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Staff Report
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Report To: General Government Committee
Date of Meeting: November 29, 2021 Report Number: ESD-004-21
Submitted By: Mariano Perini, Director of Emergency Services
Reviewed By: Andrew C. Allison, CAO By-law Number:
File Number: [If applicable, enter File Number] Resolution#:
Report Subject: Master Fire Plan
Recommendation:
1. That Report ESD-004-21 be received for information.
Municipality of Clarington Page 2
Report ESD-004-21
Report Overview
Pomax Consulting Inc. was awarded a contract to prepare a Master Fire Plan. The Plan is
now complete (see Attachment 1) and is being presented to Committee.
1. Background
1.1 The Organizational Structure Review conducted by Grant Thornton in 2019 identified
the need for an external review of Emergency and Fire Services. Pomax Consulting Inc.
was awarded a contract on November 24, 2020 to develop and deliver a Master Fire
Plan.
2. Discussion
2.1 After a competitive bid process, Pomax Consulting Inc. was awarded a contract to
complete the review and prepare a report.
2.2 After consultation with municipal stakeholders and analysis of information collected, a
report has been prepared and is attached to this Report (Attachment 1).
2.3 A virtual presentation will be provided to Council on the outcomes of the Master Fire
Plan by Mr. Jon Hambides, Pomax Consulting Inc.
3. Concurrence
Not Applicable.
4. Conclusion
It is respectfully recommended that Council accept this Report for information purposes.
Staff Contact: Mariano Perini, Director, Emergency and Fire Services, 905-623-5126 ext 2802
or mperini@clarington.net.
Attachment:
Attachment 1 - Master Fire Plan report
Interested Parties: Jon Hambides, Pomax Consulting
Choose appropriate wording.
A Fire Master Plan for Clarington
Emergency and Fire Services
November 2021
Municipality of Clarington
Contents
1. Introduction ............................................................................................................................................................. 1
2. Current State of the Department ..................................................................................................................... 3
a. Municipal Responsibilities .............................................................................................................................. 3
b. Three Lines of Defense .................................................................................................................................... 3
c. Local Needs and Circumstances .................................................................................................................. 4
d. Firefighter Health and Safety ........................................................................................................................ 4
e. Why is this important?..................................................................................................................................... 5
f. The Organization ............................................................................................................................................... 6
3. Data ............................................................................................................................................................................. 8
g. Trend Analysis ..................................................................................................................................................... 8
a. Community Risk Assessment ...................................................................................................................... 14
4. Apparatus Replacement .................................................................................................................................... 15
a. Maintenance Records .................................................................................................................................... 15
5. Administrative Services ...................................................................................................................................... 18
6. Prevention Division ............................................................................................................................................. 19
7. Training .................................................................................................................................................................... 20
8. The Volunteer Cadre ........................................................................................................................................... 22
9. The Platoon Chief’s Role in all Things Fire ................................................................................................. 23
10. The Fire Chief and Deputies ........................................................................................................................ 25
a. The Need for a Statistician ........................................................................................................................... 25
Exhibits
Exhibit 1: The Current Organization ......................................................................................................................... 6
Exhibit 2: The Recommended Future Organization ........................................................................................... 7
Exhibit 3: Fire Service Trends ...................................................................................................................................... 9
Exhibit 4: Fire Loss in Ontario 2010 – 2019 ......................................................................................................... 10
Exhibit 5: Injuries from Residential Loss Fires ..................................................................................................... 11
Exhibit 6: Structure Fires by Year and Station .................................................................................................... 12
Exhibit 7: Annex D NFPA 1901 ................................................................................................................................. 17
Appendices
Appendix A: Historical Information ........................................................................................................................ 27
Appendix B: Administrative Services Process Maps ......................................................................................... 61
Appendix C: Prevention Division Process Maps ................................................................................................ 68
Appendix D: Establishing and Regulating By-Law…………………………………………………………………….….72
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1. Introduction
This is a master plan probably unlike most other fire master plans. Most fire master plans delve
into the requirements of legislation and regulation, directives from the Office of the Fire Marsal
and Emergency Management Ontario, standards within the National Fire Protection Association
and other documents.
This one doesn’t. Not because the legislation, standards, etc. should be ignored but because
Clarington is meeting legislated requirements and are sufficiently close to accomplishing many
of the other standards (which are not standards unless adopted by the Authority Having
Jurisdiction [federally, provincially and, usually, municipally]). However, as part of the master plan
process, we evaluated Clarington Emergency and Fire Services’ ability to adequately protect the
municipality within the scope of legislation and standards and have included the data in
Appendix A: Historical Information. We would be pleased to have a detailed discussion about
the data results within anyone who is interested.
The purpose of the fire master plan, as stated in the request for proposals, was to be
progressive, creative, and innovative. At the same time, the request for proposals wanted the
master plan to address the traditional role of fire services which includes
• fire suppression,
• apparatus and equipment,
• fire stations,
• emergency planning,
• vehicle replacement,
• etc.
We believe this master plan meets the requirements of progressive, creative, and innovative. It is
founded in evidence and research and approaches the plan from a strategic perspective because
fire departments have become emergency services and ‘fire response’ is fortunately relatively
infrequent.
This report endeavours to move the Clarington Emergency and Fire Services from a department
changing organically, to one with a focus on being a single organization made up of career (full
time) and part-time personnel with a united focus on prevention and education and improving
value to the public.
The fire administration was nothing short of delightful to work with throughout this project.
Chief Gord Weir, Deputy Bill Hesson, and Deputy Randy Cowan were exceedingly helpful and
responsive, and Administrative Assistant Jo-Ann Macdonald and clerks Catherine Purkott and
Pamela Murdy offered us all the assistance and information we needed.
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But times are changing at Clarington Emergency and Fire Services. Chief Weir has recently
retired, and Chief Mariano Perini has taken the lead into the future. Deputy Hesson has recently
retired but has returned to assist the transition to a new chief and a yet to be hired deputy.
It’s an opportune time for changes that establish a future strategy and innovation.
The following section briefly discusses the current state of the emergency service and reveals
some of our most important recommendations to change the face of this municipal department.
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2. Current State of the Department
a. Municipal Responsibilities
Even though we said that this report won’t delve into the requirements of legislation and
regulation, or directives from the Office of the Fire Marsal and Emergency Management Ontario,
or standards within the National Fire Protection Association and other documents, we are going
to renege on that to some extent because municipalities should be aware of their responsibilities
and those of the fire department. And it is important to note that the legislation and directives
sometimes puts onus on municipalities, and sometimes the Chief. They are not one and the
same in legislation.
Municipalities in Ontario are required to fulfill legislated responsibilities identified in the Fire
Protection and Prevention Act, 1997,1 and the Occupational Health and Safety Act (OHSA), R.S.O.
1990.2 The Fire Protection and Prevention Act identifies the responsibilities of a municipality in
providing public fire protection services. The OHSA Section 21 Fire Service Advisory Committee
offers guidance on a municipality’s responsibilities regarding firefighter health and safety.
Section 9.1 (d) of the Fire Protection and Prevention Act, 1997 enables the Office of the Fire
Marshal and Emergency Management to issue guidelines to municipalities in respect to fire
protection and related matters, including guidelines for fire protection such as the development
of a fire master plan. Fire master plans should be based on the three lines of defense and should
be developed specific to the needs and circumstances of the municipality.
b. Three Lines of Defense
The Fire Protection and Prevention Act, 1997, recognizes the importance of the municipal
government’s responsibility to implement three lines of defense to achieve an acceptable level
of safety. The act states:
2 (1) Every municipality shall,
a) establish a program in the municipality which must include public education with
respect to fire safety and certain components of fire prevention; and
b) provide such other fire protection services as it determines may be necessary in
accordance with its needs and circumstances.
The three lines of defense, in priority order as outlined by the Fire Protection and Prevention Act,
1997, are
(i) safety education programming (including a home smoke alarm program),
1www.ontario.ca/laws/statute/97f04
2 www.ontario.ca/laws/statute/90o01
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(ii) safety standards and enforcement (fire prevention inspections and fire code
enforcement are the general components of prevention referenced by the Act), and
(iii) other fire protection services, in the form of emergency response by the local fire
department, based upon the needs and circumstances as determined by the
municipality.
c. Local Needs and Circumstances
Municipalities are responsible to determine and establish the level of fire protection services to
be provided within their community based upon local needs and circumstances.
The Office of the Fire Marshal and Emergency Management has issued Public Fire Safety
Guideline (PFSG) 01-01-01, Fire Protection Review Process,3 for municipalities to follow when
preparing a fire master plan. This guideline refers to three other public fire safety guidelines to
define local needs and circumstances:
1. Public Fire Safety Guideline 02-02-03, Fire Risk Assessment (soon to be replaced with the
Community Risk Assessment), addresses issues such as geography and demographics; the
history of emergency calls; comparison with like communities; building stock and
occupancies; prevention and public education programs; and public and private protection
systems.
2. Public Fire Safety Guideline 02-04-01, Capabilities of Existing Fire Protection Services,
discusses topics such as the organizational model; services delivered; emergency response
and operations; training; vehicles; water supply; risk management planning; and financial
planning and management.
3. Public Fire Safety Guideline 02-03-01, Economic Circumstances, focuses on matters such
as assessment values; tax rates; municipal debt; total fire protection costs; assets, such as
development charge accounts and reserve funds; and potential loss impacts for major
employers.
The fire master plan for Clarington Emergency and Fire Services follows the general requirements
of these Public Fire Safety Guidelines, with the understanding that they are currently under review.
d. Firefighter Health and Safety
In Ontario, firefighter health and safety are governed by the general provisions of the
Occupational Health and Safety Act, R.S.O. 1990, with some exceptions related to emergency
response. Section 21 of the OHSA provides for the establishment of specific job sector advisory
committees. The Ontario Fire Service Section 21 Advisory Committee is the body appointed to
advise the Minister of Labour about firefighter health and safety matters and issue Guidance
Notes.
3 www.mcscs.jus.gov.on.ca/english/FireMarshal/FireServiceResources/PublicFireSafetyGuidelines/01 -01-
01.html
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Section 21 of the OHSA states: “The Ministry of Labour in collaboration with fire service
stakeholders develops Guidance Notes. Guidance Notes outline recommended equipment and
procedures to be used by workers in the fire service to prevent injury or illness and will comply
with the intent and provisions as outlined in the Occupational Health and Safety Act. The
Ministry of Labour refers to the guidelines, guidance notes, alerts, etc. for enforcement under the
Occupational Health and Safety Act, and is considered by the Ministry in determining if
reasonable precautions for the protection of a worker are being taken under Clause 25.2(h) of
the Occupational Health and Safety Act.”
The Guidance Notes, which are consolidated in a Section 21 Fire Service Health and Safety
Manual available on various websites including the Ontario Association of Fire Chiefs,4 The
Ontario Professional Firefighters’ Association, and the Fire Fighters’ Association of Ontario, assist
municipalities in their responsibility to “take every precaution reasonable in the circumstances
for the protection of the worker,” as required by the Act. They provide advice on such matters as
incident command; communications; vehicle maintenance; personal protective equipment;
training requirements; and documentation of training and procedures for conducting
operations. The Section 21 Guidance Notes were reviewed and considered during development
of Clarington’s fire master plan.
e. Why is this important?
The next (approximately) 30 pages are going to discuss change in the Clarington Emergency and
Fire Services and we are going to make a case for strategically preparing for a greater shift to a
prevention and education organization even though suppression will, unfortunately, always be a
component of fire services.
Clarington Emergency and Fire Services meets all the requirements of the legislation and
directives we outlined above, but those are minimum standards and a weightier effort is needed
to provide the best level of public protection with respect to the first two lines of defense:
education and prevention.
You will read later in this report that the fire service has grown organically but it needs to be
organized in such a way so that it can move forward strategically. We have recommended that
the Platoon Chiefs should not be part of a suppression crew and that the fire service needs
another training officer, a business manager, and a manager of analytics. That sounds like a lot
of money but we are not recommending additional fire stations, which means we are not
recommending an additional 20 firefighters to staff a station, because we are confident that with
the right organization, which includes those positions outlined above, the Chief and Deputies
can accomplish public education, prevention activities, training throughout the organization, and
using suppression staff to go door to door to educate the public about fire risk and thereby
forestall the growth of the service in the future.
4 www.oafc.on.ca/section-21
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f. The Organization
Exhibit 1 indicates the existing organizational structure. What is notable is that the four Platoon
Chiefs work as part of a fire suppression crew. That is, they are one of four firefighters that
respond on a fire truck which means they are mostly Platoon Chiefs in name only. They cannot
respond to major incidents in any station area unless they take the other three firefighters with
them, thus leaving an area without primary response until a replacement truck can be moved
into the vacated area. Platoon Chiefs are usually in charge of the department operations during
their shifts and are not part of a truck crew, thereby enabling them to travel to any fire station to
assess training, equipment, prevention activities, public education, and so on or to attend major
incidents that require oversight. Because the Clarington Platoon Chiefs are part of a suppression
crew, they can’t easily travel to other parts of the municipality to provide emergency oversight,
administration, and quality assurance duties.
This is unusual (platoon chiefs being part of a fire crew) and an organizational design we are not
aware of at any other fire service. The history is that these platoon chief designations came
about as the result of an arbitration award that allocated the title and duties but not the
opportunity to perform the coordinating function of a platoon chief.
Our recommendation for the future organization is that the Platoon Chiefs should be replaced
by captains on their shifts, and the captains replaced by firefighters, which means that four new
firefighters should be hired to round out the staffing on fire trucks. Exhibit 2 shows the
recommended future organization.
Exhibit 1: The Current Organization
Our recommendation to take the platoon chiefs off the fire trucks isn’t because it is an unusual
organizational design; it is because Clarington Emergency and Fire Services is very much siloed
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and is missing opportunities for being effective and possibly holding the line on response and
suppression costs. Platoon chiefs are key to moving the service to a coordinated posture.
There are other changes noted in Exhibit 2. We also recommend another training officer, to
reduce siloes and assist with providing training to volunteer firefighters. Additionally, we have
moved the relationship of the volunteer firefighters to one of working with the platoon chiefs
rather than a separate reporting relationship to the deputies. We realize – and let’s be frank –
that some volunteers, the volunteer captains, and the five volunteer district chiefs may not, or
will not, be in favour of this organizational change. But Clarington Emergency and Fire Services is
a single emergency service, and we recommend the municipality moves to a single
organizational model rather than two fire services under one administration.
Exhibit 2: The Recommended Future Organization
We’ll provide more justification for these recommendations as the report moves forward. Simply,
the platoon chiefs are crucial to allowing the departmental administration to move the
department to an integrated, non-siloed business model.
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3. Data
Appendix A: Historical Information offers many charts that indicate changes in calls and volume
by type, year, day, week, and hour. It is comprehensive and includes 30 pages of charts showing
the activity for each fire station for the period 2015 – 2020 inclusive. There is much more data
available that is not included in this report because the volume is overwhelming. But it is
available to the emergency and fire service, and we are pleased to answer specific questions.
Also included in Appendix A: Historical Information are travel time maps that show the expected
travel time of fire trucks from the 5 stations and fires which occurred in 2020. The majority of
fires that occurred in the urban area can be reached by two fire trucks within 8 to 10 minutes. Of
course, this travel time does not count the time it takes to receive a 9-1-1 call for help or the
time it takes to depart the station before travel time comes into play. Volunteers respond from
their homes or other location to stations 3 and 5 outside the urban area (these stations are not
staffed by full time firefighters), which means that it takes longer, on an overall basis, for those
firefighters to reach an incident than it does from one of the full time stations.
The first two charts within Appendix A show the call taking, turnout time (time that it takes to
leave the station after firefighters are alerted to respond), and response or travel time at the 90th
and 75th percentiles in 2020. This means that arrival at 90% and 75% of incidents, respectively,
are accomplished in the indicated time. 10% or 25% of incidents take longer to arrive.
At present, Clarington is satisfactorily protected, but the thrust of this plan is to ensure
protection is enhanced through the means of organization, prevention, and public education
over the next 10 years.
g. Trend Analysis
As consultants we look for trends – changes in call volume or category – and we try to discover
the reasons for these trends. This is especially pertinent for fire calls. Fires in North America,
Canada, and Ontario are trending downwards (Exhibit 3).
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Exhibit 3: Fire Service Trends
Source: National Fire Protection Association
The Ontario Office of the Fire Marshal gathers statistics from information submitted by fire
departments throughout the province. Exhibit 4 shows a downward trend for fire loss in Ontario
even while the number of fire service responses have been increasing. The frequency of
response is mainly due to fire departments attending more medical calls and vehicle collisions
• Exhibit 4 shows that total fires reported in general have been decreasing, even as
population and the number of structures has increased. This does not reflect decreased
reporting.
• In Ontario, the total fire and non fire calls have increased from 482,617 incidents reported
in 2010 to 534,313 in 2019.
• Loss fires (Exhibit 4) are defined as any fire with an injury, fatality, or dollar loss reported
(injuries/fatalities include civilian and firefighter).
• All Loss fires reported have declined from 12,850 in 2010 to 10,645 in 2019.
• Structure fires are about 63% (2019) of the total fires with loss.
• The graph shows a total decline in fires from 8,037 in 2010 to 6,698 in 2019.
• Residential fires account for about 73% (2019) of structure loss fires. These fires had also
decreased from 5,834 in 2010 to 4,863 in 2019.
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Exhibit 4: Fire Loss in Ontario 2010 – 2019
https://www.mcscs.jus.gov.on.ca/english/FireMarshal/MediaRelationsandResources/FireStatistics/OntarioFi
res/FireLossesCausesTrendsIssues/stats_causes.html
However, while fires have been decreasing, injuries due to residential loss fires have increased
slightly.
• Exhibit 5, below, covers fires in residential properties where a loss occurred (that is, dollar
loss, injury, or fatality was reported).
• In the five year period from 2010 to 2014, civilian injuries were reported in 6% of
residential loss fires, which means injuries occurred at a rate of 1 for every 16 fires.
• For the five year period from 2015 to 2019, civilian injuries were reported in 8% of
residential loss fires, meaning that injuries occur at a rate of 1 for every 12 fires.
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Exhibit 5: Injuries from Residential Loss Fires
The exhibits and information above are readily available through the Office of the Fire Marshal
and National Fire Protection Association.
We do observe a slight upward trend in fire responses overall in Clarington (Exhibit 6). It should
be noted that these are ‘as dispatched’ rather than what firefighters found upon arrival. For
example, fire departments are sometimes dispatched to a report of a fire only to find it to be
steam. We also found that some of the incidents were incorrectly categorized as fires at the
dispatch stage, but we found some to be incorrect upon looking at notes and other information.
Good data assists decision making and planning. Clarington Emergency Services should work
with the fire dispatch to assess the quality of information being entered into the computer aided
dispatch and coordinate that data with Clarington's record management system.
On the surface, questions about coding at the call receiving and dispatch stage may not appear
to be serious if it is corrected later at the record management stage. But fire departments
respond based on the information they receive from the dispatch centre. A response to an
incorrectly assessed incident may mean that two or more fire trucks are sent to the incident,
volunteer firefighters are called in to provide backup coverage or response, and portions of the
municipality may be left uncovered until the incident is cleared or volunteers arrive. Plus, costs
may be driven up inadvertently.
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Exhibit 6 shows a slight increase in structure fires since 2015. Often, population growth will be
offered as a reason for the increase, but the number of structure fires in a municipality isn’t as
strongly associated with population change as most may think. Emergency services
administration and the fire prevention division should assess the reasons for an apparent
upward trend in structure fires.
Exhibit 6: Structure Fires by Year and Station
0
5
10
15
20
25
30
35
Station 1 : Number of structure fire calls by year
2015
2016
2017
2018
2019
2020
0
5
10
15
20
25
Station 2 : Number of structure fire calls by year
2015
2016
2017
2018
2019
2020
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0
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
Station 3 : Number of structure fire calls by year
2015
2016
2017
2018
2019
2020
0
5
10
15
20
25
30
Station 4 : Number of structural fires by year
2015
2016
2017
2018
2019
2020
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a. Community Risk Assessment
Pomax assisted the Clarington Emergency and Fire Services Prevention Division with a
Community Risk Assessment which is being reviewed by the Director. A community risk
assessment is an ongoing endeavour which includes determining prevention and education
activities, and the technical and human resources required to support those activities. Clarington
is in the early stages of implementing prevention and mitigation activities with respect to
community risk. There has been debate within Pomax as to whether we should recommend an
additional prevention – public education position but we have decided to leave the review and
decision with the Director. We would support an additional prevention public education
position.
0
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
Station 5 : Number of structural fire calls by year
2015
2016
2017
2018
2019
2020
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4. Apparatus Replacement
Assets and apparatus replacement are primary considerations for fire services. Fire trucks and
other vehicles are part of the work environment for a firefighter, and they cost a lot of money.
They also last 15 to 20 years. So, a $900,000 truck that lasts 15 years costs $60,000 plus
maintenance and fuel. If it lasts 20 years, the cost is $45,000, although expected increases in
maintenance will add to that annual amount in the last few years of use. A 1.25 million dollar
ladder truck is about $50,000 a year. We acknowledge that these are expensive work
environments.
Some ask why these trucks can’t be kept longer than 15 or 20 years since the mileage is often
low and they are well maintained. Trucking firms keep heavy trucks for hundreds of thousands of
kilometres, so why do fire trucks have to be replaced every 15 to 20 years?
National Fire Protection Association standards recommend these replacement timelines and
recognize other factors that must be taken into account.
From Annex D of NFPA 1901-16 Annex D
It is generally accepted that fire apparatus, like all types of mechanical devices,
have a finite life. The length of that life depends on many factors including
vehicle mileage and engine hours, quality of the preventative maintenance
program, quality f the driver training program, whether the fire apparatus was
used within the design parameters, whether the apparatus was manufactured
on a custom or commercial chassis, quality of workmanship by the original
manufacturer, quality of the components used, and availability of replacement
parts, to name a few.
In the fire service, there are fire apparatus with 8 to 10 years of service that are
simply worn out. There are also fire apparatus that were manufactured with
quality components, that have excellent maintenance, and that have
responded to a minimum number of incidents that are still in serviceable
condition after 20 years. Most would agree that the care of fire apparatus
while being used and the quality and timeliness of maintenance are perhaps
the most significant factors in determining how well a fire apparatus ages.
Annex D is shown in Exhibit 7
a. Maintenance Records
One of the considerations noted in the excerpt above is the maintenance of this expensive
equipment. We asked for maintenance records, not to audit the quality of maintenance but to
see if records and tracking are at an acceptable level. Maintenance records are not easily
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accessible. They can be obtained only with considerable effort since they are manual rather than
within a database. Some municipalities use a vehicle software program for maintenance tracking,
but that is not available for this emergency service.
Fire apparatus represents a major investment by the municipality, and the apparatus needs to be
supported by a searchable database to enable the fire department to track the benefits of
keeping vehicles for a reasonable period.
But let’s deal with the issue of truck replacement because the decision to replace a truck is often
a point of vigorous discussion at many municipal councils. Those who have a concern about the
need to replace a fire truck point to low mileage, good maintenance (sometimes maintenance is
good), and the fact that trucking companies keep trucks for hundreds of thousands of
kilometers. So let’s admit that there are many arguments in favour and against keeping a truck
as long as possible.
But sometimes it isn’t the age of the truck that is as important as maintaining and repairing
pumps and hydraulics, or safety improvements, or buying parts off eBay because new
replacement parts aren’t available (yes, that happens). Safety and ergonomic factors also come
into play and, over a 15 year span, many technical and safety improvements occur. It also takes
at minimum, six months to buy a fire truck ‘off the lot’ – one that a manufacturer has available –
but most of the time 12 months or more is required to take possession of a fire vehicle.
Our research of journal papers has not revealed any comparisons between the purchase,
maintenance, and operation of a fire truck and tractor trailers or delivery vans, likely because
they are different animals. At the very least commercial trucks are usually driven near the posted
speed limits and are often built with gearing specific to the type of load and driving expected,
such as long distance highway.
We point to the above excerpt from Annex D of NFPA 1901 which says
Most would agree that the care of fire apparatus while being used and the
quality and timeliness of maintenance are perhaps the most significant factors
in determining how well a fire apparatus ages.
But we add, there comes a point that replacing a fire truck becomes a reasonable consideration
and the guidelines in NFPA 1901 provide rational information as to those considerations.
Nevertheless, our recommendation with respect to caring for apparatus is for the fire service to
work with other municipal departments, such as public works, to either establish a municipal
vehicle maintenance program and acquire supporting software or procure something specific to
the fire department.
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Exhibit 7: Annex D NFPA 1901
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5. Administrative Services
As part of our evaluation of administrative services duties, Pomax, in conjunction with
emergency services’ executive, worked with administrative services staff to step through the
tasks associated with burn permit processing, payroll for volunteers and full time staff, and two
forms of invoice processing. The process maps can be found in Appendix B.
We are cautious in how we make this next statement; We found creating the process maps and
following the steps unclear. There was the pervading sense of “Isn’t there a better way of doing
this?” We do not suggest that staff didn’t know what they were doing. In fact, we were
impressed by their capability. But the burn permit process is mostly automated at other fire
services; it should be in Clarington also, or at least the possibility should be investigated.
We also found that there was an element of work in the tasks that we studied that needs further
evaluation in the form of an effective and efficiency assessment. Often, we will complete an AS-
IS component of process mapping and a TO-BE module to suggest to our client the efficiency
suggestions to consider. We were unable to complete the TO-BE portion because of the
significant time commitment that would be required from all parties, including the
Director/Chief and deputies.
We recommend that all aspects of the administrative process, including the parts that the
deputies become involved with, be closely evaluated by someone working with the
administrative staff for three to four weeks on a regular basis.
It warrants repeating this statement: This recommendation recognizes and supports the
capability of the administrative staff. Our conclusion is that the administrative processes have
grown organically and it is probably the right time to assess structure and duties.
Organically: something that happens or develops naturally over time, without
being forced or planned
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6. Prevention Division
As with the administrative services, we processed mapped three primary services provided by
the Fire Prevention Division: 1) the inspection process; 2) the investigation process; and 3) the
pre-planning process. These maps can be found at the end of Appendix A.
There are some enthusiastic members of this division who believe in preventing fires and who
are doing their utmost to promote that idea. But they are working in a silo – apart from other
members of the fire service – and some, perhaps, are happy to be working that way. The
Prevention Division needs to be brought back into the fold of the emergency services
department and work with the suppression division to promote prevention and education.
Most importantly, this division needs to work with other sections of emergency and fire services
to improve prevention and public education. This is partially where the platoon chiefs become
an important part of the future success of emergency services. We will explain further later in the
document.
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7. Training
The training division consists of a training officer and chief training officer. The chief training
officer is new to the position as of May 2021 and has shown great promise in raising the bar on
training – and it was required.
There is no formal training program – or was not in place as of May 2021 – and we recommend
that a formal training program is something that should be established for full and part time
staff.
Other observations about the training program (prior to May 2021) include
• The Training Officers do not have an assigned Administrative Support person, which
means they undertake much of their support which is not a good use of time. It is better
for them to be out in the field offering training sessions or planning training programs
• The Training Officers do not have position/job descriptions; however, department policy
2.108 lists the following certifications in a ‘Flow Chart’ for Training Officer:
▪ NFPA 1041 I & II
▪ Designated courses i.e., Fire Dynamics, High Rise Fires, Industrial Firefighting
• Training for Clarington Emergency and Fire Services personnel is not a Core Service listed
in the Establishing and Regulating By-law (please see Appendix D). Training is obliquely
mentioned in some areas of the E&R By-law (Appendix A Core Services 1.3, 1.4, 1.6, 1.7,
2.3, 3.3)
• There is no formal training program. A ‘Training Statement’ was issued in 2020 by Deputy
Cowan in a two-page letter reviewing the importance of training.
• There is no clear delineation of firefighter training curriculum (e.g., IFSTA Resource One,
Barnes & Noble, etc.)
• There is no robust training program records management system. Courses attained by
personnel are currently filed in an Excel sheet.
• Ontario Power Generation offers annual live fire training at their Wesleyville training
centre for full time and volunteer firefighters.
• Volunteers currently train once a month at their respective stations. Maintenance type
training is/was performed by volunteer firefighter officers (Captains or District Chief if
they have one). New and/or specialty training is delivered by the full time training
officers.
• New volunteer firefighter recruits receive an initial 100 hour training course.
• There are no formal criteria on the number of hours to be delivered per each 24-hour
shift for full time firefighters.
Clarington Emergency and Fire Services
Fire Master Plan
Page | 21
The training division is in the process of being revitalized. There is strong confidence in the
current chief training officer, so we have no recommendations other than continued support for
the division and, again, the involvement of the platoon chiefs in ensuring that training is
delivered to full time and part time firefighters.
A Strategic Approach to Training is included in the draft Community Risk Assessment. We
recommend that it be removed and left in the bailiwick of the Chief Training Officer. This is a
minor organizational recommendation but should be actioned as soon as possible.
We also recommend the addition of a training officer to support the principle of consistent
training to career and part time staff. Our interviews with suppression staff members clearly
identified inconsistent and insufficient training as a key concern. By our count, there is about a 1
to 95 ratio of training officers to staff members. A count of i:50 would be more satisfactory.
In addition, there is no opportunity for succession planning and officer development so that
when staff members retire or leave for other reasons, someone is available to take their place
and avoid prolonged lapses in training and program development.
We recommend the addition of one training officer to the complement.
Clarington Emergency and Fire Services
Fire Master Plan
Page | 22
8. The Volunteer Cadre
Volunteers – part time firefighters – make up a significant component of the suppression staff.
They should be well respected for the time they give to the municipality for a small annual
stipend. But we suggest a few changes.
As we have said several times, it is time for change in this emergency and fire service. Organic
growth is not a good way to proceed when a strategy is needed. There is little difference in the
expectations of volunteers in relation to career staff because of training and regulated
requirements for volunteers. It is time for individuals who wish to be part time firefighters to
have some basic skills when they volunteer. We recommend that new volunteers be qualified at
the basic NFPA 1001 level before they start as a part time firefighter, and any current part time
staff who do not have that basic level should achieve it in a reasonable time frame to be
determined by the Director.
We were also interested in finding out that when there is a vacancy in the full time fire fighters’
ranks, candidates are selected from the volunteer cadre. But volunteers must live within five
kilometres from a volunteer station in order to be part time staff.
This suggests to us a restrictive practice. Full time staff are essentially selected from people that
live within five kilometres of five stations and who are volunteers.
We recommend that this constricting practice end immediately and full time staff should be
selected from an unrestricted area. An added benefit is that new recruits might reflect the multi-
national makeup of the area.
Clarington Emergency and Fire Services
Fire Master Plan
Page | 23
9. The Platoon Chief’s Role in all Things Fire
With utmost respect to all that has come before in Clarington Emergency and Fire Services, it is
an opportune time to reorganize the service to focus on prevention and preparation and take a
strategic approach to the next ten years.
The population of Clarington is expected to grow by 45,000 in the next decade. And although
we don’t expect to see an upturn in emergency incidents parallel with population growth, they
will increase. Emergency and Fire Services must plan for the changes that will take place.
Part of that planning includes
• consistent staff training – both full and part time
• good record keeping such as maintenance records, training records, prevention,
inspections, and public education,
• administrative support for the Chief and Deputies and prevention and training
(prevention and training can’t do either if they are providing their own administrative
support rather than being out on the job).
We envision the Emergency and Fire Services working as one department rather than in silos. We
expect that one of the primary efforts of the chief and deputies will be to establish record
keeping as a principal operating component of the department because it is easier to make
decisions based on good information than intuition.
We see the role of the platoon chiefs, once they are no longer members of a suppression crew,
as being responsible for all activities of the fire service during their shift, encompassing both full
and part time staff. Their role will be to ensure that the training programs – particularly on-shift
training and education – established by the training division is affected in a timely manner. While
the additional training officer we recommended will be responsible for delivering training,
particularly to part time firefighters, platoon chiefs will be responsible for the execution of
training and quality assurance.
The platoon chiefs will also be responsible for ensuring the suppression division supports
prevention, education, and inspection initiatives by taking part in, on a shift by shift basis, door
to door public education, pop-up CPR and first aid training, building assessments, and other
value-added efforts for the municipality.
These initiatives are expected to aid in the prevention of incidents and avoid future costs in the
growth of the emergency services department. The strategy that we recommend here is
intended to reduce the incidence of fires and pressure for one or more fire stations as the
population grows, even if that growth is planned within the current urban footprint.
Clarington Emergency and Fire Services
Fire Master Plan
Page | 24
The platoon chiefs are key to avoiding future costs. To maintain the existing organizational
configuration, where platoon chiefs are part of a fire suppression crew, means that the
department will retain its present culture with less chance of successfully preventing incidents.
Clarington Emergency and Fire Services
Fire Master Plan
Page | 25
10. The Fire Chief and Deputies
There are two parts to the roles fulfilled by the chief and deputies. One, of course, is ensuring
the public is protected. The second is planning for the future of the fire service.
Our experience throughout this project is that emergency services administration has a strong
grasp on the need to protect the public. It is also important to plan for the future and that is
going to be difficult to do if the chief and deputies are essentially filling the role of platoon
chiefs or logistics personnel – because that is what has been happening to this point. We have
seen instances where a deputy has driven trucks for servicing such as changing snow tires and
other maintenance. In fact, it seems to be the norm.
All the things we mentioned in the previous section: training, vehicle maintenance, prevention
and education, and so on were managed by the chief and deputies. It’s hard to make future
preparations and put a strategy into place when, day in and out, just running the organization
takes up all their time; swamps and alligators come to mind.
The future role of the chief should be to lead strategy, plan, and organize. The role of the
deputies should be to oversee training, education, prevention, maintenance, not to be hands-on
in those things.
There are many changes to make: a maintenance program, training, assessment of the
administration processes, drafting policies and procedures, and the chief has suggested that,
during this transition, one or two specialists for short, contracted periods might be judicious
rather than hiring into the vacant deputy’s position. We agree, sometimes specialists are
required.
We would recommend a business manager’s position, someone to make sure all the
administrative aspects of the department run smoothly. However, the priority is the platoon
chiefs acting in a platoon chief’s role, and a training officer. We have had a few clients,
particularly in British Columbia, with a business manager as part of the senior administration
team. Those fire services have a notable organizational ability. We suggest a business manager
as a future consideration.
a. The Need for a Statistician
We also recommend a statistician or, as in other fire services, a position responsible for analytics
and risk, which would include statistical analysis. It is very difficult to establish a strategy and
ensure efficiency and effectiveness based on the sparse data and information available within
most fire services, including Clarington. Most private businesses depend heavily on data to form
their strategy and planning, become more effective, and reduce costs; why aren’t emergency
services?
Clarington Emergency and Fire Services
Fire Master Plan
Page | 26
This plan intends to move Clarington Emergency and Fire Services further towards prevention,
education, reducing the incidence of fires and accidents, and trying to accomplish that within the
existing organizational design is likely ineffectual.
Although these additional staff recommendations
• four additional firefighters, so that platoon chiefs need no longer to be part of a fire
crew,
• an additional training officer,
• a business manager in the near future, and
• a position responsible for analytics and risk also in the near future
The intent is to move Clarington Emergency and Fire Services away from a suppression centric
role to one that is strategically aimed at reducing loss and improving public safety, thus
reducing pressure for fire station growth and round the clock suppression staff.
Clarington Emergency and Fire Services
Fire Master Plan
Page | 27
Appendix A: Historical Information
Clarington Emergency and Fire Services
Fire Master Plan
Page | 28
Response Percentiles by Station 2020
0:00:00
0:01:26
0:02:53
0:04:19
0:05:46
0:07:12
0:08:38
0:10:05
0:11:31
0:12:58
All stations Station 1 Station 2 Station 3 Station 4 Station 5
90th percentile by station
Call time Turnout Response
0:00:00
0:01:26
0:02:53
0:04:19
0:05:46
0:07:12
0:08:38
0:10:05
0:11:31
All stations Station 1 Station 2 Station 3 Station 4 Station 5
75th percentile by station
Call time Turnout Response
Clarington Emergency and Fire Services
Fire Master Plan
Page | 29
Station 1 Historic Information
0
500
1000
1500
2000
2500
2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020
Station 1 : Number of calls by year
Station 1
0
50
100
150
200
250
Station 1 : Number of calls by month
2015
2016
2017
2018
2019
2020
Clarington Emergency and Fire Services
Fire Master Plan
Page | 30
0
50
100
150
200
250
300
350
400
450
500
Sunday Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Friday Saturday
Station 1 : Number of calls by day
2015
2016
2017
2018
2019
2020
0
20
40
60
80
100
120
140
00 01 02 03 04 05 06 07 08 09 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23
Station 1 : Number of calls by hour
2015
2016
2017
2018
2019
2020
Clarington Emergency and Fire Services
Fire Master Plan
Page | 31
0
50
100
150
200
250
Accident:Pedestrian Struck Accident:Rail:Derailment
Spill/No Spill
Accident:Rail:Pedestrian/
Motor Vehicle
Accident:Vehicle
Station 1 : Number of accident calls by year
2015
2016
2017
2018
2019
2020
0
5
10
15
20
25
30
35
40
45
50
Station 1 : Number of alarm calls by year
2015
2016
2017
2018
2019
2020
Clarington Emergency and Fire Services
Fire Master Plan
Page | 32
0
20
40
60
80
100
Station 1 : Number of non structural fires by year
2015
2016
2017
2018
2019
2020
0
200
400
600
800
1000
1200
1400
Medical:Assist Medical:Emergency Medical:PAD Alarm
Station 1 : Number of medical calls by year
2015
2016
2017
2018
2019
2020
Clarington Emergency and Fire Services
Fire Master Plan
Page | 33
0
20
40
60
80
100
120
Station 1 : Number of public hazard calls by year
2015
2016
2017
2018
2019
2020
0
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
Station 1 : Number of rescue calls by year
2015
2016
2017
2018
2019
2020
Clarington Emergency and Fire Services
Fire Master Plan
Page | 34
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
911 Unknown Automobile Lockout Incident Type Other
Response:Assistance to
other agencies/Public
Service
Other Response:Mutual
Aid
Station 1 : Number of other calls by year
2015
2016
2017
2018
2019
2020
0
5
10
15
20
25
30
35
Station 1 : Number of structure fire calls by year
2015
2016
2017
2018
2019
2020
Clarington Emergency and Fire Services
Fire Master Plan
Page | 35
Station 2 Historic Information
0
100
200
300
400
500
600
700
800
900
2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020
Station 2 : Number of calls by year
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
80
90
Station 2 : Number of calls by month
2015
2016
2017
2018
2019
2020
Clarington Emergency and Fire Services
Fire Master Plan
Page | 36
0
20
40
60
80
100
120
140
Sunday Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Friday Saturday
Station 2 : Number of calls by day
2015
2016
2017
2018
2019
2020
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
00 01 02 03 04 05 06 07 08 09 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23
Station 2 : Number of calls by hour
2015
2016
2017
2018
2019
2020
Clarington Emergency and Fire Services
Fire Master Plan
Page | 37
0
20
40
60
80
100
120
140
Accident Accident:Pedestrian Struck Accident:Rail:Pedestrian/
Motor Vehicle
Accident:Vehicle
Station 2 : Number of accident calls by year
2015
2016
2017
2018
2019
2020
0
5
10
15
20
25
30
Station 2 : Number of alarm calls by year
2015
2016
2017
2018
2019
2020
Clarington Emergency and Fire Services
Fire Master Plan
Page | 38
0
5
10
15
20
25
Station 2 : Number of non structural fires by year
2015
2016
2017
2018
2019
2020
0
50
100
150
200
250
300
350
400
450
Medical:Assist Medical:Emergency
Station 2 : Number of medical calls by year
2015
2016
2017
2018
2019
2020
Clarington Emergency and Fire Services
Fire Master Plan
Page | 39
0
5
10
15
20
25
30
35
40
Station 2 : Number of public hazard calls by year
2015
2016
2017
2018
2019
2020
0
0.5
1
1.5
2
2.5
Station 2 : Number of rescue calls by year
2015
2017
2018
2019
2020
Clarington Emergency and Fire Services
Fire Master Plan
Page | 40
0
5
10
15
20
25
30
911 Unknown Automobile Lockout Incident Type Other Response:Assistance to
other agencies/Public Service
Station 2 : Number of other calls by year
2015
2016
2017
2018
2019
2020
0
5
10
15
20
25
Station 2 : Number of structural fire calls by year
2015
2016
2017
2018
2019
2020
Clarington Emergency and Fire Services
Fire Master Plan
Page | 41
Station 3 Historic Information
0
50
100
150
200
250
2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020
Station 3 : Number of calls by year
0
5
10
15
20
25
30
Station 3 : Number of calls by month
2015
2016
2017
2018
2019
2020
Clarington Emergency and Fire Services
Fire Master Plan
Page | 42
0
5
10
15
20
25
30
35
40
Sunday Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Friday Saturday
Station 3 : Number of calls by day
2015
2016
2017
2018
2019
2020
0
2
4
6
8
10
12
14
16
18
00 01 02 03 04 05 06 07 08 09 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23
Station 3 : Number of calls by hour
2015
2016
2017
2018
2019
2020
Clarington Emergency and Fire Services
Fire Master Plan
Page | 43
0
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
Station 3 : Number of alarm calls by year
2015
2016
2017
2018
2019
2020
0
5
10
15
20
25
30
35
40
45
50
Accident:Vehicle
Station 3 : Number of accident calls by year
2015
2016
2017
2018
2019
2020
Clarington Emergency and Fire Services
Fire Master Plan
Page | 44
0
2
4
6
8
10
12
Station 3 : Number of non structural fire calls by year
2015
2016
2017
2018
2019
2020
0
20
40
60
80
100
120
Medical:Assist Medical:Emergency
Station 3 : Number of medical calls by year
2015
2016
2017
2018
2019
2020
Clarington Emergency and Fire Services
Fire Master Plan
Page | 45
0
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
Station 3 : Number of public hazard calls by year
2015
2016
2017
2018
2019
2020
0
2
4
6
8
10
12
14
911 Unknown Other Response:Assistance to other agencies/Public
Service
Station 3 : Number of other calls by year
2015
2016
2017
2018
2019
2020
Clarington Emergency and Fire Services
Fire Master Plan
Page | 46
0
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
Station 3 : Number of structural fire calls by year
2015
2016
2017
2018
2019
2020
Clarington Emergency and Fire Services
Fire Master Plan
Page | 47
Station 4 Historic Information
0
200
400
600
800
1000
1200
2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020
Station 4 : Number of calls by year
0
20
40
60
80
100
120
Station 4 : Number of calls by month
2015
2016
2017
2018
2019
2020
Clarington Emergency and Fire Services
Fire Master Plan
Page | 48
0
20
40
60
80
100
120
140
160
180
200
Sunday Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Friday Saturday
Station 4 : Number of calls by day
2015
2016
2017
2018
2019
2020
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
80
00 01 02 03 04 05 06 07 08 09 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23
Station 4 : Number of calls by hour
2015
2016
2017
2018
2019
2020
Clarington Emergency and Fire Services
Fire Master Plan
Page | 49
0
20
40
60
80
100
120
Accident:Pedestrian Struck Accident:Vehicle
Station 4 : Number of accident calls by year
2015
2016
2017
2018
2019
2020
0
5
10
15
20
25
30
35
40
Station 4 : Number of alarm calls by year
2015
2016
2017
2018
2019
2020
Clarington Emergency and Fire Services
Fire Master Plan
Page | 50
0
5
10
15
20
25
30
35
40
45
50
Station 4 : Number of non structural fire calls by year
2015
2016
2017
2018
2019
2020
0
100
200
300
400
500
600
700
Medical:Assist Medical:Emergency
Station 4 : Number of medical calls by year
2015
2016
2017
2018
2019
2020
Clarington Emergency and Fire Services
Fire Master Plan
Page | 51
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
Station 4 : Number of public hazard calls by year
2015
2016
2017
2018
2019
2020
0
0.5
1
1.5
2
2.5
Station 4 : Number of rescue call by year
2015
2016
2017
2018
2019
2020
Clarington Emergency and Fire Services
Fire Master Plan
Page | 52
0
5
10
15
20
25
30
35
40
911 Unknown Automobile Lockout Other Response:Assistance to
other agencies/Public Service
Other Response:Mutual Aid
Station 4 : Number of other calls by year
2015
2016
2017
2018
2019
2020
0
5
10
15
20
25
30
Station 4 : Number of structural fires by year
2015
2016
2017
2018
2019
2020
Clarington Emergency and Fire Services
Fire Master Plan
Page | 53
Station 5 Historic Information
80
85
90
95
100
105
110
2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020
Station 5 : Number of calls by year
0
20
40
60
80
100
120
Station 4 : Number of calls by month
2015
2016
2017
2018
2019
2020
Clarington Emergency and Fire Services
Fire Master Plan
Page | 54
0
20
40
60
80
100
120
140
160
180
200
Sunday Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Friday Saturday
Station 4 : Number of calls by day
2015
2016
2017
2018
2019
2020
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
80
00 01 02 03 04 05 06 07 08 09 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23
Station 4 : Number of calls by hour
2015
2016
2017
2018
2019
2020
Clarington Emergency and Fire Services
Fire Master Plan
Page | 55
0
20
40
60
80
100
120
Accident:Pedestrian Struck Accident:Vehicle
Station 4 : Number of accident calls by year
2015
2016
2017
2018
2019
2020
0
5
10
15
20
25
30
35
40
Station 4 : Number of alarm calls by year
2015
2016
2017
2018
2019
2020
Clarington Emergency and Fire Services
Fire Master Plan
Page | 56
0
5
10
15
20
25
30
35
40
45
50
Station 4 : Number of non structural fire calls by year
2015
2016
2017
2018
2019
2020
0
100
200
300
400
500
600
700
Medical:Assist Medical:Emergency
Station 4 : Number of medical calls by year
2015
2016
2017
2018
2019
2020
Clarington Emergency and Fire Services
Fire Master Plan
Page | 57
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
Station 4 : Number of public hazard calls by year
2015
2016
2017
2018
2019
2020
0
0.5
1
1.5
2
2.5
Station 4 : Number of rescue call by year
2015
2016
2017
2018
2019
2020
Clarington Emergency and Fire Services
Fire Master Plan
Page | 58
0
5
10
15
20
25
30
35
40
911 Unknown Automobile Lockout Other Response:Assistance to
other agencies/Public Service
Other Response:Mutual Aid
Station 4 : Number of other calls by year
2015
2016
2017
2018
2019
2020
0
5
10
15
20
25
30
Station 4 : Number of structural fires by year
2015
2016
2017
2018
2019
2020
Clarington Emergency and Fire Services
Fire Master Plan
Page | 59
Clarington Emergency and Fire Services
Fire Master Plan
Page | 60
Clarington Emergency and Fire Services
Fire Master Plan
Page | 61
Appendix B: Administrative Services Process Maps
Clarington Emergency and Fire Services
Fire Master Plan
Page | 62
Clarington Emergency and Fire Services
Fire Master Plan
Page | 63
Clarington Emergency and Fire Services
Fire Master Plan
Page | 64
Clarington Emergency and Fire Services
Fire Master Plan
Page | 65
Clarington Emergency and Fire Services
Fire Master Plan
Page | 66
Clarington Emergency and Fire Services
Fire Master Plan
Page | 67
Clarington Emergency and Fire Services
Fire Master Plan
Page | 68
Appendix C: Prevention Division Process Maps
Clarington Emergency and Fire Services
Fire Master Plan
Page | 69
Clarington Emergency and Fire Services
Fire Master Plan
Page | 70
Clarington Emergency and Fire Services
Fire Master Plan
Page | 71
Clarington Emergency and Fire Services
Fire Master Plan
Page | 72
Appendix D: Establishing and Regulating By-Law
The Corporation of the Municipality of Clarington
By-Law 2017-033
Being a By-law Governing the Emergency and Fire Services, and the Provision of
Mutual Aid and Automatic Response, and to Repeal By-law 2010-077.
Whereas the Fire Protection and Prevention Act 1997, S.O. 1997, c. 4, as amended,
(FPPA) requires every municipality to establish a program in the municipality which
must include public education with respect to fire safety and certain components of fire
prevention and to provide such other Fire Protection Services as it determines may be
necessary in accordance with its needs and circumstances;
Whereas the FPPA permits a municipality, in discharging these responsibilities, to
establish a Fire Department;
Whereas the FPPA permits a Council of a municipality to establish, maintain and
operate a Fire Department for all or any part of the municipality; and
Whereas the FPPA requires a Fire Department to provide fire suppression services and
permits the Fire Department to provide Prevention and other Fire Protection Services in
the municipality.
Whereas the Council of the Municipality of Clarington deems it necessary to update the
provisions in the existing By-law 2010-077;
Now Therefore the Council of the Corporation of the Municipality of Clarington enacts as
follows:
Part 1
Definitions
1.1 In this by-law, unless the context otherwise requires,
a)"approved" means approved by Council;
b)"Automatic Aid" means a municipality agrees where possible to the
provision of an initial or supplemental response to fires, rescues, and
emergencies that may occur in a part of another municipality where a fire
department in the municipality is capable of responding more quickly than
any fire department situated in the other municipality with services
invoiced as or if appropriate;
c)"CAO" means the Chief Administrative Officer appointed by Council to act
as Chief Administrative Officer for the Corporation;
d)"CEFS" means Clarington Emergency and Fire Services;
-1 -
Appendix A to By-law 2017-033
Appendix "A"
Core Services
1.Fire Suppression And Emergency Response
1.1 Fire suppression services shall be delivered in both an offensive and defensive
mode and shall include search and rescue operations, forcible entry, ventilation,
protecting exposures, salvage and overhaul as appropriate.
1.2 Emergency pre-hospital care responses and medical acts such as defibrillation,
standard first aid, CPR, EPIPEN Assistance and the Emergency Medical
Responder Program shall be maintained to Base Hospital protocols as agreed.
1.3 Special rescue services shall include performing extrication using hand tools, air
bags and heavy hydraulic tools as required. Full time firefighters will be trained
in level 1 Basic Rope Rescue Techniques as determined by the Fire Chief.
Water/ice rescue services shall be provided by those firefighters who are
competently trained to perform the requested level of service as determined by
the Fire Chief (up to level II if so trained).
1.4 Highly technical and specialized rescue services such as Trench Rescue,
HUSAR and Structural Collapse shall not be provided by Clarington Emergency
& Fire Services. Awareness training in these areas may be provided where
possible.
1.5 Defensive hazardous material emergency response shall be conducted to the
operations level by the fulltime firefighters and awareness level by the volunteer
firefighters. In addition to operations level response, the capability for rescue
and emergency decontamination shall be maintained where resources permit.
1.6 The NFPA 1001 Standard for Firefighter Professional Standards, International
Association of Fire Chiefs/National Fire Protection Association “Fundamentals
of Fire Fighter Skills” and other related industry training standards and reference
materials may be used as reference guides for CEFS training as approved by
the Fire Chief. All training will comply with the Occupational Health and Safety
Act and any other applicable provincial legislation.
1.7 Confined Space services shall be provided by those firefighters who are
competently trained to perform the requested level of service as determined by
the Fire Chief (up to Operational Level if so trained).
Attachment 2 to
Municipality of Clarington Report ESD-002-17
2. Fire Prevention
2.1 Inspections arising from complaint, request, retrofit, or self initiated and fire
investigations shall be provided in accordance with the FPPA and policies of the
fire prevention division.
2.2 New construction inspections and plan reviews of buildings under construction in
matters respective of fire protection systems within buildings shall be conducted
in accordance with the applicable By-law and operating procedures.
2.3 The N.F.P.A. Standard for Fire Prevention Officers shall be used as a reference
guide for fire prevention training.
3. Fire Safety Education
3.1 Distribution of fire and life safety information and public education programs shall
be administered in accordance with the FPPA and policies of the departments
Fire Prevention & Public Safety Division.
3.2 A residential Smoke Alarm awareness program shall be ongoing.
3.3 The department shall maintain at least one public fire and life safety educator
certified to the Ontario Fire Service Standard.
4. Emergency Dispatching and Communications
4.1 The N.F.P.A. Public Safety Telecommunications Standard shall be used as a
reference guide for emergency dispatching and communications and shall
provide the following minimum services;
4.2 Provide emergency call taking and dispatching of emergency vehicles.
4.3 May provide after hour’s emergency and non-emergency call taking for
Operations, By-law Services, and other agencies as required.