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Staff Report
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Report To: General Government Committee
Date of Meeting: September 28, 2020 Report Number: ESD-006-20
Submitted By: Gord Weir, Director of Emergency Services
Reviewed By:
File Number:
Andrew C. Allison, CAO
By-law Number:
Resolution#: GG-319-20
Report Subject: Emergency Services Activity Report — Q2 2020
Recommendation:
1. That Report ESD-006-20 be received for information.
Municipality of Clarington
Report ESD-006-20
Report Overview
Page 2
The Emergency and Fire Services Department is responsible for delivering fire suppression
and emergency response, fire prevention and public education programs in accordance with
the Fire Protection and Prevention Act (FPPA). This Report provides Council with an
overview of the activities associated with the Department's Suppression and Fire Prevention
Divisions for Q2 of 2020.
1. Fire Suppression and Emergency Response
1.1 Fire suppression services are delivered in both an offensive and defensive mode,
including search and rescue operations, forcible entry, ventilation, protecting exposures,
salvage and overhaul as appropriate. Emergency pre -hospital care is provided through
medical acts such as defibrillation, standard first aid and cardio pulmonary resuscitation.
1.2 Fire Suppression staff responded to 536 calls in the second quarter of 2020. Of the 536
incidents, 14 were property fires with an estimated dollar loss of $6,320,500.
1.3 The following is a summary of emergency incidents by response type (see Attachment 1
for description):
Response Type
Q2
2019
Q2
2020
% Change
% of Total
2020
Property Fires/Explosions
26
14
-46.15%
2.61 %
Outdoor - No Loss Fires &
Burning - Controlled
54
112
+107.41 %
20.9%
CO False Calls
25
42
+68%
7.84%
False Fire Calls
75
72
-4%
13.43%
*Medical/Resuscitator Calls
595
105
-82.35%
19.59%
Other Response
123
73
-40.65%
13.62%
Overpressure Rupture/Explosion
(No Fire)
0
4
n/a
0.75%
Pre Fire Conditions/No Fire
19
13
-31.58%
2.43%
Public Hazard
55
43
-21.82%
8.02%
Rescue
97
58
-40.21 %
10.82%
*See Section 3
Municipality of Clarington Page 3
Report ESD-006-20
1.4 During Q2 the spread of COVID-19 was on the rise and Fire Chiefs throughout Durham
Region reviewed their Durham Region Medical Tiered Response Agreements with
Durham Region EMS to determine if the service level provided by Fire should be
reduced in order to minimize the risk of firefighters contracting the virus. Clarington's
Agreement is for Level "C" - Acute Chest Pain and/or Shortness of Breath/Difficulty
Breathing regardless of EMS response time.
This Agreement has been temporarily downgraded to Level "A" Tiered Response:
A tiered response will be requested by the Central Ambulance Communications
Centre (CACC) within one (1) minute of EMS dispatch when the EMS response
time is anticipated to be greater than ten (10) minutes for the following
emergency requests for service:
Acute Chest Pain and/or Shortness of Breath/Difficulty Breathing (not on
calls originating from long-term care (LTC) facilities, medical facilities or
other locations with an available on -site Emergency First Responder
(EFR) program or higher level of care).
As a result, Medical/Resuscitator calls decreased by 82.35% over Q2 2019.
1.5 The Department saw an increase in Outdoor - No Loss Fires and Burning Controlled
calls. Approximately 78% of the calls were for illegal burning.
1.6 Call Volume by Geographical Area
(Generated by first vehicle dispatched according to geography)
Geographical Area
Call Volume
Call Volume %
Bowmanville and surrounding area
259
48.32%
Newcastle and surrounding area
93
17.35%
Orono and surrounding area
35
6.53%
Courtice and surrounding area
119
22.2%
Enniskillen and surrounding area
30
5.6%
1.7 Annual Total for Comparison at a Glance
Event Type
2016
2017
2018
2019
2020
Call Volume
3,736
3,675
3,929
4,268
1,565
Civilian Injuries
4
1
1
7
0
Firefighter Injuries
0
0
0
1
0
Fatalities
0
0
0
0
0
Dollar Loss
$6,148,757
$4,244,699
$2,738,750
$3,317,011
$7,420,200
Municipality of Clarington
Report ESD-006-20
2. Response Times
Page 4
2.1 Fire Suppression staff responded to 14 property fires, 4 of which were for detached
dwellings. Below is a summary of the average response times for structural firefighting
in Clarington's rural and urban areas for Q2 2020.
Rural Structural Fires — 1 incident
Response Objective per NFPA 1720
Time
Average Turnout Time 1:20 (80 sec)
1.23 min
(first responding truck enroute)
Average Dispatch to On Scene Min.
7.14 min.
(first truck on scene)
Average Total Personnel On Scene
12
Urban Structural Fires — 3 incidents
Response Objective per NFPA 1720
Average Time
Average Turnout Time 1:20 (80 sec)
52 sec
(first responding truck enroute)
Average Dispatch to On Scene Min.
4.28 min.
(first truck on scene)
Average Total Personnel On Scene
12
3. Medical/Resuscitator Calls
3.1 The following chart lists the medical call volume by geographical area.
Emergency Request
Call
Volume
Call o
Volume /o
% of Q2
Calls
Bowmanville and surrounding area
42
40%
7.83%
Newcastle and surrounding area
25
23.81 %
4.66%
Orono and surrounding area
6
5.71 %
1.12%
Courtice and surrounding area
28
26.67%
5.22%
Enniskillen and surrounding area
4
3.81 %
0.75%
Municipality of Clarington Page 5
Report ESD-006-20
3.2 The following chart lists the total medical calls to long-term care (LTC) and medical
facilities.
Total
% of
LTC / Medical Facility
Address
Medical
Medical
Calls
Calls
Glen Hill Marnwood
26 Elgin St.,
0
0%
Bowmanville
Seasons Clarington Retirement Home
65 Clarington Blvd.,
2
1 9%
Bowmanville
Glen Hill Strathaven
264 King St. E.,
1
0.95%
Bowmanville
Bowmanville Creek Retirement
105 Queen Street,
0
0%
Community
Bowmanville
Fosterbrooke Long Term Care
330 King Ave. West,
2
1 9%
Newcastle
WhiteCliffe Terrace Retirement
1460 Highway 2,
3
2.86%
Residence
Courtice
Bowmanville Clinic
222 King St. E.,
0
0%
Bowmanville
Walmart Clinic
2320 Highway 2,
1
0.95%
Bowmanville
Courtice Health Centre
1450 Highway 2,
0
0%
Courtice
Newcastle Urgent Care Clinic
50 Mill St. N.,
0
0%
Newcastle
3.3 1.67% of Q2 calls were for LTC/medical facilities. Crews arrived on scene prior to EMS
77.78% of the time, at an average of 2.87 minutes. The average time on scene was
15.93 minutes.
4. Fire Prevention Division
4.1 Fire Prevention staff continue to perform a variety of functions in accordance with the
FPPA and policies of the Department focusing on; creating a fire safe community.
These functions are implemented through public education programs and fire
inspections.
Municipality of Clarington Page 6
Report ESD-006-20
4.2 The following is a summary of inspection services performed during the second quarter.
Fire Prevention Activity — Q2
Volume
Complaint Inspections
34
Requested Inspections
8
Self -initiated Inspections
3
Retrofit Inspections
0
Burn Permits
43
Fire Safety Plans Reviews
350
General Plans Reviews
35
Site Visits
5
Fire Investigations
2
FPPA Part 3 Charges Laid
0
FPPA Part 1 Charges Laid
0
4.3 Due to COVID-19 and the restrictions issued by the Chief Medical Officer, staff did not
provide or attend public education activities during the second quarter of 2020.
5. Concurrence
Not Applicable.
6. Conclusion
It is respectfully recommended that this Report be received for information.
Staff Contact: Gord Weir, Director of Emergency & Fire Services, 905-623-5126 ext. 2802 or
gweir@clarington.net.
Attachments:
Attachment 1 — Response Type Description
There are no interested parties to be notified of Council's decision.
Attachment 1 to Report ESD-006-20
Response Type Description
Property Fires / Explosions: Instance or destructive and uncontrolled burning
involving structures, vehicles and open area fires, including explosion of combustible
solids, liquids or gasses which may or may not have resulted in a dollar loss.
Outdoor, No Loss Fires: Uncontrolled fires, outdoors, that did not result in a loss,
injury or fatality and is not suspected to be caused by arson, vandalism or children
playing.
Burning Controlled: Complaint call related to outdoor controlled burning, authorized
or unauthorized. Fire Department did not take suppression action.
CO (carbon monoxide) False Calls: A call where it is determined that the detection
equipment malfunctioned or there was a perceived emergency - no CO present.
False Fire Calls: Alarm activation or fire call that when investigated, is determined to
be as a result of equipment failure, malicious/prank, perceived emergency, accidental
activation of alarm by a person.
Medical/Resuscitator Call: Includes a response to a patient(s) suffering from
asphyxia, respiratory condition, convulsions, epileptic, diabetic seizure, electric shock,
traumatic shock, heart attack, stroke, drug related, cuts, abrasions, fractures, burns,
person fainted, nausea and pre -hospital care such as administering oxygen, CPR,
defibrillation, or first aid.
Other Response: Assistance to other Fire Departments, calls cancelled on route,
non -fire incidents where an illegal grow operation or drug operation was discovered.
Overpressure Rupture/Explosion (No Fire): Overpressure rupture/explosion with
no fire, e.g. steam boilers, hot water, bombs, dynamite and gas pipe.
Pre Fire Conditions/No Fire: Incidents with no fire that involve heat or potential pre
fire conditions, e.g. pot on stove, cooking - smoke or steam, lightening and fireworks.
Public Hazard: Includes a response for spills and leaks of a hazardous product such
as natural gas, propane, refrigerant, miscellaneous/unknown, gasoline or fuel, toxic
chemical, radio -active material, power lines down or arcing, bomb, explosive removal
standby, CO (carbon monoxide) or other public hazard.
Rescue: A call for a person in danger due to their proximity to the occurrence and
who is unable to self -evacuate and is assisted by Fire Department personnel, e.g.
vehicle accident, building collapse, commercial/industrial accident, home/residential
accident, persons trapped in elevator, water rescue or water/ice rescue.