Fire and Emergency Services

Fire & Emergency Services

Mission Statement:

To provide efficient, effective, professional emergency response and prevention services to our community. To build and maintain a positive work environment that encourages and supports personal and team initiative in service delivery.

Primary Responsibilities

Cranbrook Fire and Emergency Services (CF&ES) functions at two operational levels: Emergency and Non-Emergency. The Emergency level involves emergency response to services specified by Council through the Fire Services Bylaw. Services prescribed by the City of Cranbrook Fire Services Bylaw include firefighting, medical emergencies, water and ice rescue, dangerous goods / hazardous materials incidents and transportation accidents. Non-Emergency operations include maintaining a state of readiness and providing fire prevention / public education to the community. The state of readiness involves maintaining required certifications and training to ensure competencies to support the mandated services. Day to day duties are comprised of mandatory training sessions, company inspections of all public buildings and managing programs required to maintain apparatus and equipment in a state of readiness. CF&ES utilizes two management systems to conduct operations. Emergency operations are managed utilizing an Incident Command System that has a rigid chain of command structure. Management of day to day duties is less formal, and reporting and program management is more linear.

2017 Key Projects

CF&ES is currently in the process of training and implementing Emergency Medical Response (EMR) level services. This undertaking, directed by Council, will enhance the medical response services to citizens within our response community. In 2018 CF&ES will place a new fire engine in service. A wildland UTV (side-by-side) was purchased and will enhance our ability to respond in the wildland urban interface.

Revise CF&ES Recruit Training Program. This will likely result in the new Auxiliary Program model in which CF&ES will train recruits to the NFPA 1001 standard. This initiative is aimed at increasing our auxiliary complement to provide adequate staffing to support emergency response operations.

Slater Road Industrial Fire

Award Presentation Core Department Mandates: • Firefighting • Medical Emergencies • Water and Ice Rescue • Dangerous Goods Response • Motor Vehicle Accidents • Fire Prevention • Public Education • Coordinate City’s Emergency

Program • Wildfire Fuel Reduction

Program

CSCL Visit to FireHall

2017 Priority:

• Continue to build capacity to provide professional, cost effective full service operations. This focus aligns with Council’s policy declaration that the City of Cranbrook would strive to provide full service fire and emergency services to the community.

2017 Key Accomplishments:

• Implementation of mobile CAD. This technology provides real time incident response information and mapping that is available in all emergency response apparatus. • Negotiated a service agreement and implemented emergency response and fire prevention services for ʔaqam. • Negotiated St Eugene Mission Resort Agreement and expanded the agreement to provide Emergency Medical Services. • Spec’d and purchased new fire engine.

2018 Goals:

• To pursue avenues to increase capacity and enhance CF&ES’s Training Program. This will result in a day time training position and would create a benefit to the department’s staffing and operations capability.