Ottawa Fire
Services is currently comprised of 1,576 personnel, distributed by division
as illustrated in the following organizational Chart.
Submitted
by/Soumis par : Steve Kanellakos, Deputy City Manager/Directeur municipal adjoint, City
Operations/Opérations municipales
(613) 580-2424 x29411, john.dehooge@ottawa.ca
SUBJECT: |
OBJET : |
RAPPORT ANNUEL DE 2011 DU SERVICE DES INCENDIES D’OTTAWA |
That
Community and Protective Services Committee receive this report for
information.
Que le Comité des services communautaires et de
protection prenne connaissance de ce rapport.
The mission
of Ottawa Fire Services is to protect the lives, property and environment for
the citizens of, and visitors to, the City of Ottawa. Its vision is to be a
modern and integrated fire service that operates seamlessly, employs
highly-productive and highly-motivated people, uses innovative practices and
technology and strives to be better each and every day. To achieve its operational and strategic
initiatives, Ottawa Fire Services’ Strategic Plan is anchored by the following
principles: service excellence; governance, planning and decision making;
employee engagement and financial responsibility.
Services
provided by the OFS include: Fire Suppression Services (including fire rescue, tiered medical
response, training, communications and incident management); Special
Operations (including Water/Ice Rescue services, Auto Extrication,
Confined Space, Trench, Collapse and High Angle Rescue; Hazardous Materials
responses; Chemical, Biological, Radiological, Nuclear and Explosive Response);
Urban Search and Rescue activities and Fire Prevention and Public Fire Safety Education (including fire prevention
inspections, determination of cause
and origin of fires, attendance at public education events and dissemination
of public fire safety educational
materials).
In 2011, two new stations, Stations 46 and 47,
were built to serve Ottawa’s expanding community. Constructed with reusable, recyclable and
natural materials, these stations came in under budget. Application has been made in both cases for
the Silver LEED certification for OFS’ environmental stewardship and
commitment to sustainability.
Ottawa Fire Services responded to 26,370
incidents (fire, medical, rescue, public hazard and other) in 2011 including
more than 3,421 fire calls.
In October 2008, Council
approved the Fire Location Study – Phase 1 “ACS2008-CPS-OFS-0001” which
included an initial response standard
of 5, 7 and 14 minutes for urban, suburban and rural areas of the city
respectively and the OFS has continually strived to meet that response
standard for the past five years. As
part of an effort to find operational efficiencies and improve service levels,
OFS will be revisiting its deployment model through the completion of a new station
location study in 2012.
From a public
safety and prevention perspective, Ottawa Fire Services has taken particular
pride in its “Wake Up and Get a Working Smoke Alarm” campaigns. Ottawa Fire Services visited 14,930 homes
this past year and almost 110,000 homes over the course of the program,
providing over 15,000 smoke alarms and batteries to residents. This program has been successful in dramatically
reducing the number of homes in our City without a working smoke alarm. In 2011,
only 8% of Ottawa homes visited did not have a working smoke alarm.
In conjunction,
OFS has continued with its Project Zero Monoxide program. This program is
designed to target our City’s senior population to ensure that their
residences are equipped with working carbon monoxide and smoke alarms. In 2011,
OFS installed more than 80 alarms in seniors’ homes through the program.
With respect to recruitment, Ottawa Fire Services remains committed to
a recruitment program that is fair, equitable and reflective of the community
it serves. Through its
outreach campaigns, OFS has continued to increase the numbers of persons from
designated groups applying to become firefighters. The program continues to hire candidates
from designated groups consistent with the numbers contained in the applicant
pool.
Ottawa Fire Services is committed to continuous
improvement in all facets of its operations and will identify opportunities to
enhance services in an effort to
increase public safety, improve operational performance and create a more
efficient and effective service delivery model.
La mission du
Service des incendies de la Ville d’Ottawa (SIO) consiste à protéger la vie, la
propriété et l’environnement des citoyens et des visiteurs. Sa vision est
d’être un service moderne et intégré qui fonctionne de façon harmonieuse,
recrute des personnes productives et motivées, adopte des pratiques et
technologies novatrices et vise à s’améliorer constamment. Pour atteindre les
objectifs de ses initiatives opérationnelles et stratégiques, le SIO suit un
plan stratégique soutenu par les principes suivants : l’excellence du
service; la gouvernance, la planification et la prise de décision; l’engagement
des employés et la responsabilité financière.
Les
services offerts par le SIO comprennent : l’extinction des incendies
(sauvetages en incendie, interventions médicales coordonnées, formation,
communication et gestion des incidents); les opérations spéciales (sauvetages
nautiques ou sur glace, verticaux, en espace clos, dans des fossés et en cas
d’effondrement de structure, désincarcérations automobiles, interventions
impliquant des matières dangereuses et interventions en cas d’incidents
chimiques, biologiques, radiologiques nucléaires ou à l’explosif); les
opérations de recherche et de sauvetage en milieu urbain, la prévention des
incendies et la sensibilisation du public à la prévention des incendies
(inspections de prévention des incendies, détermination de la cause et de
l’origine des incendies, participation à des événements de sensibilisation du
public et diffusion de matériel de sensibilisation du public à la prévention
des incendies).
En 2011, deux nouvelles casernes, les casernes
46 et 47, ont été construites pour servir la population grandissante d’Ottawa.
Bâties à partir de matériaux réutilisables, recyclables et naturels, ces casernes
ont coûté moins cher que prévu. Une demande de certification LEED de niveau
argent a été faite dans les deux cas pour reconnaître l’intendance
environnementale et l’engagement envers la durabilité du SIO.
Le SIO a répondu à 26 370 incidents
(incendies, incidents médicaux, sauvetages, dangers publics, etc.) en 2011,
dont plus de 3 421 appels d’incendie.
En octobre 2008, le Conseil a approuvé le rapport Étude sur l’emplacement des casernes de
pompiers – Phase 1 (ACS2008-CPS-OFS-0001) portant notamment sur une norme
pour les délais d’intervention initiale de 5, 7 et 14 minutes pour les
zones urbaines, suburbaines et rurales de la ville, respectivement, norme que
le SIO s’efforce de respecter depuis maintenant cinq ans. Dans le souci de
trouver des mesures d’efficacité opérationnelle et d’améliorer les niveaux de
service, le SIO compte revoir son modèle de déploiement en menant une nouvelle
étude sur l’emplacement des casernes en 2012.
Sur le plan de la sécurité publique et de la
prévention, le SIO tire une fierté particulière de sa campagne
« Réveillez-vous! Procurez-vous un détecteur de fumée qui
fonctionne ». Le SIO a visité 14 930 foyers au cours de la
dernière année et près de 110 000 foyers pendant toute la campagne,
et a distribué plus de 15 000 détecteurs de fumée équipés de piles
aux résidents. La campagne a contribué à réduire radicalement le nombre
d’habitations sans détecteur de fumée fonctionnel à Ottawa. En 2011, seulement
8 % des foyers d’Ottawa qui avaient fait l’objet d’une visite ne disposaient
pas de détecteur de fumée.
Concurremment, le SIO a poursuivi son programme Projet
zéro monoxyde visant à sensibiliser les personnes âgées de la ville et à
vérifier que leurs maisons sont équipées de détecteurs de fumée et de monoxyde
de carbone. En 2011, le SIO a installé plus de 80 détecteurs dans les
maisons des personnes âgées dans le cadre de ce programme.
En ce qui concerne le
recrutement, le Service des incendies d’Ottawa reste fidèle à un programme de
recrutement qui est juste, équitable et qui représente la communauté que sert
le SIO. Les campagnes de sensibilisation menées par le SIO se traduisent par
une hausse continue du nombre de personnes de groupes désignés qui postulent
pour devenir pompiers; d’ailleurs, le SIO continue d’engager des candidats de
ces groupes en fonction du bassin de candidats.
Le Service des incendies d’Ottawa vise l’amélioration
continue de tous les aspects de ses opérations et ciblera les occasions
d’amélioration afin d’augmenter la sécurité du public, d’améliorer le rendement
opérationnel et de rendre son modèle de prestation de services plus efficace et
efficient de manière générale.
On
September 23, 2009, City Council approved the enactment of a Fire Services
establishing by-law, ACS2009-COS-EPS-0049. This by-law requires an annual report to
be prepared which will document Ottawa Fire Services’ organizational
structure, approved goals and objectives, a list of functions and services
provided, and the level of service. This report represents the 2011 Ottawa
Fire Services Annual Report in
accordance with by-law 2009-319.
In September
2011, the Ottawa Fire Services’ Strategic Plan was tabled at the Community
and Protective Services Committee.
Subsequent to receiving unanimous support from the Committee members,
the Plan was endorsed by City Council.
From this document, mission, vision and values statements were
established. This, in turn, spawned a
blueprint on what the branch plans were to achieve and how results were to be
measured.
The mission
of Ottawa Fire Services is to protect the lives, property and environment for
the citizens of and visitors to the City of Ottawa. Its vision is to be a modern and integrated
fire service that operates seamlessly, employs highly-productive and
highly-motivated people, uses innovative practices and technology and strives
to be better each and every day.
OFS has
developed its Strategic Plan while
taking into consideration the broader strategic priorities of the City of
Ottawa and specifically the Department of Emergency and Protective Services
(EPS). The strategic directions are a
general framework that will guide OFS in the decisions and resources
allocated to the pursuit of the organization’s goals over the next three
years.
The four
main pillars of the Strategic Plan are:
Service Excellence: Delivery of quality services to the public
and OFS’ staff by measurably increasing the culture of service excellence by
proactively identifying opportunities to improve technology, collaborate with
other organizations and strengthen public education and prevention.
Governance, Planning and Decision-Making: Achieve measurable improvement and
contribute to informed decision-making by focussing on increasing planning
capacity and establishing useful and credible performance measures and
reports.
Employee Engagement: Recognize,
support and engage staff through recognition, recruitment, diversity
training, health and wellness and succession planning.
Financial Responsibility: Be
financially responsible to the residents of Ottawa by practising prudent
fiscal management of existing resources and by making sound long-term choices
that allow services to be sustainable now and into the future.
The following is an overview of the services Ottawa
Fire Services provides to the citizens of Ottawa.
Ottawa Fire Services provides emergency response
(all hazards) to all emergency incidents in the City. These services include:
Fire Suppression
·
Interior and exterior fire fighting tactics in
residential, commercial, institutional, assembly and industrial structures
and properties to control and extinguish fires.
·
Fire rescue activities including entering,
conducting primary and secondary searches and, where possible, removal of
trapped, injured and distressed persons.
·
Auto Extrication activities to provide access
to injured and entrapped persons involved in transportation emergencies. This
involves the prevention, control and extinguishments of fires, controlled
removal of materials and freeing persons from entrapment.
·
Conducting training, communications, incident
management and incident safety activities to support fire fighting
operations, responses and services.
Incident
Safety/Occupational Health and Safety
·
Establish and administer
a Safety Management System for the fire services that includes an incident
safety program and occupational health and safety in the workplace.
·
As part of an overall Health and Safety
Management system, provide incident safety at all “Working Fires and
Activities” where “significant work” is performed.
Special Operations
·
Water/Ice Rescue services.
·
Responses to mitigate occurrences involving
hazardous materials.
·
Response to incidents involving Chemical,
Biological, Radiological, Nuclear, and Explosive substances which threaten
the lives and property within the City of Ottawa, and includes weapons of
mass destruction. The CBRNE team also provides these specialized services to
the Province of Ontario under an intergovernmental agreement.
·
Technical rescue activities including confined
spaces entry and mitigation, building collapses, rescues involving the use of
ropes from high angles and trench rescue.
·
Urban Search and Rescue activities to provide
services for the first 24 hours (Federal Medium Level) until assisted by
designated Heavy Urban Search and Rescue Teams authorized by the Province of
Ontario or Federal Government.
Fire
Prevention and Public Fire Safety Education
·
Fire prevention inspections upon receiving a
complaint or a request to inspect.
·
The distribution of
public fire safety education materials, which shall include information on
planning escape from residential occupancies, and encourages the mandatory
installation and maintenance of residential smoke alarms.
·
The
“Wake up Ottawa” program’s main focus is to inform all residents of the
importance of having a working smoke alarm and how they need to be installed
and maintained.
·
The
Project Zero campaign is designed to distribute combination carbon
monoxide/smoke alarms to seniors within the City of Ottawa.
·
Proactive inspections of
vulnerable occupancies identified in a community risk assessment.
·
Determination of cause,
origin and circumstances of all fires that occur in the city and the
reporting of all fires to the Ontario Fire Marshal.
·
Participation in
community activities, which provide a significant fire safety educational
opportunity and children’s educational programs in all elementary schools.
·
Conduct reviews of
post-incident evaluations, which examine fire ground effectiveness, building
performance, occupant behaviour and fire service program effectiveness to
establish comprehensive fire safety effectiveness programs in the community.
·
Managing communications resources within Ottawa
Fire Services, specifically 911 emergencies.
·
Dispatching of apparatus and other specialty equipment.
·
Answering general information calls for Ottawa
Fire Services.
·
Working closely with partner agencies within
Emergency and Protective Services (Police and Paramedics) in emergency
responses.
·
Recruiting of firefighters and testing of applicants.
·
Administration of firefighter examinations.
·
Monthly training of firefighters.
·
Development and delivery of the Officer
Development and Career Management Program.
·
Research, development and delivery of programs
that enhance quality of life, professional competencies, safety of staff and
citizens.
In conjunction with the Strategic Plan, OFS strives for
continual improvement in its decision making and planning capabilities. To this end, in 2010, Ottawa Fire Services realigned the Deputy Chief Portfolios to
enhance operational efficiency, including the merger of rural and urban
operations. A Business and Uniform Service Review conducted in conjunction
with Organizational Development and Performance (now ServiceOttawa), resulted
in the implementation of changes in 2011 to the management structure that continues
to move OFS’ direction from an operational to strategic management model.
In keeping with its goal of improved governance, OFS implemented the
Assistant Deputy Chief role in 2011 to allow OFS’ leadership to maintain a
strategic focus and to foster succession planning and future leadership from
within the fire service. The Administrative Divisions have also been
restructured under two Program Managers.
The end goal of this realignment is to refine roles, responsibilities
and processes that create efficiencies and capacity to meet future
organizational needs.
|
Total Staff |
% |
|
|
Career Operations |
919 |
58% |
|
Volunteer Operations |
498 |
32% |
|
Management and Administration |
50 |
3% |
|
Community Standards |
40 |
3% |
|
Communications |
44 |
3% |
|
Education |
13 |
1% |
|
Maintenance and Safety |
12 |
1% |
|
TOTAL |
1,576 |
Ottawa Fire
Services is currently comprised of 1,576 personnel, distributed by division
as illustrated in the following organizational Chart.
There are a
number of factors which affect response times from year to year: construction
zones, time of year or time of day (traffic) and station cover off (when a
station has deployed personnel and equipment and other stations respond into
their zone). The chart below reflects the five year average (at the 90th
percentile) as a more accurate evaluation of the response time trends which
avoids spikes or depressions in a shorter single year analysis.
|
|
5
yr 90th Percentile Average |
Standard |
|
Urban |
5:45 |
5:00 |
|
Suburban |
7:36 |
7:00 |
|
Rural |
14:22 |
14:00 |
Schedule A – “5 yr 90th
Percentile Response Time Breakdown”
Ottawa Fire Services managed 26,370 incidents of
various types in 2011. The total number of incidents refers to the number of
specific calls for service, whereas vehicle movements refer to the number of
times vehicles are deployed in order to respond to those incidents.
Approximately 55% of these incidents required a
multi-vehicle response due to the complexity and seriousness of the incident.
The charts below outline the trends in incident responses since 2007. There
was a slight increase of 0.81% in the number of incidents from 2010 to 2011.
|
YEAR |
2007 |
2008 |
2009 |
2010 |
2011 |
|
Total
# of Incidents |
24,730 |
25,785 |
26,465 |
26,156 |
26,370 |
|
%
Change from previous year |
4.27% |
2.64% |
-1.17% |
0.81% |
|
YEAR |
2007 |
2008 |
2009 |
2010 |
2011 |
|
Total
# of Vehicles Dispatched |
65,955 |
65,674 |
69,343 |
68,775 |
68,719 |
|
%
Change from previous year |
-0.43% |
5.59% |
-0.82% |
-0.08% |
Incident Response by Type
Ottawa Fire Services tracks the incident response by
type to ensure that resources are being allocated appropriately from the best
location. The chart below highlights the types of response that Ottawa Fire
Services responds to annually.
|
CALL TYPE |
2007 |
2008 |
2009 |
2010 |
2011 |
|
FIRE |
3,103 |
2,742 |
3,175 |
3,376 |
3,421 |
|
FALSE ALARM |
8,079 |
8,539 |
8,710 |
8,809 |
8,776 |
|
PUBLIC HAZARD |
1,736 |
2,008 |
1,561 |
1,175 |
1,399 |
|
RESCUE |
4,038 |
4,295 |
4,965 |
4,681 |
4,608 |
|
MEDICAL |
6,075 |
6,489 |
6,301 |
6,198 |
5,216 |
|
OTHER |
1,699 |
1,712 |
1,753 |
1,917 |
2,950 |
|
TOTAL |
24,730 |
25,785 |
26,465 |
26,156 |
26,370 |
A pillar of OFS’ Strategic Plan is Service Excellence. OFS has identified the strengthening of fire prevention as one initiative to meet this objective.
Correspondingly, Ottawa Fire Services acknowledges
the high incidents of false alarms that are occurring annually. In the 2006 Audit of the Ottawa Fire Service, the
Auditor General recommended that “the Ottawa Fire Service pursue the development of a public education program
related to false alarms”. Staff agreed with the recommendation and undertook
a review of false alarm incidents within the City of Ottawa and comparable
municipalities to determine the appropriate strategy to minimize incidents of
false alarms. On October 4, 2007, the
Community and Protective Services Standing Committee received a report
entitled Ottawa Fire Services- False
Alarm (ACS2007-CPS-OFS-0004) which outlined a public education program
targeted to building owners who are repeat false alarm offenders.
In 2011, the
Public Education Group of Fire Prevention implemented their newest program in
an attempt to educate property owners and their occupants regarding the
reduction of false alarms. The False
Alarm Program has a two-prong approach.
Fire Prevention Officers visit properties that have been identified as
incurring multiple false alarms, thereby posing a risk to the public and the
fire service. Once identified, the
owners and/or occupants of these properties will be advised and educated as
to the dangers of frequent false alarms and then provided guidance to avoid
nuisance false alarms within their properties. Administratively, the
department reviews false alarm incidents on a quarterly basis. During the
first full year of implementation, over 200 properties were identified as
incurring more than three false alarms as a result of malicious behaviour or
equipment malfunction. In 2012, OFS will introduce a harmonizing fee bylaw at
which time fines or charges for repeat false alarm calls will be considered.
The Office of the
Fire Marshal defines a fire death as one where a person dies as a result of
injuries sustained during a fire incident (including explosions). Reportable
fire deaths include suicides and homicides by fire, but exclude fire deaths
occurring in vehicle accidents. In
2011, Ottawa’s fire related fatalities rate has stayed within our five year
average and has consistently remained below the Provincial fire death rate.
|
Year |
Fire Fatalities |
Ottawa
fire Death
rate |
OFM
fire Death
rate |
|
2007 |
5 |
5.6 |
7.2 |
|
2008 |
2 |
2.2 |
7.7 |
|
2009 |
6 |
6.6 |
7.4 |
|
2010 |
2 |
2.2 |
6.1 |
|
2011 |
5 |
5.4 |
6.7 |
|
Total |
53 |
4.4
(average) |
7.0
(average) |
*The fire death rate is the number of fatalities per million population.
A salient feature of service excellence is the strengthening of public education. Two such education programs, Wake Up and Project Zero, are dedicated to this goal.
Wake Up Program
A tragic 2005
fire on Somerset Street that claimed the lives of five people served as
impetus for one of OFS’ most significant outreach programs. Although the cause of that fire was deemed
accidental, it was determined that a working smoke alarm would have alerted
the occupants of the fire and provided them with time to safely evacuate the
home. A subsequent review of this incident and related provincial cases prompted
Ottawa Fire Services to introduce a comprehensive smoke alarm program known
as the Wake Up! Ottawa program.
The primary
objective of this initiative is to take a proactive approach to educating
Ottawa residents regarding the necessity of having a working smoke alarm,
especially in conjunction with a home fire escape plan. In essence, it aims to ensure that
residents have the opportunity to “wake
up” to a working smoke alarm.
Since the
introduction of the program in the fall of 2005, and through to the completion
of 2011, Ottawa Fire Services has
visited close to 110,000 homes and distributed more than 15,000 smoke alarms
and batteries. OFS’ goal is to confirm that every household within the City
of Ottawa has a working smoke alarm, thereby realizing 100 per cent
compliance with provincial smoke alarm legislation. It is the intent of
Ottawa Fire Services to continue this life saving initiative with its annual
program delivery.
|
|
2005 |
2006 |
2007 |
2008 |
2009 |
2010 |
2011 |
|
Total homes
visited |
3,511 |
16,598 |
19,426 |
16,848 |
17,862 |
15,152 |
14,930 |
|
Total smoke
alarms & batteries supplied |
2,190 |
1,958 |
2,633 |
2,186 |
3,046 |
1,791 |
1,226 |
Project Zero Campaign – Carbon Monoxide
Alarms
In 2011, Ottawa
Fire Services, in partnership with Enbridge and the Fire Marshal’s Public
Fire Safety Council, continued with the OFS’ Project Zero Carbon Monoxide
program. The program’s mandate is to distribute combination carbon monoxide/
smoke alarms to seniors within the City of Ottawa. Carbon monoxide is a
toxic, odourless gas that is a by-product of incomplete combustion. Carbon monoxide alarms are recommended to
protect against the dangers of carbon monoxide poisoning.
A Fire Prevention
Officer attends the property, installs a combination alarm for the client and
answers any fire safety related questions.
To date, the OFS has installed more than 80 alarms and will extend the
program into 2012.
The
Ontario Fire Code requires the inspection and retrofit of certain residential
properties to ensure the safety of residents. Ottawa Fire Services performs
these retrofit inspections as a part
of their routine inspection programs.
Inspections are also conducted on a complaint basis to confirm life
safety requirements, requested or paid inspections, and follow-up inspections
of retrofittable properties initially identified as being non-compliant. As of the
conclusion of 2011, 98% of the total identified non-compliant properties had
been retrofitted. This will continue to be an on-going program as properties
are identified for inspection through the resale of existing buildings and/or
in the course of certain licensing purposes.
In
January 2007, retrofit legislation
for hotels and motels was introduced. The hotels/motels within the
municipality had until
2012 to ensure their properties are in compliance, or they will be subject to
non-compliance legislation. Ottawa Fire Services estimates approximately 90 properties will require inspection under
the legislation.
OFS’ commitment to service excellence was demonstrated on a daily basis by firefighters as they mitigated several significant incidents in 2011.
In 2011, Ottawa Fire Services responded to several large loss fires
which are defined as any loss which
is greater than $500,000 for both commercial and residential fires.
|
Year |
Annual
Dollar Loss |
|
2007 |
37.6
Million |
|
2008 |
44.2
Million |
|
2009 |
59.8
Million |
|
2010 |
52.7
Million |
|
2011 |
42.9 Million |
|
Total |
237.2
Million |
|
Average |
47.4
Million |
The figures below illustrate the cost per hour to
have a front-line fire vehicle available to respond to emergency calls in the
urban and rural areas of Ottawa. This measure is reported through Ontario Municipal
Benchmarking Initiative (OMBI) Fire 304
and Fire 305 Fire Operating Cost per In-Service Vehicle Hour and measures the
efficiency of a service. It should be noted that, although Ottawa’s cost per
vehicle hour in both urban and rural are both close to the OMBI medians, Ottawa
Fire Services covers a much greater response area than the comparator
municipalities.
The normal trend
of operating costs per vehicle hours increases yearly, primarily due to
negotiated wage increases and benefits.
This measure is calculated using the number of hours a response
vehicle is in service and the number of hours staff is responding. The rural
deployment model has vehicles in service at all times, but staff only respond
on demand. In addition, as rural areas do not have fire hydrants, water
tanker vehicles are required. The trend towards lower rural operational costs
in comparison to that of urban areas, is consistent across OMBI comparators.
* 2011 figures will not be publicly
available until Feb 2013.
Education
From recruitment programs to in-service
training to specialty courses, Ottawa Fire Services’ education initiatives reflect
dedication to service excellence.
The Ottawa Fire Services is committed to
a recruitment system that is fair and equitable and reflective of the
citizens of the City of Ottawa. As a result, the Ottawa Fire Services’
outreach and recruitment program was implemented in 2001.
In May 2010, the Ottawa Fire Services
embarked on a two year recruitment campaign designed to create a list of
potential candidates to be hired in 2011 and 2012. Launched with the slogan, “You Can Be A
Firefighter”, OFS engaged the community by encouraging all citizens to
consider a career in the fire service. In addition to the usual college and
university recruitment initiatives, OFS expanded its recruitment into the
City’s ethnic communities and partnered with LASI (Local Agencies Serving
Immigrants) and other agencies that deal directly with culturally diverse
communities. Ottawa Fire Services has worked to increase the numbers of
candidates applying from designated groups (e.g. females, visible minorities,
aboriginals, persons with disabilities and gay, lesbian, bisexual and
transgendered). As Ottawa Fire
Services commences its 2012 recruitment campaign, it remains committed to
developing a workforce that reflects the community it serves.
A specialized program offered by OFS addresses two prongs of the Strategic Plan: employee engagement and service excellence. Camp FFIT draws on primarily female firefighters of OFS to deliver an innovative program, which in turn, addresses the objective for OFS personnel to reflect the communities they serve.
Specifically, OFS built upon its 2010 recruitment outreach to create a
more diverse workforce by conducting, for the second year, a unique summer
camp for young women called Camp FFIT (Female Firefighters In Training). The
weeklong camp that attracted girls aged 15 to 19 was held in August and
enabled the 24 participants to experience some of the training fire recruits
obtain. The camp utilized female and
male career and volunteer firefighters to share their expertise and, equally
important, forge long-term mentoring relationships between participants and
current firefighters. As testimony to
the innovation of this program, Camp FFIT was selected as the winner of the
2011 City Manager’s Award for Excellence in the “Turning Ideas into Results”
category. Ottawa Fire Services will once again present Camp FFIT in the summer
of 2012.
In consultation with the City’s Diversity and Employment Equity
consultants, OFS continued to build upon strategies to ensure OFS is
welcoming as an equal opportunity employer.
A respectful workplace training program has been prepared, and will
start to be delivered, in the second quarter of 2012.
Fire Service Women Ontario
In its ongoing commitment to inclusion in the workplace, the OFS’ Fire
Leadership Team has endorsed the goals of the Fire Service Women Ontario
(FSWO). This not-for- profit organization shares the goals of OFS to promote
and advance women in the fire service by inspiring proactive change; actively
developing potential through effective networking and support and offering
recognition of role models and mentors at all levels within the service. Ottawa, in 2011, was the first city to host
the annual general meeting of FSWO and was the first city to take out a
Corporate membership thereby encouraging many of OFS’ members to take on a
leadership role.
Officer Development and Career Management Program
In pursuit of service excellence, OFS administers an Officer
Development program. With a view to
succession planning and to address the high level of attrition expected in
the coming years, OFS offers a wide range of courses designed to address the
skills needed to become an effective officer.
The courses offered are intended to address the requirements of the
Ontario Fire Service Standards and the needs of Ottawa Fire Services. Some examples of the training courses
offered through the Education Division include:
In its pursuit of
operational performance, OFS strives to enhance its ability to respond to all
types of emergencies.
At its meeting of October 22, 2008, Council
approved the Fire Station Location – Phase 1 report, which outlined a
methodology to assist in identifying the geographic and resource requirements
of future fire stations. Kanata,
Barrhaven and Orleans were identified as the next priority areas for the
growth of Ottawa Fire Services. With this impetus, and fuelled by Council’s
green initiatives, two stations were erected in 2011. In July 2011, Station 46 at 34 Iber Road opened as
a composite (career/volunteer) station to deliver public safety to Kanata and
Stittsville communities. This station is equipped with a pumper and a super
tanker to provide suppression services to the community, as per OFS’ response
protocols.
Built with
renewable, recycled and natural materials, Station 46 boasts a
water-efficient landscape design that controls rainwater run-off. Moreover, the 1138 square metre facility
also features radiant in-floor heating and attention to internal air quality
and a steel roof that attracts heat in the winter and reflects heat in the
summer.
In December of
2011, Station 47 at 3559 Greenbank
Road commenced suppression services to south Barrhaven and north Manotick.
This facility was designed to consolidate several disciplines within one
facility. The OFS’ hose repair and maintenance program, Trench and Technical
Rescue team and the City’s Urban Search and Rescue Program are all housed at
this location.
Like Station
46, Station 47, which occupies 1207 square meters, incorporates favourable
environmental features such as water-efficient landscape design, high
energy-efficient doors and window, and renewable, recycled and natural
construction materials.
In the case of
both edifices, applications have been made for the LEED (Leadership in Energy
and Environmental Design) “Silver” designation. To achieve LEED certification, a building
must incorporate the use of design and construction practices that reduce the
negative environmental impacts of a building and improve occupant health and
well-being as well. For their
environmental stewardship in these endeavours, Ottawa Fire Services, together
with other City partners, were nominated in the Community Category for
Environmental Excellence Awards in 2011. This is an example of OFS achieving
a strategic initiative of working with other organizations to achieve quality
services.
Significantly, these stations were completed within budget, thus
demonstrating fiscal responsibility, a prime tenet of the Strategic
Plan. Furthermore, the LEED’s project
testifies to OFS’ commitment to sustainable infrastructure and long-term
financial planning.
Commission on Fire Accreditation
International Initiative (CFAI)
In keeping with the objectives of the Strategic Plan, a major undertaking by OFS was inaugurated in 2011 to examine the past, present and future of the organization in all aspects of service delivery. In its quest to determine community risk and safety needs, evaluate the performance of the fire service and establish a practice of continuous improvement, OFS launched the Commission on Fire Accreditation International (CFAI) process.
The CFAI program
is a comprehensive self-assessment and evaluation model for fire and
emergency service organizations. As an
internationally recognized benchmark system, it offers a fire service the
opportunity to gauge community risks and fire and emergency response safety
needs. Simultaneously, it evaluates
the performance of the department against internationally recognized
standards.
In 2011, the
Ottawa Fire Services’ leadership team began to investigate the accreditation
process and the benefits that would accrue to the fire service. A letter of interest was sent out to OFS’
personnel who might be interested in participating in this initiative.
In June, 16 staff
members representing Suppression, Communications, Training, Prevention and
Administration participated in a three-day workshop delivered by the
CFAI. This training provided an
overview of the accreditation process including the creation of written
policies and procedures, as well as strategic planning documentation required
for the department to meet the goal of accreditation. A one-day follow up presentation was
delivered in early December.
Currently, Ottawa
Fire Services has become a registered agency and has created an accreditation
team to begin the self-assessment process. As a registered agency, the
department has to undertake some groundwork to ensure that it can meet all
the core competencies and response timelines required by the CFAI. The intent
is to become an applicant agency on September 1st, 2012. From this juncture, OFS will be required to
complete a self-assessment and standard of cover documents for peer
assessment within 18 months (by February 2014).
The accreditation
process has become a priority for the Fire Leadership Team. The process
requires a significant amount of staff time to be successful. Ultimately, it
will result in changes in how the department functions with an aim to
attaining the gold standard by which other fire services measure themselves.
Core Services Review
Propelled by
Council’s acceptance of the Fire Strategic Plan, Ottawa Fire Services will
commence a Core Services Review in 2012.
Governed by considerations of fiscal responsibility, and continual
improvement in the delivery of services, the review aims to examine service
delivery models in each division, measuring program effectiveness, service
levels and resource capacity. While
identifying opportunities for completing tasks and processes more
effectively, the study will highlight staff skills sets that may be utilized
more effectively. Simultaneously, some
activities may be identified for automation.
Station Location Study
Ottawa Fire
Services last completed an extensive Station Location Study in 2008, which
resulted in the decision to construct three new Fire Stations. These new stations
were intended to address the growth, occurring and expected, in the City of
Ottawa over a 10 year period. Now that
two of the three stations have been constructed and the third is in design
phase, and the pace of development has not abated, it has become increasingly
clear that an update to the existing study is required to effectively and
efficiently address continuing new growth and intensification across the
entire City.
The new study
will also aid in addressing the Office of the Fire Marshal’s Operational
Planning initiative, an official guide to match resource deployment and risk,
based on local needs and circumstance. Furthermore, the new study will play
an integral part for The Commission on Fire Accreditation International
(CFAI) and help to evaluate where OFS is efficient or inefficient in the
delivery of services.
A prime anchor of service excellence is the leveraging of technology to improve operational performance and deliver more efficient service to the citizens of Ottawa. As such, OFS has engaged in several opportunities to enhance its communications’ services through technology.
Pager Notification System
OFS is presently
testing a new system that instantly captures the number of responding rural
firefighters to a station, to a scene, and a number of other scenarios. Among
the benefits, Chief Officers and the Dispatch Centre will be able to
determine the number of firefighters available and responding within minutes.
Furthermore, rural firefighters arriving at a station will be able to
determine who is responding so that they can split crews efficiently among
responding apparatus. The pager notification system is capable of performing
numerous functions and will assist OFS with managing the rural component of
OFS’ emergency responses.
Mobile
Office Computers
The City’s newly
established ServiceOttawa initiative is planning to supply, and install,
where applicable, Mobile Office computers in OFS’ Fire Prevention and Chief
Officer vehicles. This will allow access to City applications, Flexible Data Management
– Records Management System (FDM RMS) software, and a host of opportunities.
Eventually, it is envisioned that the Chief Officers’ Mobile Office computers
act as Mobile Data Terminals (Automatic Vehicle Location (AVL), Global
Positioning System (GPS)) through the same platform.
OFS will continue
to investigate the best ergonomic and efficient solution for Mobile Data
Terminals in OFS’ apparatus. Once funding is secured, the branch will be in a
position to select and install the best solution. The main focus will be live
GPS (address/location of the incident) and AVL (dispatching the best vehicle
rather than the best station).
Rostering
Ottawa Fire Services is engaged in an integrated rostering
project with its EPS’ partners to identify a rostering solution that meets
the needs of the service. OFS requires
a rostering system with telephony capability in order to create operational
efficiency in managing staff resources. Once fully implemented, a rostering
system will assist in the day to day operations of OFS’ various divisions to
curtail overtime costs and provide productivity efficiencies.
The City of Ottawa is served by a progressive, dynamic
composite fire service. Service personnel are highly trained to respond to a
wide variety of emergency and non-emergency incidents.
Guided by its Strategic Plan that is in concert with
the City’s Strategic Plan, Ottawa Fire Services is committed to effectively
managing the emergency scene, personnel, assets and delivering service
excellence. This involves balancing priorities and coordinating the efforts
of firefighters to provide seamless services to the citizens of Ottawa.
Ottawa Fire Services’ commitment includes fostering partnerships, innovation
and improved operational performance that ensures organizational
effectiveness and efficiency.
There
are no rural implications associated with this report.
No
public consultation was undertaken as part of the development of this
information report.
This report has no impact on specific wards within the City of Ottawa.
There are no legal impediments to receiving
this report.
There
are no risk management implications associated with this report.
There
are no financial implications associated with this recommendation as the
costs, if any, are included in the current budget for Fire Services.
There are
no accessibility impacts associated with this report.
ITS will work
closely with Emergency & Protective Services to develop a detailed work
plan and business cases for technology "Old & New"
initiatives that may be required to support the Ottawa Fire Services’ 2011
Annual report. This work plan and business cases, where required, would
be evaluated and approved through the City of Ottawa ITS intake process for
all new technology requests.
This
information report is in line with the priorities put forward for this term of
Council.
The Ottawa Fire Service
will report back in 2013 with 2012 year-end results in accordance with the
Ottawa Fire Service Establishing and Regulating By-Law.
Schedule A – 90th Percentile Response Times 2007- 2011
|
URBAN |
|||
|
Year |
90th Percentile Time |
5 year 90th Percentile Average |
Standard |
|
2007 |
5 Mins 26 Sec |
5 Mins 45 Sec |
5:00 |
|
2008 |
5 Mins 50 Sec |
||
|
2009 |
5 Mins 43 Sec |
||
|
2010 |
5 Mins 52 Sec |
||
|
2011 |
5 Mins 56 Sec |
||
|
SUBURBAN |
|||
|
Year |
90th Percentile Time |
5 year 90th Percentile Average |
Standard |
|
2007 |
7 Mins 25 Sec |
7 Mins 36 Sec |
7:00 |
|
2008 |
7 Mins 35 Sec |
||
|
2009 |
7 Mins 29 Sec |
||
|
2010 |
7 Mins 35 Sec |
||
|
2011 |
7 Mins 56 Sec |
||
|
RURAL |
|||
|
Year |
90th Percentile Time |
5 year 90th Percentile Average |
Standard |
|
2007 |
14 Mins 09 Sec |
14 Mins 22 Sec |
14:00 |
|
2008 |
14 Mins 37 Sec |
||
|
2009 |
14 Mins 29 Sec |
||
|
2010 |
13 Mins 50 Sec |
||
|
2011 |
14 Mins 46 Sec |
||