committee. City of Nanaimo 455 Wallace Street 250-754-4251
PROPOSED OPERATING BUDGET 2018 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022 2023 Revenues Approved Restated * Emergency Communications (911) Annual Operating Revenues 447,428 1,008,751 1,456,179 447,428 1,008,751 1,456,179 239,534 1,053,075 1,292,609 240,497 1,074,137 1,312,634 272,836 1,095,619 1,368,455 301,743 1,117,532 1,419,275 331,836 1,139,882 1,471,718 Expenditures 15,705,269 197,193 Emergency Management 1,575,670 Emergency Communications (911) 17,478,132 Annual Operating Expenditures 15,715,613 200,983 1,575,670 17,492,266 16,380,591 202,992 1,651,329 18,234,912 17,024,730 207,506 1,677,507 18,909,743 17,847,582 213,156 1,711,445 19,772,183 18,183,938 216,825 1,745,568 20,146,331 18,560,230 220,567 1,780,373 20,561,170 Net Annual Operating Expenditures 16,021,953 16,036,087 16,942,303 17,595,109 18,403,728 18,727,056 19,089,452 Staffing (FTEs) * Restated budget reflects allocations of committed contigency as a result of CUPE contract settlement www.nanaimo.ca @cityofnanaimo 9
PROPOSED OPERATING BUDGET Expenditure Summary Wages & Benefits Services & Supply Contracts Materials & Supplies Utilities Internal Charges & Other Debt Servicing Grants & Subsidies Annual Operating Expenditures 2018 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022 2023 Approved Restated * 14,591,406 1,107,174 628,000 146,600 703,048 294,904 7,000 17,478,132 14,605,540 1,107,174 628,000 146,600 703,048 294,904 7,000 17,492,266 15,192,865 980,266 628,150 137,800 756,022 532,809 7,000 18,234,912 15,406,275 999,871 619,041 140,556 772,214 964,646 7,140 18,909,743 15,714,398 1,019,869 652,189 143,367 788,455 1,446,622 7,283 19,772,183 16,028,686 1,040,266 642,715 146,235 796,073 1,484,928 7,428 20,146,331 16,349,262 1,061,071 677,205 149,160 803,782 1,513,113 7,577 20,561,170 * Restated budget reflects allocations of committed contigency as a result of CUPE contract settlement PROPOSED CHANGES No proposed changes are being considered by. 10 City of Nanaimo 455 Wallace Street 250-754-4251