Vancouver City Council |
ADMINISTRATIVE REPORT
Date: November 4, 2003
Author/Local: Scott Henderson604-873-7562
RTS NO. #03555
CC File No. 1377
Meeting Date: December 2, 2003
TO:
Vancouver City Council
FROM:
General Manager/Fire Chief, Vancouver Fire & Rescue Services
SUBJECT:
Vancouver Fire and Rescue Services Staffing Request
RECOMMENDATIONS
A. THAT Council approve the addition of two regular full-time Fire Prevention Inspectors in Fire & Rescue Services' Fire Prevention Division. The ongoing annual funding requirement is estimated to be $161,000.00, beginning with the 2004 department budget (without offset). Establishment of positions is subject to final classification approval from the General Manager of Human Resource Services.
B. THAT Council approve an additional two regular full-time Public Education Officers for Fire & Rescue Services' Community Services Division. The ongoing annual funding requirement is estimated to be $161,000.00, beginning with the 2004 department budget (without offset). Establishment of positions is subject to final classification approval from the General Manager of Human Resource Services.
CITY MANAGER'S COMMENTS
The City Manager RECOMMENDS that Council refer this matter for consideration as part of the 2004 budget.
GENERAL MANAGER'S COMMENTS
The General Manager/Fire Chief RECOMMENDS approval of the above recommendations.
COUNCIL POLICY
Council approves all additions to the regular full-time staff complement of departments.
Council has approved Fire By-law No. 7004, which governs Fire Safety Standards in the City. The City falls within the jurisdiction of the B.C. Fire Services Act, Sections 26(1) and 38(3) which requires municipalities to provide a regular system of Fire Safety Inspections.
PURPOSE
This report seeks Council approval for the addition of two Fire Prevention Inspectors to maintain an acceptable fire inspection interval for occupancies requiring inspection as required by the Fire By-Law. In addition, this report also seeks the addition of two Public Education Officers to provide increased public fire and life safety education and to provide nationally recognized programs to the elderly, those suffering economic restrictions, individuals from other cultures and other groups.
The addition of these four positions will bring fire prevention and public education staff levels nearer to that of comparable fire departments. This will result in improvements in fire safety, and will translate into consequent reductions in fire losses, deaths and injuries.
BACKGROUND AND DISCUSSION
City Council has made Vancouver one of the safest cities to live in from a fire safety point of view by adopting building by-law amendments that require all buildings to be sprinklered. Vancouver was the first major city in North America to require sprinklering in all types of new building construction, including one and two family dwellings. The adoption of the Sprinkler By-law and other initiatives has saved numerous lives since 1970. This is dramatically illustrated by the fact that in 1973, there were forty (40) fire deaths in Vancouver. Contrast this with 1998, when Vancouver experienced zero fire deaths. This remarkable achievement has not been matched by any other large city in North America. However, since 1998, Vancouver has continued to experience fire deaths, injuries and property damage (eight fire deaths in 2002).
The Provincial Fire Service's Act suggests various fire inspection intervals with frequencies ranging from every two months (hospitals and night clubs) to once every twelve months (offices and retail establishments). With the increases in both the number and complexity of inspectable premises in Vancouver over the past ten years, these inspection intervals have been difficult to maintain in Vancouver. Currently, inspection intervals can be as great as two years and longer.
Addition of Two Fire Inspectors
The Provincial Fire Services Act requires municipalities to provide a regular system of inspections of hotels and public buildings. Since 1990, new construction has accounted for approximately 2850 new buildings that require inspection by our staff. At the present time, it is estimated that the department has more than 50,000 inspections to be carried out (including current inspections and past due inspections). This backlog represents roughly eighteen months of work for the Fire Prevention Division. Without additional staff resources, the backlog of inspections will continue to grow, and the interval between inspections will continue to increase. It should be noted that the Fire Prevention Division has not had an increase in staffing since the mid 1980's.
In addition to the volume of inspections, the fire inspector's tasks have become more complex in recent years as staff are now involved in Neighbourhood Integrated Service Teams, Flying Squads, First-Aid instruction, Floor Warden Program, Marijuana Grow Operations, problem buildings, old oil tank removals, inspections, complaints, public education presentations, fire extinguisher training, fire scene inspections, special events permits, calculation of occupant loads for licensed beverage establishments and other venues, and all special events held within the city that require inspections and permits. Many of these new activities have only recently been assigned to the department. We have estimated that these additional responsibilities have reduced the productive inspection time of an inspector on average by approximately 30%. Fire Inspectors are also required to maintain a high level of technical skill and training, which requires additional time.
Although the comparison is affected by the relatively high ratio of Fire Prevention staff in Seattle and Portland (see Table 1), these departments are quite comparable to Vancouver in many ways. Vancouver would need to add approximately twelve positions to the Fire Prevention Branch to provide the same staff levels in relation to population as these comparable fire departments. However, the Deputy Chief of Fire Prevention believes that the addition of two inspector positions would allow us to maintain an acceptable inspection interval.
Addition of Two Public Education Officers
Fire safety education is recognized universally as a key element in reducing fire loss and death. Improved public education leads to reduced risk and fire loss, thereby releasing further resources for prevention rather than cure. Therefore, two of the four positions requested will be assigned as Public Education Officers. At present, there is only one person assigned to this function in Vancouver ( 0.17 educators per 100,000 population). In other GVRD fire departments, roughly one Public Educator is assigned per 100,000 population. Table 1 provides a relative comparison of staffing resources assigned to Fire Prevention and to Public Education.
The department now focuses a large portion of its existing resources on children and schools. Dealing with other high risk groups such as the elderly, juvenile fire-setters, diverse cultural groups and the socially disadvantaged, has been more limited due to a lack of available resources. The bulk of our fire safety activities tends to center on a group of messages rather than targeting a specific section of the community. In addition, our programs promote general fire safety and raising the overall profile of fire safety, but do not deal with many of the other specific safety risks that our citizens face. An example of the success of a focussed public safety message has been the widespread acceptance of home smoke alarms. Many Canadian Fire Departments, including Vancouver, have consistently focussed on the message of the importance of working smoke alarms in the home. Partially, as a result of the success of this program, fire deaths in residential occupancies in Vancouver have fallen dramatically over the past 30 years.
Further reductions in fire deaths and injuries will require outreach programs targeting the elderly, those suffering economic restrictions, and individuals from other cultures. The addition of two Public Education Officers will allow the department to implement this outreach strategy.
TABLE 1
City
Population
Prevention per 100,000 population
Public Education per 100,000 population
Missisauga, ON
650,000
4.6
.46
Ottawa, ON
800,000
6.5
1.0
Calgary, AB
920,000
3.6
.43
Portland, OR
536,000
11.7
1.1
Halifax, NS
358,000
4.7
1.1
Seattle
563,000
8.7
.53
Vancouver, BC
578,000
4.2
.17
AVERAGE
629,000
6.3
.68
PERSONNEL IMPLICATIONS
The approval of the four requested positions will increase Fire & Rescue's staffing by four Full Time Equivalences (FTEs).
FINANCIAL IMPLICATIONS
Annual costs of these four positions are as follows:
2 Fire Inspectors (salary plus benefits)
$ 148,000.00
2 Fire Inspectors (increased office and inspection costs)
$ 5,000.00
Auto Allowance (two vehicles)
$ 8,000.00
TOTAL ESTIMATED COST OF TWO FIRE INSPECTORS
$ 161,000.00
2 Public Education Officers (salary plus fringe benefits)
$ 148,000.00
Increased Public Education Material Costs
$ 5,000.00
Auto Allowance ( two vehicles)
$ 8,000.00
TOTAL ESTIMATED COST OF TWO PUBLIC EDUCATORS
$ 161,000.00
TOTAL ANNUAL COST FOR FOUR POSITIONS
$ 322,000.00
The annual costs for these four positions would be added to the departmental budget without offset.
CONCLUSION
The City of Vancouver continues to experience preventable fire deaths and injuries and loss of property due to fires. Adding two additional Fire Inspectors to conduct inspections of buildings, and the addition of two Public Education Officers to teach fire safety to the public, will result in a reduction of fire deaths, injuries, and property loss due to fire.
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