Peace River Regional District Charlie Lake Volunteer Fire Department: Governance, Administrative and Operational Review Dave Mitchell & Associates Ltd. August 2011 Peace River Regional District Charlie Lake Volunteer Fire Department Administrative and Governance Review Table of Contents Executive Summary ....................................................................................................................3 Background and History ..............................................................................................................5 Scope of Work and Methodology ................................................................................................8 Analysis and Review ...................................................................................................................9 General Operational Environment and Fire Dispatch ...............................................................9 Current Administrative and Legal Structure ...........................................................................22 Fire Department Operational Overview..................................................................................29 Fire Underwriters Survey Study .............................................................................................41 Public Consultation and Survey Results ................................................................................48 Recommendations ....................................................................................................................48 Administrative and Governance Structure .............................................................................48 Bylaw Updates ......................................................................................................................57 Mutual Aid .............................................................................................................................62 Paid Personnel ......................................................................................................................64 Fire Prevention: Inspections and Public Education ...............................................................66 Coordination with Development Services ..............................................................................68 Forward Planning ..................................................................................................................69 Implementation .........................................................................................................................70 Summary of Recommendations ................................................................................................72 Appendix 1: Review Process and Consultations .......................................................................78 Background Documents and Materials ..................................................................................78 PRRD Staff and Elected Representatives ..............................................................................80 Fire Department ....................................................................................................................80 Chief ..................................................................................................................................80 Fire Protection Society .......................................................................................................81 Volunteers..........................................................................................................................81 Public Consultation ................................................................................................................81 Area Fire Departments ..........................................................................................................81 PRRD – Charlie Lake VFD Review. Page 1 Appendix 2: Consultants’ Resumes...........................................................................................82 Appendix 3: Operational Review – Detailed Survey .................................................................86 Appendix 4: Current RD Organization Chart ........................................................................... 102 Appendix 5: Copy of Operational Bylaw – Bylaw No. 962 (1997) ............................................ 103 Appendix 6: Public Survey Results.......................................................................................... 108 PRRD – Charlie Lake VFD Review. Page 2 Executive Summary1 The Charlie Lake Volunteer Fire Department was established 31 years ago and provides fire suppression and limited rescue operations to its residents from a single fire hall. It does not, at the present time, provide medical first responder or auto extrication services, nor does it conduct regular fire inspections. The Department is able to rely upon a mutual aid agreement with the fire departments from Fort St. John and the District of Taylor to augment responses to larger emergencies as may be required. The Department has been operated by the Charlie Lake/Grandhaven Fire Protection Society under contract from the Peace River Regional District since 1994. The contract for service was last re-negotiated in 2005 and will terminate in 2012, at which point direct control will revert to the Peace River Regional District. The Department moved to a full-time paid fire chief position in 2005. A review undertaken by the Department in 2009, outlined a plan which, among other things, proposed the addition of several full-time staff to address the low number of volunteers responding during normal working hours on weekdays. The initial request for staff was declined by the RD and so a review by SCM Risk Management Services was commissioned in 2010. The resulting Fire Underwriters Survey explicitly confirmed that the existing insurance rating would be unchanged but that additional career personnel were recommended. The Department and Society called a public meeting to seek support for the proposed addition of paid staff in February 2011. While accounts of the meeting vary, one issue that did clearly emerge was that the public wanted to see the RD take more direct management control over the Department, a view that ultimately was echoed by both the Society and the fire chief. In March 2011, the proposal for a budget increase to provide additional staff was rejected by the RD Board. In response to the Department’s concerns, and the residents’ desire to see more direct RD control of the service, the RD commissioned an external review of the Department. Under the terms of the scope of work, the Consultants were to develop an appropriate governance and administration model for the Department. This work was to include consultations with members of the Department and the public, and a consideration of other relevant matters, including an operational review. The initial review of the Department was conducted in May followed by a second on-site visit in early July, at which time the operational review was completed and meetings were held with the members of the Department and the general public. The members of the fire department were surveyed in advance to determine their understanding of training, as well as health and safety matters, using a survey based on a model created by the Office of the Fire Commissioner and which has been utilized with firefighters and officers in other fire departments. The public meeting was preceded with an advance notice and the circulation of a separate survey which was also available at the meeting on 6 July 2011. 1 Capitalized terms used in this Executive Summary and not otherwise defined are defined in the main body of the report. PRRD – Charlie Lake VFD Review. Page 3 The operational review of the Department confirmed that the apparatus and fire hall were in good condition and that, for the most part, training and other records were reasonably well maintained. Deficits or concerns include a lack of an approved strategic plan for the Department, the need for better officer training and development, and the lack of a succession plan, as well as the ongoing challenge of providing a reasonable level of response by volunteers during business hours on weekdays. Discussions with the public indicated a general level of support for the Department tempered with concerns related to the potential loss of insurance coverage, the lack of response during normal business hours and, in a general way, the lack of an overall plan that would address resident concerns in a cost-effective manner. The report makes 37 specific recommendations related to dispatch, record keeping, fire hall facilities, apparatus, training, recruitment and retention of volunteers, governance structure and administration, bylaws, paid personnel, coordination with regional development services and strategic planning. Major recommendations include those related to the administrative and governance structure. The existing governance structure is based on approaches which were developed more than 30 years ago. Given modern issues related to liability, accountability and oversight for fire departments, it is fair to say that the existing system has become outmoded. To address these concerns, the Consultants recommend the establishment of a public-based advisory committee and a staff and Department-based operations committee. The former, the “Fire Services Advisory Committee”, would be intended to provide public input into the Department’s budget process,