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Fire Master Plan presented to council – establish service levels, hire staff

May 2, 2013   ·   0 Comments

After nearly a year of fact gathering, interviews and comparisons, The Town of New Tecumseth’s 2013 Fire Master Plan is complete.

Dillon Consulting complied the review and last Monday, April 22nd, Steve Thurlow presented his firms findings.

The report, divided into categories by need, should provide a framework to guide the municipality over the short and long term, taking into consideration existing levels of service as well as anticipated future challenges.

Of top priority in the list of recommendations was increasing the administrative support by hiring a part-time clerical worker. This, said Thurlow, would help with the next major change required – initiating and monitoring tracking measures.

Thurlow recommended the tracking of responders and the travel time from the station. “This is the beginning of establishing service levels,” he said.

The report also stated that the current Fire Department management team should be revised so that Deputy Chief Shawn Sweeney would be in charge of operations and training and Simon Worley, the current Fire Prevention Officer, would be responsible for duties related to  administration and prevention as well as public education. Worley, he said, should also be the primary CEMC and Fire Chief Dan Heydon and Sweeney be designated as alternate CEMC’s.

The report stated that additional work space was needed to accommodate a new administrator (and provide additional storage) preferably at the Joint Operations Centre or another suitable location.

He also recommended that our Fire Chiefs optimize service agreements between municipalities.

Although council made an earlier decision not to support the hiring of six full-time fire fighters, when the interim report was presented during budget deliberations, Thurlow maintained that, that was still a requirement (with one crew at Station1 Alliston, and the other crew at Station 3 Tottenham) in order to support the current volunteer model in New Tecumseth.

In his report Thurlow also recommended that on-duty crews should be at the fire stations during the weekdays to support the training division. He also recommended the construction of a live fire training facility within the municipality to provide “hands-on training” to new recruits (who often don’t see a live fire until their first call).

Chief Heydon supported that idea reporting that a weekend of training at a live fire training facility (Borden) costs the municipality $16,000 for a weekend.

The Dillon report also stated that policies and operating guidelines needed to be consolidated, developed, formalized and approved to encompass all of the functions provided by the department and internal divisions.

Thurlow said the Fire Department should also be responsible for updating the Community Risk Profile on an ongoing basis and presenting it to council. He said that by doing so, when the Fire Department made it’s need for funding known, council would already have a history.

The report further involves council by having them establish and regulate by-laws concerning rate establishment for fees (burning permits, confined space, hazardous materials, medical calls, etc.)

On a positive note, Thurlow said the Town has an “excellent fleet” but recommended the purchase of another apparatus in the near future (prior to the opening of Station 4 Alliston). He also said that in keeping with best practice the department should give its front-line vehicles a 15-year life cycle, while maintaining a 5-year reserve.

Also concerning the fleet, Thurlow said that the Fire Department should limit exposures to diesel emissions and keep an EVT (Emergency Vehicle Technician) on staff to limit costs.

The major points of the report concluded with Thurlow stating that all Fire Protection Agreements should be updated on an annual basis – including the agreement with the City of Barrie, which currently provided dispatching services for the municipality.

Council  voted to received the report from Dillon Consulting and is looking into the staffing recommendations.

By Wendy Soloduik

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