2. MUTUAL AID AGREEMENTS ENTENTES D'ASSISTANCE MUTUELLE |
That Council approve the attached by law, (Document 1) authorizing Ottawa Fire Service to participate in the Ontario Provincial Mutual Aid Agreement Program.
Recommandations modifiÉEs du comité
Que le Conseil d'approuver le règlement ci-joint (Document 1) autorisant
le Service des incendies d'Ottawa à participer au Programme provincial des
ententes d'assistance mutuelle.
DOCUMENTATION
1.
Deputy City Manager, Community and Protective Services
report dated 12 September 2007
(ACS2007-CPS-OFS-0003).
Report
to/Rapport au :
Community and Protective Services Committee
Comité des services communautaires
et de protection
and Council / et au Conseil
12 September 2007 / le 12 septembre 2007
Submitted by/Soumis par : Steve Kanellakos, Deputy City Manager/Directeur
municipal adjoint,
Community and Protective Services/Services communautaires et de
protection
Contact
Person/Personne ressource : Rick Larabie, Fire Chief
Ottawa Fire Services/Services des incendies
(613) 580-2424 x29455, Rick.Larabie@ottawa.ca
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SUBJECT: |
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OBJET : |
REPORT RECOMMENDATION
That Community and Protective Services Committee recommend that Council approve the attached by law, (Document 1) authorizing Ottawa Fire Service to participate in the Ontario Provincial Mutual Aid Agreement Program.
RECOMMANDATION DU
RAPPORT
Que le Comité des
services communautaires et de protection recommande au Conseil d'approuver le
règlement ci-joint (Document 1) autorisant le Service des incendies d'Ottawa à
participer au Programme provincial des ententes d'assistance mutuelle.
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
As part of Ottawa’s Fire Service
delivery model, it is understood that there will be times when support from or
to neighbouring municipalities may be required. Typical occasions where
assistance may be required would be where loss of life or property are
potentially great, and cannot be handled by the responding department using its
own resources. On such occasions an aid
system referred to as “Mutual Aid” is activated between fire departments that
are participants in an organized Mutual Aid Plan.
Recently the Ontario Fire Marshal’s Office has developed a standard mutual aid agreement for municipalities to use when entering into partnerships across the province of Ontario. Before Ottawa enters into the Provincial Agreement, Ottawa Fire Services is seeking Council’s endorsement to participate in the program.
RÉSUMÉ
Le modèle de prestation de services du Service
des incendies d’Ottawa prévoit des situations où il peut s’avérer nécessaire de
faire appel à l’aide de municipalités voisines et vice-versa, comme lorsque les
pertes de vies ou les dommages risquent d’être élevés et que le service chargé
d’intervenir ne peut faire face à la situation avec ses seules ressources.
Pareilles circonstances donnent lieu à une collaboration entre des services des
incendies participant à un plan d’assistance mutuelle.
Le commissaire des incendies de l’Ontario a
récemment produit une entente d’assistance mutuelle normalisée à l’intention
des municipalités qui forment des partenariats afin de s’offrir une telle
assistance en cas de besoin. Pour que la Ville signe cette entente, il faut
toutefois que le Service des incendies d’Ottawa obtienne du Conseil municipal l’autorisation
de participer au programme.
BACKGROUND
As part of Ottawa’s Fire Service delivery model, it is
understood that there will be times when support from or to neighbouring
municipalities may be required. Typical occasions where assistance may be
required would be where loss of life or property are potentially great, and
cannot be handled by the responding department using its own resources. On such occasions an aid system referred to
as “Mutual Aid” is activated between fire departments that are participants in
an organized Mutual Aid Plan. Prior to
amalgamation, the 9 fire departments that now make up the Ottawa Fire Services
participated in the Ottawa-Carleton Mutual Aid System (OCMAS). The fire departments within OCMAS, as well
as the bordering fire services, received and provided assistance, through
mutual aid, when the need arose. This
assistance was provided on a reciprocal, no charge basis.
Given that assistance to and from these fire departments is still provided through the OCMAS based on former formal and informal agreements, there is a requirement for the Ottawa Fire Services to enter into a new comprehensive mutual aid agreement with its neighbouring fire departments. Ottawa Fire Services were pursuing the development of a by law to that end when the Fire Audit was conducted in 2006. Through that process, the auditor confirmed the need for Fire Service to formalize their mutual aid agreements through a by law.
The Ontario Fire Marshal’s Office has developed a standard mutual aid agreement for municipalities to use when entering into partnerships across the province of Ontario and as such Ottawa Fire Services is recommending that Ottawa participate in their standard program. The by-law confirming Ottawa’s participation in the standard mutual aid agreement is attached as Document 1, and a copy of the standard agreement is attached as Document 2. The attached agreement does not include appendices A through O, which include operational details and personal information, but a copy of the full document is on file with the City Clerk’s office.
Before Ottawa enters into the Provincial Agreement, Ottawa Fire Services is seeking Council’s endorsement to participate in the program.
DISCUSSION
Mutual aid is defined as a program to provide and receive assistance in the case of major emergency in a municipality, community or area. An example of a case where a member of OCMAS required assistance from other fire departments occurred in 1999 when a large brush fire occurred in the former West Carleton area. This incident lasted 13 days and required the assistance of 42 fire departments from across the province.
The purpose of the Provincial Mutual Aid Program is to:
§ Promote adequate and coordinated efforts to minimize loss of life and property damage to the environment through efficient utilization of fire and other resources in the event of a mutual aid activation during times of natural or man-made emergencies;
§ Provide the organizational framework necessary to effectively manage mutual aid resources within a unified incident management system.
Conversations with the mutual aid coordinators for the neighbouring districts of Prescott-Russell, Leeds-Grenville, Lanark and Renfrew County indicate that all neighbouring districts are participating in the provincial program and have already obtained approval from their respective municipal councils to participate in this program.
Planning for and ensuring sufficient staff and equipment are available for rare circumstances would be cost prohibitive and undesirable. By employing mutual aid agreements, fire departments can receive and provide services to and from neighbouring municipalities during unusual circumstances.
When a large protracted incident occurs, the City may be challenged to continue normal emergency operations while providing staffing and resources to mitigate the incident. Participation in the Provincial Mutual Aid Program affords the City access to a multitude of resources, some of which are too specialized for one department to own in large quantities. For example, in the event of multiple calls within the non-watered areas of the City, neighbouring districts could fulfill the requirements needed to maintain the Underwriters rating for the Superior Tanker Shuttle service by supplying tanker trucks. Finally, the experience-base of the Ottawa Fire Services will benefit through both cross-training with an exposure to the operations and resources of neighbouring fire departments.
CONCLUSION
Reciprocal mutual aid agreements are a standard part of Fire Service delivery in the Province of Ontario. As such, the mutual aid agreements currently in place, formally and informally, for the City of Ottawa should be formalized through the attached by law (Document 1).
CONSULTATION
N/A
FINANCIAL
IMPLICATIONS
There are no financial implications associated with this report.
Document 1 – By-law authorizing participation in the Ontario
Provincial Mutual Aid Agreement Program
Document 2 – Provincial Mutual and Automatic Aid Plan and Program (Previously distributed)
DISPOSITION
Document
1
BY-LAW NO. 2007-
A by-law of the City of Ottawa to authorize participation of the Ottawa Fire Service in the County of Ottawa Mutual Aid Plan and Program.
The Council of the City of Ottawa enacts as follows:
1. The Ottawa Fire Service is authorized to leave the limits of the municipality or fire area at the discretion of the Fire Chief or designate and under the direction of the County Fire Co-ordinator to respond to calls for assistance from other fire departments authorized to participate in the County of Ottawa Mutual Aid Plan and Program on a reciprocal basis.
2. If the provisions of this by-law conflict with the provisions of other authorized fire protections agreements, the provisions of this by-law shall prevail.
ENACTED AND PASSED this day of , 2007
CITY CLERK MAYOR
-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-
A by-law of the City of Ottawa to authorize
participation of the Ottawa Fire Service in the
County of Ottawa Mutual Aid Plan and Program.
-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-
Enacted
by City Council at its meeting
of
-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-
LEGAL
SERVICES
AMP:ec -
COUNCIL
AUTHORITY:
City
Council –
Report ,
Item
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