Date: Feburary 9, 2016 5. f) To: Mayor Mary Smith and Council Members From: Fire Chief Gord Jopling Subject: 2015 Annual Report Status: For Information Recommendation That the 2015 Annual Fire Report prepared by the Fire Chief and dated February 9, 2016 be received for information. Information The following report provides Council with information on the operational division and major capital expenditures for the Fire Department in 2015. Incident Calls Total incident calls for the year 2015 were 914 compared to 885 calls in 2014, an increase of 1.03 %. This has been roughly the same increase as in the past few years. See Table 1 for breakdown of calls received in 2015. Fire calls this past year were up significantly over last year with there being 77 fires in 2015 versus 57 in 2014. Actual fire losses are up substantially as well with 2015 showing the largest dollar loss to date. The 30 fire loss calls this past year resulted in the estimated dollar loss of $7,585,400.00 compared to $513,200.00 in 2014. See Table 2 for details with respect to fire losses in 2015. As reported during budget discussions, the number of major structure fires contributed to the deficit experienced in the 2015 operating budget as there were significantly more firefighting hours required than anticipated. Motor vehicle accidents were about the same as the previous year as where other types of calls. Medical calls, false and CO calls also mirrored last year s numbers. Table 3 shows the breakdown of the number of calls per each firehall and Table 4 shows call average for last number of years.
Page 2 of 5 Personnel The fire department currently has a roster of 88 personnel. All halls have a good compliment of personnel. Hall #4 Curve Lake has seen 3 members either move or leave the department lowering the number to 10 members. We will be looking to replace these personnel for the 2016-2017 coming year. The new recruits that attended the Eastern Ontario Emergency Training Academy in 2015 all passed their final tests and practical applications. Those attending the training were: Andrew Bowyer, Hall #2 Kiersten Hamblin, Hall #3 Tony Hopkins, Hall #4 Gavin Jackman, Hall# 1 Caleb MacInnis, Hall #2 Jeffery Rogozinski, Hall #5 Caleb MacInnis was picked by his classmates as valedictorian for the Saturday class of recruits. He provided a very insightful and professional presentation to those present at the graduation ceremony. Congratulations go out to Caleb for this honour and making the Township proud. The need to fill officer positions in the department was conducted in late October with the help of Human Resources Coordinator Kim Berry. Postings for the positions where sent out on October 8 th with 9 personnel stating their interest for the position. Interviews were conducted with the following firefighters being appointed: Kevin Lanigan, Hall #4, Captain Tim Cavanagh, Hall #5, Captain Dave Cooke, Hall #5, Captain Tim Gingrich, Hall #4, Senior Captain Paul Fitzgerald, Hall #4, Senior Captain. Year four of our Christmas service awards dinner was held at the Lakefield Legion with a very good turnout. The following long service awards were handed out: 25 years - Dave Robinson and John Young 35 years - Ted Jackman and Todd Wilson (includes service with other departments) 45 years - Randy Jopling
Page 3 of 5 An award that was first presented in 2013, the Mitchell Pogue Award, was presented to Laura Grills, Hall #5 in 2015. The award winner is picked by their peers for a new firefighter that exemplifies commitment, enthusiasm and passion for the fire service. Two new awards were also presented. The Outstanding Service Award recognizes an exemplary member for outstanding service. The individual possesses excellent firefighting skills and consistently demonstrates a high degree of professionalism in serving the fire department and greater Selwyn community. This past year s recipient was Bruce McMahon from Hall #2. The second new award is presented to the firefighter that shows excellence in training. This individual consistently attends training always striving to improve their skills. Their enthusiasm, and encouragement of fellow firefighters to train safely, professionally, and responsibly reflects their strength of character and exemplifies excellence in training. The 2015 recipient was Captain Dave Robinson, Hall #1. There were also firefighters that stepped down from the fire service for various reasons in 2015 and we would again like to recognize their contribution for service provided to the Township. Brad Sinclair Hall #1 Gary Bolton Hall #2 Matthew Bays Hall #4 Jason Grey Hall #4 John Cadigan Hall #5 Fire Prevention/Education As Howie gains knowledge from the Fire College courses, seminars and symposiums (14 this past year) and continuing experience from attending inspections the fire department is gaining ground on fire safety in the Township. Successful mock evacuations were conducted for both Extendicare and The Curve Lake Seniors residence. We continue to work with the Curve Lake Seniors management to increase the building safety and evacuation training of the centers staff. Fire Prevention Week reached only about half of the children (405) this year due to the public board teachers union work to rule action. This did not allow in-class or firehall visits. There were 15-20 brownies either visit the firehalls or had in class presentations provided. This continues to be our leading provider of fire safety in the home and elsewhere, as kids take the information seriously and will have their parents continuously monitor alarms and safety at home.
Page 4 of 5 Howie is continuing the Swim to Survive Program. It is becoming more popular with more schools enrolling in the program. To date the program has now reached 697 children with a further grant of $15,000.00 expected this year. Smoke alarm door to door inspections for the year added up to 104 inspections. The results showed 50 as smoke alarm compliant, 18 non-compliant, 26 not at home, and 8 refusals. Smoke alarms tested when on medical or other calls totaled 151. There was a total of $3289.00.00 worth of smoke alarms sales in 2015. With the addition to mandatory smoke and CO alarms prices for detectors are now $40.00 for the 10 year life lithium battery, $30.00 for a smoke/co alarm normal 9 volt battery and single smoke only for $10.00. There were 35 inspections done to the other various schools, businesses and requests and complaints. There were two Part 1 Provincial offences tickets handed out to homeowners who had fires occur in the home that had no working or disabled alarms. Apparatus and Equipment The 42 new Self Contained Breathing Apparatus were delivered at the end of May and a there were a number of familiarization and training sessions held for the troops to become totally comfortable with their use. The units went into service late in June. All members are quite happy with how these units work. After much time and discussion, the new antennae and communication building have been installed at the Nexicom tower site on Fire Route 41 and North School Road. With the purchase of replacement digital radios the system should be up and running by March. This will then help alleviate the radio problems for the north end of the Township, plus enhance our current system for both the roads and fire departments communication system. The department started the process to replace Rescue #5 early in 2015 with an RFP opening on June 15, 2015. The RFP was awarded to Carl Thibault for a total capital budget price of $178,000. The delivery date has been adjusted to sometime in March 2016, due to the late delivery of the chassis in December 2015. Agreements/Other It was a nice surprise when we were notified that we had been picked to receive the Enbridge Gas $5,000.00 training bursary. This money is to be used to purchase fire training material from the Fire Marshalls Public Fire Safety Council. Training
Page 5 of 5 Coordinator, Mike Goble has put together an excellent package that will be used for all future training. CAO Janice Lavalley and I had an initial meeting with CAO Dave Clifford and Fire Chief Chuck Pederson from the Township of Douro- Dummer in mid-december. The discussion was about a possible automatic aid agreement for their Zone 3 area that is predominantly east of Lakefield. This would have Selwyn Halls #2 and #3 covering an area that their North West end firehall now responds to. They have a number of fact finding issues to investigate and will contact us early in 2016 with additional information. Strategic Plan Reference Achieve excellence in governance and service delivery Financial Impact None Attachment Table 1, breakdown of calls 2015 Table 2, total fire losses 2015 Table 3, breakdown of the number of calls per each firehall. Table 4, shows call average since 2005 Gord Jopling Prepared By: Gord Jopling, Fire Chief Janice Lavalley Reviewed By: Janice Lavalley, CAO